Eight Helicopters From 1st Battalion Fly Multiple Missions
Al Taquaddum
Despite the fact that they merely number eight helicopters, the crews and aircraft in the Army 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment deal with a huge amount of goods and cargo each week.
Army CH-47 Chinooks move gear, supplies and men from one site to another in Iraq. They have been in service for a number of months, since last August. They have a significantly larger capacity than their fellow Coalition Sea King Aircraft, and that added capacity has been sorely needed. The Army choppers have lifted and flown about twenty eight thousand passengers and nearly two million pounds of cargo since they started last year.
“We just needed to fill the gaps until something from stateside could arrive and take over the mission,†Said Army Captain Nelson Grey.
Battalion Chinook Helicopters have flown in excess of three hundred missions. The helicopter can carry slightly more than two thousand more pounds than the Sea Knight choppers, which are flown by fellow servicemen from the United States Marines.
Additionally the Chinooks can lift large bulky objects if they are slung underneath using a lifting gear arrangement. Lifting using this method they can lift nearly thirteen thousand pounds.
“It is the military inventory aircraft I have sever seen,†said Army Captain Zachariah. “We can fly faster, further and higher than anything else present in the Army Inventory, and now we can also hold our own against rival service Marine aircraft,†Said Zachariah.
