Strong Support Beams Help Form Strong Partnerships

By Staff Sgt. Veronica McNabbJuly 8, 2019

1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
1 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Medina, 1106th Aviation Group, explains how fabricated sheet metal should align to the beam of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter to 2nd Lt. Raad Alzubi, Royal Jordanian Air Force, during a recent UH-60 Blackhawk subject matter ex... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
2 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Spillers, 34th Infantry Division, monitors the trimming of sheet metal by Sgt. Amer Alamaira, Royal Jordanian Air Force, during a UH-60 Blackhawk subject matter expert exchange at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amma... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
3 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lt. Col. Richard Brummond, Task Force Spartan, observes a part fabricated by Royal Jordanian Air Force that will go on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during an aviation subject matter expert exchange at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amman, Jordan, J... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
4 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 2nd Lt. Fareed Hailat, Royal Jordanian Air Force, drills a hole on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a subject matter expert exchange with the U. S. Army's 1106th Aviation Group at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amman, Jordan, June 19, 2019. (U.S... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
5 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Amer Alamaira, Royal Jordanian Air Force, sands down a fabricated sheet metal piece that will be applied to a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a subject matter expert exchange with the U. S. Army's 1106th Aviation Group at the King Abdullah II ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
6 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 2nd Lt. Raad Alzubi, Royal Jordanian Air Force, aligns a fabricated sheet metal piece to a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a subject matter expert exchange with the U. S. Army's 1106th Aviation Group at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amman, Jorda... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
7 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Amer Alamaira, Royal Jordanian Air Force, sands down a fabricated sheet metal piece that will be applied to a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a subject matter expert exchange with the U. S. Army's 1106th Aviation Group at the King Abdullah II ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
8 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
1106th Aviation Group and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
9 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Medina, 1106th Aviation Group, and 2nd Lt. Fareed Hailat, Royal Jordanian Air Force, shake hands during a recent UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter subject matter expert exchange at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amman, Jordan, Ju... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

AMMAN, Jordan - U.S. Army Soldiers of the 1106th Aviation Group participated in a U.S. Army Central (ARCENT) aviation subject matter expert exchange with the Royal Jordanian Air Force at the King Abdullah II Air Base in Amman, Jordan, in June 2019.

The 1106th Aviation Group, California Army National Guard, is organized as a theater aviation sustainment maintenance group and is deployed to Kuwait providing depot level maintenance to U.S. Army aircraft across the Middle East.

During the exchange, 1106th Soldiers shared their experience on UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter beam repair and sheet metal fabrication with the Jordanians.

"This type of damage is common for this type of aircraft, you have a crack or damage to the beam, but this level of maintenance is something that the Jordanians don't have right now" said Lt. Col. Richard Brummond, Task Force Spartan aviation director. "But we have that capability and in order to get this exchange it was a group effort from on multiple organizations from the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, Task Force Spartan, U.S. ARCENT, and the U.S. Embassy."

Subject matter expert exchanges like these allow U.S. Army Soldiers to improve working relationships and interoperability with important partner forces, and it can take a lot of planning to set the plan in motion.

The U.S. Embassy in Jordan had to arrange this to aviation exchange by working with the Jordanian government, presenting the task and purposes of the mission, and what expectations and outcomes the mission could result in.

"Our mission here is to increase the capability through a partnership between the Jordanians and the unified helicopter command," said Brummond. "Exchanges like this play a large part in that partnership."

Brummond emphasized the uniqueness of this exchange.

"Jordanians are doing 99.9% of this repair, and our guys are here to help guide and step in if we need to."

Staff Sgt. Jose Medina was part of the 1106th team that shared his knowledge on sheet metal and repairing the beam.

"I am really happy to be in this situation to help everywhere and wherever I can." said Medina.

The event provides a strong foundation for future engagements and will help get the aircraft functional and increase the operational value of the Jordanian UH-60.

"The crack of this aircraft for them results in a nonmission capable aircraft, only being used for parts and scrap metal." Brummond said. "With this repair, it means the Jordanians are getting an entirely functioning aircraft once the exchange is complete and this is the outcome we are projecting and hoping for."