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A Touch of Home
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This is how I think of the USO Canteen
Freeper Style. It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night.
Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too.
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of
place that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor,
a library, etc.
Many Veterans have written to me,
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they
served.
This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy
and sometimes troubling world.
Make yourself at home.
Snow Bunny
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If you know a Veteran, someone in your family,
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank
them.
Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.
We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper
Style, are thankful for every service member
in our military, who has served our great nation.
So, to the men and women who answered the call,
In both times of war and peace, thank you.
.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
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Helo’s Angels
The U.S. Army is embracing new
helicopter technology to fight
the wars of tomorrow.
In the deadly SHAH-E-KOT mountain range,
at elevations over 8,000 feet lies a region of
jagged peaks and underground caves where,
for more than 2,000 years, no attacking force,
from Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union,
has ever defeated Afghan fighters–until now.
In these high mountains of Afghanistan,
America's armed forces are relying on
helicopters to move soldiers, weapons
and supplies.
The soldier's weather-beaten face
was streaked with tears of gratitude.
Just days earlier, separated from
his buddies and pinned down
by intense fire from al-Qaida
soldiers in the ridgelines around
the Shah-e-Kot valley, he thought
he was going to die.
Then, like fire-spitting avenging angels,
Apache attack helicopters sliced through
the thin mountain air pouring rocket
and chain-gun fire on his would-be killers.
"We came in and took the fire
away from him," said Capt. Bill Ryan,
the commander of those Apaches. He
said it matter-of-factly, as if there were
nothing remarkable about piloting a
helicopter through hails of bullets and
rocket-propelled grenades to save a man's life. Now safely back at Bagram Air Base,
that soldier had come to thank his deliverers.
As Operation Anaconda wound down,
a string of well-wishers stopped by to pay
homage to the dozen or so Apache pilots
who had kept the al-Qaida troops at bay.
Not every visitor broke into tears. But all
echoed the sentiments of Lt. Col. "Chip" Preysler,
commander of 2nd Battalion,187th Infantry Regiment.
Preysler's battalion was one of two that
> flew into the teeth of entrenched al-Qaida
positions March 2, the first day of the operation.
Their very lives depended on Ryan's
Seven Apaches for close air support.
When he came out of the battle nine days
later, Preysler immediately sought out Ryan.
With a smile on his face and his hands spread wide,
he said, "You guys have huge balls."
"The weapon that changed the face of
the battle for us was the Apache," said
Col. Frank Wiercinski, commander of the
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
3rd Brigade and in charge of all conventional
U.S. troops in the battle.
"I was just so impressed by its capability,"
he said. "I had never seen the Apache in
combat before, though I've always trained
with it. I am a firm believer right now that
a brigade combat team commander needs his
Apache battalion in an air assault division – its
ability to protect us en route, its ability to set
the conditions on the landing zones and then
its close combat attack capability to take out fires.
"Artillery is a wonderful asset, but you need
an observer, you need a sensor, and then
you've got the artillery [tube] as the shooter.
An Apache can do all of that, and it's always moving."
But the rugged environment presents
fundamental challenges to flying
rotary-wing aircraft safely.
U.S. helicopters are routinely operating in
Afghanistan at altitudes of 6,000 feet to
12,000 feet above sea level, according to
Lt. Col. James Yonts, an Army CH-47
Chinook pilot.
"You're pushing the envelope right there,"
said Yonts, a spokesman for the U.S.
Central Command at MacDill Air Force
Base in Florida. "It's not a dangerous
environment, but as a pilot, it's one where
you have to be careful about what you're doing."
Cruising at those altitudes is not the problem.
The problem is taking off and landing so far
above sea level.
The key is the power available at those
altitudes from a helicopter's engine to
overcome the aircraft's weight.
Power spins a helicopter's rotor to produce
its lift force, which must exactly balance
the helo's weight to hover or fly.
"Power and weight, that's everything,"
said Lt. Cmdr. Ed Hansen, an engineering
test pilot at the Coast Guard's Aircraft Repair
and Supply Center in Elizabeth City, N.C.
"For the helicopter pilot, that's the key to life."
"You've got to do a roll-on landing," the
engineer said, flying the helicopter onto
the ground like an airplane, which demands
a large, flat area. But in the mountains of
Afghanistan, large, flat areas are scarce.
Flying in the thin air around mountain peaks
and valleys, aviators "must constantly be alert
for vicious air currents and winds that . . .
blow down slopes after dark, reverse course
after daybreak, curl over crests, bounce off
valley walls, drop aircraft a thousand feet or
more . . . in unpredictable downdrafts, and
whiplash them without warning," Collins said.
The harsh, arid environment in Afghanistan
and the austere military bases the rotary-wing
aircraft must operate from contribute to robbing
finely machined turbine engines of vital power.
When they take off and land, helicopters'
downwash can throw up enveloping clouds of
sand and dust.
Helicopter turboshaft engines - which can be
thought of as huge air pumps - suck in the
abrasive particles, which erode the delicately
shaped turbine blades.
The helicopter will continue to provide
close support. The AH-64A and later,
the AH-64D Apache Longbow, will act
as instant artillery and fire suppression.
Both carry a lethal arsenal of weapons,
including: 16 laser-guided Hellfire missiles;
76 70mm rockets, or a combination of both;
and a 30mm M230 automatic cannon with
1,200 rounds of ammunition.
"The Apache is the most lethal heavy
attack helicopter platform in the world,"
says CWO Jay Ferguson, a retired instructor
and maintenance test pilot with the U.S. Army
and Idaho National Guard."With almost 4,000
horsepower, the Apache can easily tackle the
toughest missions."
These Apaches have proven themselves by
playing key roles in Operation Desert Storm,
and more recently in Afghanistan, fighting in
rugged mountains, bringing their firepower
and survivability into the heat of battle.
During the opening days of Operation Anaconda,
with heavy resistance by al Qaeda and Taliban
forces, U.S. helicopters were forced to fly into
towering mountain ranges at high altitudes.
Attacking helicopters often found themselves
under heavy and sustained enemy fire from
many caves and bunkers that dot this rugged area.
"You have to love looking at the
30mm Chain Gun throwing
chunks of steel downrange"
An Apache Longbow armed with
16 Hellfire missiles, eight under
each wing.The Apache has been
designed for high survivability in combat.
The M230 provides a fire rate
of 625 rounds per minute.
The AD-64D Apache Longbow
is the most lethal, survivable,
deployable and maintainable
multimission helicopter in the world.
1st Battalion — 229th Aviation Regiment
3rd Battalion — 229th Aviation Regiment
"Hell’s Angels" "Flying Tigers"
The 229th Aviation Group (Attack)
(Airborne) rapidly deploys anywhere
in the world to provide the XVIII Airborne
Corps an attack helicopter capability which,
upon arrival, is prepared to conduct effective
combat operations. The 229th provides the Deep
Attack (Apache) helicopter capability for the
XVIII Airborne Corps’ worldwide, no notice
contingency mission. The 229th is the most
deployed attack helicopter unit in the Army.
"The Apache is the most deadly aircraft
we have," said Capt. Erick Enyart,
battalion S-1."We wait years and years
for the opportunity to fly the one aircraft
that’s the toughest to get."
"I love the gun," said Chief Warrant
Officer Wes Cox, an Apache pilot
and native of Moultrie, Ga. Of all the
Army’s aircraft, Enyart said the
Apache is one of the safest.
“The Apache is designed (with protection)
around the cockpit, much like NASCAR,”
he said.
"It’s designed for survivability of its crew."
My family saw what happened Sept. 11,”
added Apache pilot Chief Warrant Officer
Scott “Skinny” Reagan, a native of
Summerville, S.C. “They’re proud that I’m here.
They know what I can do. They know what
the aircraft is capable of."
Chief Warrant Officer Glenn Osborne,
a Fayetteville, N.C., resident, said his
wife understands his job, especially since
she’s dealt with his two tours in Bosnia
and one in Kosovo.
“Being an Apache pilot in today’s environment,
with the world the way it is, you have to go into
it knowing you’re giving a lot,” Osborne said.
"You have to communicate with your family.
Each person has to know of the sacrifices."
Apache crews are placed on shifts 12 to 15
times a month. In Afghanistan, the birds
have to be maintained at all times, according
to Osborne. “Dust, dirt and heat affect the
systems,” he said. “Think of the weapon
systems like letting a $3,000 laptop sit on
the flight line. It’s not designed to tolerate
A the heat and dust, but we have always met
mission because our guys bust butt to keep it clean."
Kandahar, Afghanistan -- Sgt. Peter Magua,
an AH-64 Apache mechanic with D Company,
3rd Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), tightens
the nuts on one of the Apaches which recently
arrived in theater. A U.S. Army general called
the helicopter mechanics in Afghanistan
"mechanical heroes” for super work in assembling
the helicopters very rapidly, working day and night,
because these additional Apaches were urgently
needed in the battles of Operation Anaconda.
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