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The faint whir of helicopter rotors can be heard in the distance
and gets louder as it slices through the desert air overhead. The
AH-1W “Super Cobra” attack helicopter comes to a complete stop,
hovering steadily in the sky. A red dash of fire suddenly amasses
from the aircraft's mounted rocket launcher, delivering hell's fury
onto simulated enemies beneath, leaving nothing but a lingering
blanket of black smoke.
Satisfied with the hunt, the Super
Cobra peels off and rejoins its partner, a UH-1Y “Venom” utility
helicopter, completing their close air support mission over the
Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range in a simulated combat
scenario known as exercise "Scorpion Fire", Feb. 5, 2016.
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February 5, 2016 - A AH-1W “Super Cobra” attack helicopter with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 (HMLA-469), based out of Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, Calif., provides close air support during exercise “Scorpion Fire” at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. George Melendez)
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The helicopters of Marine Light Attack Helicopter
Squadron 469 (HMLA-469), based out of Marine Corps Air
Station Camp Pendleton, California, are well-oiled war
machines ready to rain fire from the sky in support of
training and combat operations, but these hovering
harbingers of death can't stay fighting and flying on their
own. The job is only just starting back at Marine Corps Air
Station Yuma, Arizona, home base for the exercise.
Working behind-the-scenes are Marines who ensure every
helicopter is prepared to take flight without issue.
Maintainers provide support, preventative maintenance,
post-operational maintenance and any last minute preflight
fixes necessary before the aircraft takes off. UH-1Y crew
chiefs, while aiding with maintaining and inspecting on the
ground, employ the GAU-17/A mini-gun, the GAU-21 .50 caliber
machine gun and the M240B medium machine gun in flight to
provide additional fire support for ground units.
“I
think it's a fifty-fifty job,” said Lance Cpl. Jordan
Gerecke, a plane captain with HMLA-469. “Without us
maintainers, the pilots wouldn't know if there was anything
wrong with the aircraft, let alone have Marines who are
fully qualified and trained to fix it.”
For the past
week, as the sun rises over the mountains of the Yuma
desert, HMLA-469's airframe and flight-line mechanics, crew
chiefs and avionics technicians line up side-by-side,
cranial helmets and goggles in hand, ready to conduct a
foreign object debris (FOD) walk. Marines start the FOD walk
by lining up and thoroughly inspecting the length of their
flight line section for anything that the Yuma winds may
have carried in the way. As a staple of life in military
aviation, FOD walks ensure there are no damaging debris on
the ground to be sucked into an aircraft's engine intake.
Once aviation quality assurance representatives and
the mechanics have cleared the flight line, the Marines head
back to the hangar for a mission brief and plan of the day;
a run-down of the essential maintenance and flight checks
that need to be done.
Maintainers work on each
aircraft, around the clock, to be mission capable and to
ensure they are ready for the collateral duty inspectors
(CDIs) to go through.
"Without the maintainers and
the supervision of their CDIs and collateral damage quality
assurance representatives, the flight schedule would not be
maintained as well as it is,” said Sgt. Daniel O'Neil, an
aerial observer with HMLA-469. “Working in the maintenance
department, you realize how much [you] affect the flight
schedule. You definitely get to see the fruits of your labor
when the flight schedule is made and we support all the
missions.”
With the helicopters ready and flight
schedule in order, the crew chiefs and maintainers conduct
pre-flight checks on the gearboxes and fuel levels. The
pilots start their engines and bring the aircraft to a hover
at 10 feet. This “hover test” puts pressure on the aircraft,
so the crew can identify broken or worn equipment near the
ground, rather than at dangerous heights. Once completed,
the crew chiefs ensure that all panels are closed and ready
for flight.
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February 5, 2016 - Sgt. Benjamin Hebert, a crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 (HMLA-469), based out of Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, Calif., observes and verifies hits as Sgt. Daniel O'Niel,
an aerial observer, fires a GAU-21 machine gun from a UH-1Y “Venom,”
during exercise “Scorpion Fire,” at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial
Gunnery Range, Friday. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. George Melendez)
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In the air, the Venom crew chiefs serve as extra eyes to
pinpoint targets in their area of operations. While
approaching a target location, the gunners mount their
weapons, one on the mini-gun the other on the .50 caliber
machine gun, and unleash a barrage of accurately-aimed
rounds at their target as the senior crew chief gives
feedback through the intercom.
“It's an amazing
feeling knowing that you are living the lives kids
now-a-days, thanks to videogames and movies, think is an
extremely cool job to have,” said Sgt. James Hibler a crew chief with HMLA-469. “We get to sit up in a
helicopter, fly around and shoot really big guns, I love it!”
Once the mission is complete, the aircraft return to MCAS Yuma's
flight line to unload unused weapons and ordnance. The crew then
receives a mission debrief and the aircraft undergoes post-flight
maintenance, resetting the cycle for the next mission.br>
Their jobs may not be easy, but the
Marines of HMLA-469 work behind-the-scenes every day to keep the
AH-1W Super Cobras and UH-1Y Venoms in flight and in the fight.
By U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. George Melendez
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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