chEEr FroM pAgE 2 - Hurlburt Warrior

Friday, December 28, 2012 | Hurlburt Warrior | Page
319th lieutenant hits career milestone
By Tech. Sgt. Vanessa
Valentine
1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
1st Lt. Aaron S. Chamberlain, from
the 319th Special Operations Squadron,
recently surpassed 1,000 combat
hours over 190 sorties, while deployed
with his unit in Bagram, Afghanistan.
“Chamberlain is an exceptional officer
and sets the example for others
to follow,” said Lt. Col. Patrick Daley,
319th SOS commander.
“Other U-28 aircrew has done
this in the past, but it is a very rare
occurrence for aviators, especially
a lieutenant,” said Daley “To put it
in perspective, I also passed 1,000
combat hours this deployment, but
after 17 years of service compared to
Aaron’s three years.”
“Our heavy deployment cycle
drives this type of performance and
no one does it better than the 319th
SOS and our sister squadron, the 34th
SOS,” said Daley.
The 319th SOS shares worldwide
U-28 combat operations with the 34th
SOS, completing the first-ever unit
deployment for the 1st Special Operations
Wing.
“It’s our first reconstitution since
we stood up and every four months
we will be rotating out with the 34th
SOS,” said Daley.
“U-28 squadrons are the most deployed
flying units on Hurlburt, Cannon,
Mildenhall, and Kadena. We also
fly about three times as many combat
hours as the rest of the 1st Special
Operations Wing combined,” Daley
added. “We have been deployed
at this rate for the past six years
continuously.”
Chamberlain, a combat systems
officer for the U-28 aircraft, whose
actual flying hours add up to 1208.6,
attributes this unusually high number
to the unit’s deployment tempo and
his ability to get trained up quickly.
“We all have a lot of combat hours
but I was lucky enough to deploy as
soon as I got to the 319th and it’s been
non-stop ever since,” Chamberlain
said.”I work with a group of great
hard-working and dedicated men and
women.”
Capt. Catherine Brewer, a squadron
executive officer, who also works
with Chamberlain, said he’s always
working on something to help out the
team.
He is incredibly smart and inquisitive,
she explained.
“This past deployment, he figured
out how to help other air assets with
their systems by integrating our
tactics with theirs, to form a smooth
working relationship with them.”
“He gets the job done and gets it
done right the first time, which is essential
in our line of work. He also has
a great sense of humor and he’s just
an all-around stand-up guy,” she said.
Chamberlain, who received his
commission through ROTC at Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University in
Daytona Beach, Fla., graduated with
See milestone page 9
Tech. Sgt Vanessa Valentine | USAF
1st Lt. Aaron S. Chamberlain, a combat systems officer
with the 319th Special Operations Squadron, 1st Special
Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field stands with a 319th
SOS U-28 airplane on the Hurlburt Field flightline.
Chamberlain recently surpassed one thousand combat
hours over 190 sorties, a relatively rare occurrence for a
lieutenant.