By Ann Roosevelt
Even as the U.S. mission in Iraq winds down, the new Boeing [BA] Ch-47F Chinook helicopter has been pushed hard by the Blackcats of B/2-227 Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq, racking up flying hours, changing tactics and meeting the mission, according to a staff officer.
“Nine months ago, no one would have presumed the operational tempo for CH-47s in Iraq would exceed that of the 2007 ‘Surge’ by nearly 25 percent,” said correspondence sent by Capt. Kevin Consedine, assistant brigade S-3. “After all, we were deploying to a combat theater where a fragile peace was taking hold and hostilities country-wide were at all time lows.”
The Blackcats received their new F-models in 2008 (Defense Daily, Nov. 19, 2008). The unit, the third Army unit to field the CH-47F, has 12 of the helicopters since it was certified combat-ready in July 2007 (Defense Daily Aug 15, 2007).The Army wants more than 450 F-models.
The Blackcats completed environmental qualifications in Kuwait in April 2009, after the 2007 surge appeared contained and IED use declined, he wrote.
“However, the role of the CH-47 in combat has never been to close with and engage the enemy within a defined battle space,” Consedine wrote. “The threat in Iraq represents enemies that know no boarders: desperation, poverty, and fear. In a country struggling to build a civil infrastructure capable of maintaining peace and stability, the unmatched capabilities of the CH-47F would be needed now more than ever.”
Tactics were revisited and changed, he said.
“Day-time flight in Iraq for CH-47s had been unheard of since Nov. 2, 2003 when a CH-47D was shot down near Fallujah, resulting in 16 Americans killed and 25 injured,” he said. “That loss had lasting implications on the tactical utilization of CH-47s for years. No commander was willing to risk the reoccurrence of such an event regardless of the degradation of the enemy’s capability.”
The Warrior Team of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade assumed the aviation mission for U.S. Division-Central in May 2009, Consedine said.
“Due to the unprecedented demand for CH-47s, flying over 900 hours per month, it quickly became apparent the required maintenance would soon overwhelm operational capability of the aircraft,” he said. “The Air Cav Brigade was faced with a decision to either reduce Chinook availability or find an alternative that would permit greater flexibility in managing the maintenance flow of aircraft.”
Daytime operations were revisited.
“Day-time flight permitted optimal phase flow management with the option of ‘double-tapping’ low time aircraft for day and night missions,” he wrote. “For a storied brigade long known for its mission-focused reputation, the decision was easy. For the first time in six years, the CH-47 would fly during the day, and in typical Cav fashion, nothing was understated as the crews flew with the unmistakable Air Cav patch adorned on the nose.”
The decision brought change: “The Blackcats have flown 8,000 hours in just over nine months of combat. The missions have spanned the spectrum: Joint U.S.-Iraqi Army Air Assaults, external loads, numerous operations in support of special operations forces, detainee transport, and battlefield circulation of personnel and essential material,” Consedine writes. “The totals are astounding considering over 65,000 passengers and 7.5 million pounds of cargo have been moved on the backs of a single unit,” he said. “Prior to its arrival, the CH-47F was touted as the preeminent heavy lift helicopter in the world.”
And the new helicopter has proved its worth.
“The F-model has lived up to every expectation to include its resiliency under a high operational tempo coupled with some of the most adverse environmental conditions in the world,” Consedine wrote. “In over 2,600 launches, spare aircraft were required less than two percent of the time. The aircraft, combined with the best maintainers in the Army, have made Bravo Company one of the most combat effective aviation companies to deploy to Iraq.”
Looking back at two deployments, Bravo Co. troopers reflected: “In 2006, success was uncertain as civil war seemed imminent and U.S. fatalities were exceeding 100 per month. After the 90-day deployment extension in support of the surge, the Blackcats returned home to field the F-model, support three [Joint Readiness Training Center] JRTC rotations, and provide natural disaster relief for two Hurricanes, as well as flooding in Presidio, Texas. Now, at the end of yet another Iraq deployment, there is a sense of closure that did not exist in 2007.”
That hope can be seen “as missions are flown throughout the country in broad day-light, Iraqi children will pause amidst their soccer game to wave at the aircrews passing overhead,” he writes. “Such a small gesture indicates something that has long been absent from this country: hope.”
The Blackcat troopers head home this summer, but if you ask about re-deployment and returning home to their families, “you may get a sarcastic laugh or an uneasy smile,” Consedine writes. “This unit knows all too well the capability they possess never loses its demand. Sadly, we live in a world constantly challenged by man-made and natural disasters. Times of crisis call for decisive action by those who stand ready to help. Where there is desperation, poverty, or fear the CH-47 has a mission. In those who would use these evils as a weapon, we have an enemy. We are the Warrior Team.”
The CH-47F has a newly designed, modernized airframe, a Rockwell Collins [COL] Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit and a BAE Systems Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS). Improved survivability features include the Common Missile Warning and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser systems. Two 4,733-horsepower Honeywell [HON] engines enable the F to reach speeds greater than 175 mph and transport more than 21,000 pounds. With the Robertson Aviation Extended Range Fuel System, the F model has a mission radius of more than 400 nautical miles.