Date Published: July 3, 2006   

Ready for anything

McEntire, Shaw soldiers undergo rigorous air rescue exercise

Chris Moore / The Item A Black Hawk helicopter from McEntire Air National Guard is seen recently at Shaw Air Force Base, site of last week's training exercise.

Also Read Convoy on the ground ensures no one left behind

By LESLIE CANTU
Item Senior Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com

Spc. Clay Fowler crouched on the floor of the Black Hawk, scanning the ground as pilots Maj. Charles Lewis and Chief Warrant Officer Sean Reynolds whisked the helicopter over treetops, searching for a downed pilot.

The situation was only a training exercise, and the downed Shaw Air Force Base pilot was waiting safely near an airstrip in Stuckey, in Williamsburg County, but that didn't make the South Carolina National Guard crew any less determined to do well in its portion of Dynamic Weasel, a two-day training exercise centered at Shaw last week.

The crew had a description of the pilot's location from A-10s circling overhead, protecting him from enemy fire, and coordinates provided by the pilot.

Earlier that afternoon, as the Pope Air Force Base A-10s were simulating providing close air support for friendly convoys, the pilots got a message on their avionics that a pilot was down and notified the air operations center in St. Louis, which then notified the helicopter crew on standby at Florence Regional Airport.

The Black Hawk went into the air, 500 feet above the ground at first, then down to 50 feet above the trees as it dashed toward the pilot, some 40 miles away. Along with information about the pilot's location, the air operations center forwarded to the crew a series of personal questions the pilot had prepared beforehand and to which only he would know the answers.

Chris Moore / The Item Spc. Clay Fowler looks out of the Black Hawk and talks to his other crew members as the helicopter hovers less than 50 feet from the top of the trees as he searches for the downed pilot during a portion of Dynamic Weasel, a two-day training exercise centered at Shaw Air Force Base this past week.

As the helicopter approached the pilot's location, Fowler and Sgt. Carey Atkins prepared for action. The helicopter started to land when it spotted airmen along the runway, only to realize they were joint terminal attack controllers calling in airstrikes for another portion of the exercise.

A flashing light bouncing from Lt. Russ Rotan's signal mirror alerted the crew to Rotan's location farther down the runway, tucked into the tree line, and the Black Hawk bounced back into the air and zipped down the runway until the side doors were directly across from Rotan, lying in the grass.

As it landed Fowler sprang from the open doors, racing toward Rotan with his head tucked, rotor blades whipping up the grass. Fowler leaned into Rotan to ask the challenge question that would prove that Rotan was who he claimed to be while Atkins raced up alongside.

The two National Guardsmen grasped Rotan under each arm and ran him into the waiting helicopter. Thirty-five seconds after landing, the Black Hawk was in the air, racing away from the scene.

The A-10s accompanied the helicopter until it was safely away, providing protection just as they had earlier cleared the area of enemy positions to protect both the downed pilot and incoming Black Hawk crew.

The crew, though, was not pleased with its time. Thirty-five seconds was "way too long," said Staff Sgt. Scott Upshaw. Seat belt problems had slowed them down.

Chris Moore / The Item Fowler, left, and Sgt. Carey Atkins, right, rush Lt. Russ Rotan back to the helicopter.

Had it been a real rescue, the crew would have simply thrown Rotan onto the floor and held onto him as the Black Hawk took off. As the situation was an exercise, though, the crew took the extra seconds to fasten him in properly.

In a real situation, both the pilot and the helicopter crew would be in danger, Upshaw said, so the goal is to get in and out as quickly as possible and to do whatever is necessary to get him into the helicopter.

Once Rotan was rescued Friday afternoon, though, the crew had completed its portion of the exercise and the Black Hawk was swooping over downtown Sumter on its way back to Shaw, where it deposited the unharmed Rotan, minus his 77th Fighter Squadron patch, which he gave to Fowler.

Search-and-rescue is just one of the missions of the Black Hawk crew, which returned in December from a year in Iraq. Crews move cargo and troops, perform command and control operations and even fight fires. They recently helped fight the blaze in an old mill in Great Falls.

The crew is based at McEntire Joint National Guard Station.



Contact Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.