Lifting heavy loads
in El Salvador’s hot
climate is no
problem for the
CH-47. A U.S.
Army Chinook
readies to ferry
Salvadoran troops
for an exercise.
To d a y m o re t h a n
900 Chinooks serve
in 20 countries.every afternoon by intense thunderstorms that
would often last far into the night. There was no
way we could have done an airborne insertion
[parachuting in], as you’d have guys scattered all
over the mountain. The 160th [Special Operations
Aviation Regiment] Chinooks were the only
way in for us.
We flew in them a lot; they were true workhorses
in both Afghanistan and Iraq. It was amazing to
be in a helicopter and actually have room and not
be packed in like sardines! And they’re so power-
ful—we regularly fit an entire platoon of Rangers
in them [with] extra gear, and they could fly high
above even the high mountains of Afghanistan—
and fast. Another great thing about the Chinooks
of the 160th was that not only could they deliver
us anywhere in Iraq or Afghanistan quickly onto
any landing zone, but because they’re so heavily
armed, they also could loiter around and provide
gunship overwatch for us. No other helicopter
can do that.
The insert onto Sawtalo Sar [Mountain, in
Kunar Province] for Red Wings was a real eye-
opener. It really demonstrated how incredible not
only the Chinook was as an aircraft, but how great
the pilots and crew of the 160th are. We inserted
late at night, in foggy and cloudy conditions. The
pilots brought us to a hover at the uppermost
part of Sawtalo Sar and deployed the fast rope.
Looking down, I could see nothing but the soup of
fog through my night-vision goggles. These pilots
were so incredible, they held the bird rock solid as
we slid through the heights at nearly 10,000 feet
onto the mountain. Then just like that, the bird
was gone into the night.DESERT STORM SLING-LOAD-PALOOZA
Kirk Kuykendall, Crew Chief, CH-47D
The Chinook in [Operation] Desert Storm was
pivotal. The Army sent pretty much every Chinook
they had over there—they were all D models,
relatively new at the time. Our main mission at
the beginning was hauling fuel for the advancing
ground forces. Each Chinook sling-loaded four
500-gallon [bladders] of fuel. After we landed, we
reconfigured to haul back captured Iraqi prisoners.
The Chinook made it possible for the advancing
ground forces to keep advancing. They were all
over the sky. I remember coming in to this one
[forward arming and refueling point], and it was
a huge one with 30 spots. Not only was it always
full, but there were always Chinooks circling it,
waiting to refuel.
Although our primary mission at the outset was
hauling fuel, we also carried pretty much everything
else over the course of the deployment—artillery
tubes, ammunition, food, water—we even slung
out an intact, captured [Mil] Mi-24 Hind attack
helicopter. It was sling-load-palooza.airspacemag.comUS ARMY/SSGT LEMUEL CASILLAS46 AIR & SPACE