Face of Defense: Guardsmen Bring Experience to Iraq

By Army Sgt. Neil Gussman, Special to American Forces Press Service

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - National Guard soldiers bring a variety of life and work experiences with them on deployment, and even the smallest unit can include a surprising array of skills and experience.

In October, Task Force Keystone's Alaska-based C Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, needed a crew for a routine flight to two of their remote sites. Illinois' A Company, 1-106th, supplied that crew, which wound up flying a Pennsylvania National Guard Black Hawk helicopter.

The diversity the National Guard embodies is reflected in the jumble of helicopters and crews that came together to accomplish a single mission and is echoed in the stories behind the four Illinois soldiers.

In the left pilot seat was Army Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Schroeder, 38, an instructor pilot with 21 years of service. The Sherman, Ill., native joined the Army in 1988 and served as a UH-1 Huey mechanic for four years before attending flight school.

In 2003, he took a job flying the governor of Illinois. Prior to being deployed in January 2009, he even flew for Gov. Rod Blagojevich before his removal from office.

Schroeder said he enjoyed the times he was able to fly then-Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, and that he looks forward to flying for Quinn, now the governor, when he returns from deployment. Married just a month before he was called back to active duty, this is his second deployment, Schroeder said. He first deployed in 2004 with A Company for 15 months.

In the right pilot seat was Army Chief Warrant Officer Nathan McKean, 31, of Decatur, Ill. McKean has served 12 years, beginning with four years in the Navy, during which he built bombs on the aircraft carrier USS Stennis and served in a combat search-and-rescue unit based in San Diego.

McKean came home in 2001, he said, enrolled in college, and joined the Army National Guard. He trained as a crew chief with B Company, 1-106th. After leaving active duty, he decided he needed a good job that would allow him time off for military duty — lots of time off. In 2002, he took a job as an engineer on the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

But within a year, he was training to go to Iraq, and he left for a 15-month deployment with B Company in 2004. Soon after he returned, McKean went to flight school for a year, then had additional training before his current tour in Iraq, which began in January. He has worked on the railroad for two and a half years, he said.

Behind McKean, on the right side of the Black Hawk, was Army Sgt. Steve Sunzeri, 26, of Naperville, Ill. Sunzeri has six years in the Illinois Army National Guard. From 2003 to 2007, he served as a scout and infantryman with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment. In 2006, he completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree in history. In 2007, he reclassified to become a flight crew chief, deploying in 2009 with A Company, 1-106th.

After nearly two years of service in helicopters, Sunzeri said, he plans to return to college to earn a degree in aviation management at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and at the same time to train to be a commercial pilot. "My goal is to fly fixed-wing aircraft for a major airline," he said.

In the meantime, he will earn the ratings necessary to become a fixed-wing pilot while earning his degree, he said. He plans to continue to serve as a crew chief in the Illinois Army National Guard while he attends college and completes flight training.

In the left seat, behind the pilot, was the door gunner, the youngest member of the crew and the one with the most combat deployments.

Army Cpl. Michael Randazzo, 24, of Queens, N.Y., is on his third deployment in six years with the Army National Guard.
He enlisted shortly after graduating from high school, and he served as an infantryman with the New York-based 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment. In May 2004, he deployed with the 1-69th to Baghdad and Taji, and spent the time patrolling and conducting raids. He also worked route clearance on Route Irish.

When he returned from Iraq, Randazzo worked for an executive protection company until June 2008, when he volunteered to return to Iraq as a door gunner with 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment.

Near the end of that tour, he volunteered for a second consecutive tour as a door gunner with Company A, 1-106th. When this tour is complete, Randazzo said, plans to return to New York City and "squeeze in a semester of college" before going to flight school next fall.

After flight school, he said, he will continue his college education until 2012, when he plans to deploy to Afghanistan as an Army helicopter pilot.

'Push Crews' Ensure On-time Missions

Army Staff Sgt. Michael Maass carries a Black Hawk helicopter door before an early morning flight as part of his duty as a member of the push crew. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Neil Gussman

By Army Sgt. Neil Gussman, Special to American Forces Press Service

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - For door gunners and crew chiefs in Company A, 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, the longest days are the ones when they don't fly.

This Illinois Army National Guard unit uses a "push crew" to make sure every mission takes off on time and each aircraft gets back to mission-ready status as soon as possible.

If a mission is set to fly at 6 a.m., for example, the flight crew arrives for a pre-flight briefing at 3 a.m. The push crew begins its work at 2 a.m.

"The first thing to do at 0200 is start the coffee," said Army Cpl. Ricki Jenkins of Glasford, Ill. "Before going to the airfield, the push crew writes down the crew roster, the tail numbers of the birds, time out and time back."

The push crew normally consists of a crew chief or gunner for each pair of Black Hawk helicopters, but sometimes the crew is just one soldier. The crew drives a half-mile from the orderly room to the maintenance hangars, where they switch to a specially equipped Gator vehicle. Before going to the flightline, the push crew gathers aviation life-support equipment, weapons, water, ice and the egress kits for ground-mounting the M-240 door guns. The push crew also gathers the flight crew's flight bags, helmets, vests and communications gear. Soon, the push crew is on the flightline loading equipment and getting the Black Hawks ready for the mission.

"We remove the doors and windows and stack them in the trailer, then pull the [tie-down ropes on the rotor blades], pull the engine plugs and [auxiliary power unit] plugs and engine covers," Jenkins said. "We mount the M-240s on the birds, then head back to the maintenance [container complex] to load the doors and windows in storage racks."

By 4:30 a.m., the flight crew will be at the aircraft with night-vision goggles, rescue radios and other equipment. After this equipment is installed or stowed, the flight crew and the push crew go to breakfast together. When they return, the flight crew goes through the pre-flight checks. If everything goes normally, the mission takes off on time, and the push crew remains at the airfield for 40 minutes just in case a maintenance issue arises early in the flight.

If the aircraft has a problem before takeoff, the push crew is ready to move the crew and equipment to another aircraft.

"Our priority is to make sure the mission goes on time," said Army Capt. Jason Henderson, Company A commander and a Normal, Ill., resident. "If there is a mechanical problem, the push crew can bump [the flight crew] to a spare aircraft."

Henderson said the push crew's role in post-flight operations is just as important as getting the mission ready to go.

"They make sure aircraft are ready for the next mission," he said. "When the mission is over, the push crew identifies and fixes faults right away."

A half hour before the mission is scheduled to land, the push crew is back at the airfield, loading the doors and windows in the Gator's trailer. As soon as the first Black Hawk lands, the push crew and the flight crew work together to get aircraft ready to fly for the next mission. The M-240 door guns are dismounted and set in the Gator. The crew members take off their helmets, vests and other flight gear and load their bags. The push crew re-hangs the doors, installs the windows and ties down the rotor blades.

While the equipment is loaded, post-flight maintenance begins. The Gator has a rack above its dashboard with every kind of lubricant a Black Hawk helicopter needs, as well as tools for on-the-spot repairs.

"By the time we get the gear stowed and the weapons turned in to the arms room, it's a long day," said Army Staff Sgt. Michael Maass of Hillsboro, Ill. Maass, a door gunner who was with Company A on its previous deployment to Iraq in 2004 and 2005, is a full-time Army National Guard technician and a wheeled-vehicle mechanic who volunteered to be a door gunner for this deployment.

"Door gunner is a job that only exists in a war zone," he said. "We [door gunners] all volunteered to deploy."

For a mission that takes off at 6 a.m. and returns at 1 p.m., the push crew starts work at 2 a.m. and may still be finishing routine maintenance hours after the flight lands; their days average 12 to 14 hours. The standard rotation for a Company A door gunner or crew chief is four days of flight, two days of push duty and one day off.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Herbert Stevens of Normal, Ill., a Company A pilot, said the push procedures reflect lessons learned during the unit's last tour.

"There's no room for error in aviation," he said. "We developed procedures that reduce risk and make sure the flight crew can focus on the mission."

Face of Defense: Soldier Draws From Seven Deployments

By Army Sgt. Brandon T. Metroka
Special to American Forces Press Service

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2009 - For Army Sgt. William Altman, an operations noncommissioned officer with the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, doing his job with excellence is the motivation that carries him through his daily shift.

"I just enjoy doing a good job," said Altman, an 18-year veteran with seven deployments under his belt. "Keeping the commander updated on the goings-on in our sector is pretty important, and is the objective."

Along with more than 20 other soldiers working various shifts and taskings, Altman is responsible for manning the brigade's tactical operations center, which requires vigilant manning 24 per day, seven days per week. For Altman, the brigade's blue force tracker and fires sergeant, continuity is often the greatest challenge.

"While we might work shifts, any issues must be resolved or worked to completion," Altman said. "Otherwise, we're creating a sort of 'butterfly effect' for the next shift."

Altman is no stranger to working in current operations. With his multiple deployments, Altman brings a trove of experience to a fairly reactive job often misunderstood by other soldiers.

"Other sections might work a normal work day and be closed for certain periods," Altman said. "Here, the lights never go out. Operations are continuous."

Fighting complacency and mid-deployment doldrums is essential to proficiency, he said. All soldiers, from the battle captain, who is the quarterback of the section, to the radio telephone operator who functions as the primary medium for passing and receiving information, must be cognizant of the big picture at all times. Soldiers must be prepared for the unexpected, including indirect fire attacks, small-arms fire attacks on aircraft and diverting air support for soldiers on the ground.

"We manage to handle high-stress events well, mostly because we all know our roles," Altman said. "Even when days are fairly quiet, we have to fight boredom by trying to stay proficient on our equipment."

Although the tempo occasionally slows, there is never a shortage of work for the soldiers. Altman and the staff keep busy by organizing various document binders, from fragmentary orders to Red Cross messages, maintaining the daily log, making changes to personnel flight manifestos, and keeping track of scheduled flights.

Soldiers also are trained on state-of-the-art electronic systems like the Blue Force Tracker, which uses global-positioning technology to view the location of aircraft and vehicles during missions. In addition, soldiers have more traditional methods of communication and battle-tracking tools at their disposal, to include instant messaging, phone lines and FM and high-frequency radios. Numerous maps and overlays line the walls of the operations center for reference and as an alternative method of tracking the location of aircraft.

"If technology fails, we still must be knowledgeable enough to be able to accomplish our mission," Altman said. "Pencils and paper, charts and darts; our jobs don't stop just because the technology stops working."

(Army Sgt. Brandon T. Metroka serves with the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade.)