REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (July 31, 2024) – It was the first North Atlantic Treaty Organization military exercise in Sweden since joining the alliance -- and Lt. Col. Stephen Morrow was commanding the aviation units.
His aircraft, “Task Force Tiger,” were part of Swift Response, which had the 173rd Airborne Brigade, alongside NATO allies, executing a Joint Forcible Entry parachute jump into Hagshult Air Base, Sweden. His team of aviators performed both MEDEVAC – medical evacuations with a full medical team – and CASEVAC – non-medical transport for someone injured that does not always require a medical professional on board.
“We had an event in which 10 Soldiers were injured,” Morrow said. “Four MEDEVAC aircraft took nine of them to two Swedish hospitals. But then a young Soldier came in with an eye injury after everybody's left. My pilots were able to jump into an aircraft and fly him to a hospital. That's where our training and us becoming familiar with the flying area really paid off in huge dividends.”
Morrow, when not in uniform as an aviation battalion commander, is a lead aerospace engineer in the Systems Readiness Directorate’s Special Operation Aircraft Division at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center. Growing up in New Jersey, being an Army aviator was all that he ever wanted to do, and he wanted to get in the air as quickly as possible.
“When everybody else was getting their driver's license, I actually went off to basic training, came back and went to my senior year of high school."
After serving as an enlisted Soldier, Morrow transitioned to the Army National Guard and attended officer candidate school, working toward his goal of flying helicopters. His first challenge: pass the eye exam. Morrow wore glasses and underwent laser eye surgery to get closer to that goal.
“As soon as I was approved medically, because I had the support of the different senior officers within the aviation community in New Jersey Army National Guard, I was able to then go to flight school,” he said.
Deployments would follow – two to Iraq and one to Saudi Arabia. Responsibilities would multiply as Morrow rose up in the ranks. A career pivot, as Morrow transferred to the Army Reserve. Without the support of his family, he said, he could not have done it.
“I wouldn't have been able to do this long as I have without them. I am very fortunate to be able to do something that I enjoy,” he said.
Part of that is working at the Center, which he joined as a contractor in 2004 and moving to a civil servant position in 2006.
“There's a perspective when you go someplace like Sweden and take our aircraft over, that there's a piece of the folks here at Redstone that were instrumental in those aircraft traveling across the world."
Morrow takes his responsibility as an Army leader seriously, and his advice to the young Soldier is not hypothetical, it is one that he has given time and again to those under his command.
“There are going to be good days and there will be bad days. Tomorrow is always another day. Don’t give up. Always hope for better days.”
It would be easy to hang up the uniform, only work one full-time job and retire, knowing that he had given more than enough to his country. But for Morrow, it is a simple answer to what keeps him continuing to serve.
“It’s the Soldiers,” he said. “We are entrusted with the sons and daughters of our nation -- the most important thing about our nation, not the equipment. It's that responsibility that drives you.”
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The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the Army’s research and development focal point for advanced technology in aviation and missile systems. It is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. AvMC is responsible for delivering collaborative and innovative aviation and missile capabilities for responsive and cost-effective research, development and life cycle engineering solutions, as required by the Army’s strategic priorities and support to its Cross-Functional Teams.
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