October - ACO - NATO

KFOR CHRONICLEIt's a bird, it's a plane, wait, what is that? For some local residents,a Humvee suspended from a Blackhawk helicopter can be a remarkablesight, but for Soldiers from B Company, 1-104th (Lift), TaskForce Shadow, it's just part of the job.Text and photos Spc.Alicia DillAnother part of the days workis training infantry troops onsling load operations. Thisexercise included how to properlyprepare a load for flightand execute the hook up ontothe helicopter. "We are mainlyteaching them about our operationsand educating them onhow we work and teachingthem why it is important for usto know their plan so we canbetter support them in allaspects of it," said 1st Lt.Christopher Loftus, pilot, BCompany, 1-104th (Lift), TaskForce Shadow.This is the first time Task ForceShadow has trained anotherU.S. task force on sling loadingduring this deployment. Duringthe preparation stage, Shadowsoldiers explained the differenttasks involved in sling operationsthat led to an understandingof the "big picture".A sling loading missioninvolves a ground crew, crewchiefs and pilots; all workingtogether to move personneland their equipment. In thiscase, the ground crew wastroops from Task ForceSidewinder and the flight crewwas soldiers from Task ForceShadow. Part of the trainingwas showing the troops how tosecure everything so theHMMWV remains intact afterthe drop off. Using "100 mph"tape, everything from the windowsto the antenna wassecured to ensure an intactHMMWV on arrival.Another critical task in theoperation is simply hooking upthe sling to the hovering aircraft.The Soldier on theground has to remain steadyas the helicopter moves intoposition over the sling. As theground guide holds his stance,the flight crew takes over. Asthe Blackhawks carry their loadto the drop off point, the groundcrew secures the area andwaits for the flight crew tocome in and release theHMMWVs from the sling. "Ithink with the guidance of TaskForce Shadow the soldiers andI were fully prepared to completethis training along withteam work," said Staff Sgt.Spencer Davenport, squadleader, C Company, 1-160thInfantry, Task ForceSidewinder.When the helicopters arrivedfor the pick up, the crew chiefsdid a quick inspection of theHMMWVs. "They did a reallygood job preparing the load,the one I inspected was perfect,"said Sgt. Max Geise,crew chief, B Company, 1-104th (Lift). After inspection,the mission continued on witha successful hook-up and dropoff. With soldiers and twoHMMWVs moved from oneplace to another in a matter ofminutes, the instruction provedto be efficient.Davenport, a Seal Beach,Calif. native expressed thebenefits of conducting this typeof exercise during this deployment."Kosovo is a good placeto do sling load trainingbecause of the large amountsof open areas and the largeamount of hard to reach terrainwhere sling loading vehicles orsupplies would be very helpfulin order to complete exercises,missions and training."For everyone involved, it wasan important step in workingwith other soldiers from a differenttask force. With all theresources available to bothtask forces, the sling load trainingwas a new experience forsome soldiers and a helpfulreminder for others. One partof the success of the instructionis the learning process andpreparing for the future of slingload training.12 Oct. 31, 2005www.nato.int/kfor