an arrest of a dangerous person — a scout,
a drug dealer, a drug group — and that is
instrumental in the desert.’ His colleague,
agent Jacob Stukenberg, added, ‘Before
[the national guard] was here, we’d have
to hike up that mountain and then try to
make that apprehension. It’s just making
our lives a whole lot easier.’
In addition to greater reach, speed, and
mobility for border patrol agents, the
ARNG Black Hawks supporting OGS are
helping ease the physical burdens of the
agents’ job. As Stukenberg said, ‘The time
savings we get from humping a six-bundle
pack of marijuana in the desert by airlifting
it to the nearest border patrol station saveswear and tear on our agents — on their
physical conditioning and on our vehicles.’
High temperatures and high elevation
are both common in the border patrol’s
Tucson sector, and both have a negative
impact on a helicopter’s performance.
Dust presents several hazards as it inhibits
visibility on take-o and landing and can
degrade engine components and rotor
blades. While desert ying is common for
helicopter crews from the Arizona ARNG,
crews deployed to the south-west for OGS
typically come from states where dust,
heat, and high elevation are uncommon.
To acclimatize visiting guardsmen to
these conditions, they must rst completeIn addition to greater reach, speed, and
mobility for border patrol agents, the
ARNG Black Hawks supporting OGS are helping
ease the physical burdens of the agents’ job
a period of environmental operations
training. CW3 Orr explained, ‘We did our
desert environmental [training] because,
as you can imagine, Indiana is not too
much of an arid environment. It was
actually a good skill transfer, because we
get white-out with the snow. We came
down here and practised landing in the
sand, practised in high altitude and hot
weather, before we could go out and
actually execute the missions.’
In addition, aircrews supporting OGS
need to be able to identify suitable
landing zones from the air. One of the
big challenges for those ying in the
Tucson sector is foliage. Towering saguaro
cacti and ocotillo plants are hazards that
demand attention, and the Sonoran
Desert is full of them. Picking up agents
can be tricky as well, especially if their
foot patrol has taken them far from the
drop-o . Arizona’s o cer-in-charge of
the Black Hawk crews tasked to support
OGS, 1st LT Eric Escobedo, said, ‘After
they’re done with whatever mission they
were doing at the time, they’ll look for the
best possible area they can see from the
ground. They’ll hang out there and give us
GPS co-ordinates so we can come try to
pick them up.’Below: An agent
patrols on foot
as an ARNG
Black Hawk fl ies
overhead in the
vicinity of Sasabe,
Arizona.
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