FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Fort Riley’s aviation brigade hit the skies heavy this week to train with its 1st Infantry Division counterparts on the ground.
The Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, used its arsenal of Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters Aug. 3 to conduct air assault training with troops from the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment.
Air assaults are the movement of ground troops to targets by use of helicopters. The events this week served to train both the helicopter crews and their passengers.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Dwayne Williams piloted a Black Hawk on one of the missions. He has been with the brigade’s 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, for three years, and knows what it takes to pull off an air assault in combat.
“I’d say 90 percent of it goes to the planning,” he said. “They tell us where they want to go, and it’s up to us to figure everything else out.”
Williams said the troops were dropped at their objective within seven seconds of their goal. In the context of Iraq or Afghanistan, every moment can count, he said.
“Time is big, and we have to consider everything " like the added weight of the passengers effect on the aircraft and wind speed " to make sure we’re on time,” he said.
In the back of Williams’s aircraft, Pfc. Matt Jordan crewed his first air assault mission with the battalion. During air assaults, crew chiefs are responsible for watching their aircraft’s distance to other aircraft, keeping the passengers safe, and monitoring the area for enemy activity.
“I thought it went pretty well,” said Jordan. “This was my first time here, and one of my first times period. It’s good to train like this.”
The brigade’s 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, trained with the same unit later that day. They did not conduct a full air assault, but held “cold load” training to familiarize the infantrymen with how to load and exit Chinook helicopters.
The battalion is scheduled to conduct a full version of the training next week. Additionally, the brigade’s crews will continue to train with 1-28, as that battalion prepares for a deployment to Afghanistan next year.
Social Sharing