MAXWELL AFB, Ala. -- -- Members of the 908th AW's 25th Aerial Port Squadron and Airmen from several Maxwell AFB organizations took part in an exercise Sept. 10 involving two UH-60A Black Hawk Army helicopters and their aircrews practicing sling loading and tactical troop transport near the Maxwell AFB flightline.
First practicing with loading and unloading personnel including simulated wounded volunteers on stretchers, the Black Hawk aircrews then picked up sling loads from the field and flew around the field and off-loaded again.
25th Aerial Port Squadron members Senior Airmen Bryant Culpepper and Airman 1st Class Joshua Fleming participated in the actual attaching and detaching of the sling loads from the Black Hawks.
"The Black Hawk helicopter exercises add a new and exciting element to our training," said 25th APS commander Lt. Col. Paul Baird. "I think it had a very positive effect on them. It was good training to help prepare for any situation that we may encounter when deployed."
Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Whited, 25th APS transportation superintendent, agreed. "It was one of the most awesome things they've experienced. They both worked up to 5:30 or 6 p.m. that night and they came in just beaming," the chief said.
Lt. Col. Kjäll Gopaul, Air University System Integration Division chief, supervised the exercise. "Expeditionary readiness is important and this exercise enabled members of the 25th APS to gain practical training while providing an opportunity for three pilots to qualify on slings," the colonel said.
The Black Hawk aircrews were from the Birmingham Army National Guard attached to the 197th Infantry Brigade based at Fort Benning, Ga. Along with the 25th APS members, The Black Hawk crews flew 242 Airmen during the training including members from several Headquarter Air University branches, 68 Air Force Judge Advocate General school students, 66 officer trainees from Basic Officer Training as well as 42nd Medical Group personnel who received training on medical evacuation litter carries to and from the helicopters.
"This is the first real hands-on training we have done with helicopters," said Chief Whited. Aerial port personnel completed a two-day class learning marshalling (the use of arm and hand signals), learning where to stand and where not to stand on sling loads capped by four hours of practice hooking the slings to the helicopter and learning where not to hook the slings
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"Sling load missions are hard to come by. It was great, they loved it," said Lt. Col. Gopaul, noting the Black Hawk aircrews' exuberance over the exercise.
"Not only does this training have deployed applications, but it is a great morale booster when you participate in something extraordinary, something outside the box," added Colonel Baird, the aerial port squadron commander.
Describing his part in organizing the exercise, Chief Whited said, "I worked with Lt. Col. Gopaul and provided him with classroom facilities as well as having different types of sling loads rigged up. The three types of sling loads were a type V platform, (an airdrop platform or pallet with a 3,500- to 4,000-pound box of lumber strapped to it), cargo net with parachutes and rigging and an A-22 cargo bag."
The system integration division chief cited another reason for the exercises, the IED threat in the theater. "It's safer to conduct helicopter loads than to transport loads by convoy on the ground. Our Airmen are just as involved on the ground as our sister services on the ground in the AOR are as well as in the air."
Members of the Army guard unit from Birmingham need the sling load training that they couldn't get in Birmingham, Chief Whited said. "This helps fulfill their mission training requirements. It also helps us reduce our costs in transportation because it gives us the ability to refrain from putting miles on our vehicles so we don't have the big transport vehicle costs."
"We also want to utilize the Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to sling the airdrop loads to the base from the drop zone rather than having to truck the loads over the road," said Colonel Baird.
"This training being conducted will help ensure Airmen will be focused on the mission and not the distractions of flying by helicopter," said Colonel Gopaul.
Colonel Gopaul added that he wanted to thank the 908th Security Forces Squadron for providing "mission-critical support for the operation."