Task Force Kelly "got skills"

When the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade assigned to Bagram, Afghanistan, needed their battle damaged CH-47D helicopter repaired, Task Force Kelly was there to make the repairs.

The task force, a group of Army National Guard Soldiers from Mississippi and Illinois, immediately provided critical repairs on the CH-47D, a Chinook helicopter used for heavy lift of passengers and cargo.

Task Force Kelly, part of the U.S. Army Materiel Command's 401st Army Field Support Brigade Afghanistan, is an Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot in theater.

The team has completed 4,750 man-hours of depot repairs on helicopters such as the UH-60s, AH-64s and CH-47s.

This work has ranged the recent repair of a CH-47D with a crack in the skin, to repairing a 240 beam.

The CH-47D crack was made up of compound curves, requiring the mechanics to shape a softer metal to fit the area and then heat treat it to the proper hardness to support the stresses in that area. This repair took two weeks to complete with two teams working ten-hour shifts.

Two teams, working twelve-hour shifts, were also needed for repairs to a CH-47D Chinook 240 beam. A 240 beam is the main floor beam that supports the floor, forward cargo hook and forward landing gear. This repair took about one and a half weeks to complete, two weeks less than estimated, and was a first for an AVCRAD in theater.

"The team was put to the test with all of their sheet metal mechanics skills to complete this mission," said Lt. Col. Clarence Kelly, Theater Aviation Maintenance Program officer in charge.

The efforts of Task Force Kelly resulted in thousands of dollars saved by repairs done in theater, timely maintenance support, and repaired equipment returned to the Soldier.

Always ready to support, this National Guard team remains constant in their dedication to keeping the Soldiers safe.

"Our motto is 'keeping them in the fight' and every member of TAMP Afghanistan is living up to that motto" says Kelly.