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MONROVIA, Liberia – As service members of the Joint Forces
Command – United Assistance continue the fight against the Ebola
virus disease, some challenges are still present. Many Liberian
roadways aren't developed to the standard of what service members
are accustomed to back in America, some of them impassable with
ground vehicles.
However, Soldiers from Task Force Iron
Knights, 2nd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation
Brigade, 1st Armored Division, make sure getting from one place to
another isn't a problem.
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A maintenance crew from Task Force Iron Knights, 2nd Battalion,
501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored
Division, conducts helicopter maintenance on a UH-60 Black Hawk at
James Spriggs Payne Airfield, Monrovia, Liberia, using a spider
crane Dec. 13, 2014. It took only two weeks for the Iron Knights to
deploy from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Liberia after receiving their
orders. Operation United Assistance is a Department of Defense
operation in Liberia to provide logistics, training and engineering
support to U.S. Agency for International Development-led efforts to
contain the Ebola virus outbreak in western Africa. (U.S. Army photo
by Staff Sgt. Terrance D. Rhodes, Joint Forces Command – United
Assistance Public Affairs)
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“We can get anybody to anyplace in Liberia,” said Command
Sgt. Maj. John Kolodgy, of 1st CAB, Task Force Iron Knights,
based out at James Spriggs Payne Airfield. “Our overall
mission is to provide aviation support to the JFC-UA and
transportation to all ETU's and training sites,” said
Kolodgy.
One of Task Force Iron Knights missions is
executing re-supply and transport missions.
“We get
key personnel like the command group out to remote areas so
they can make decisions and see the areas that need
development.”
Some of the equipment flown to the ETU
sites include construction and electrical equipment and food
and water, all of which aids in the construction of ETUs
across Liberia.
These vital missions allow daily
operations to take place as smoothly as possible and
therefore play a major support role in the JFC-UA's overall
mission.
Before any aircraft can take to the air,
maintenance pilots, along with the crew, must conduct
necessary maintenance, which sometimes includes phase
maintenance, a process of disassembling, inspecting, fixing
and reassembling an aircraft.
“Once we receive the
work order, we bring the aircraft in, break it down, inspect
the aircraft, find and fix the deficiency, and then put it
back together,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Trevor Bremer,
maintenance test pilot for Company A, Task Force Iron
Knights.
Once the maintenance is completed, the
aircraft are ready to get back to flying.
“I feel
like we're the bus drivers of the sky,” said Bremer. “It's
imperative that we get the right people and supplies out to
the right places because they're depending on us to give
them that ride.”
Without the aid of Task Force Iron
Knights most missions would take days to weeks to complete
because many of the roads in Liberia are impassable, said
Bremer.
Having the ability to move freely across the
sky for this deployment did not come easy. The unit had less
than two weeks to prepare and move out for this.
“Once we got the call, it took us about two weeks to get our
Soldiers prepared and ready to move out,” said Kolodgy.
The preparations included loading helicopters onto cargo
ships and fixed-wing planes, individual crew member training
and specific medical training for the environment they were
headed for.
The key to any deployment is how well
Soldiers can adapt.
“Once we got to Liberia, our
Soldiers hit the ground running and never looked back,” said
Kolodgy. “Our success is built on the friendship of the
Liberians as well as the 101st setting the stage for us
being here.”
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Terrance D. Rhodes
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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