Copter training prepares unit of isle Guard for deployment

The big Hawaii Army National Guard Chinook helicopter glided over tree canopies and deep ravines that rose and fell over large swaths of undeveloped land between Schofield Barracks’ East Range and a wind farm on the North Shore.

The training Wednesday saw the pilots and crew of the CH-47F practice touching down on a landing zone plateau and picking up and transporting a 9,700-pound concrete block that dangled beneath the chopper.

In a few months B Company, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation will be touching down in Af­ghani­stan and picking up troops and containers as the war ticks closer to its end-of-2014 deadline for U.S. combat forces.

About 125 citizen soldiers are deploying with 12 Chinooks.

For the bulk of Hawaii’s military forces, the war in Af­ghani­stan is over; Army and Marine Corps infantry brigades and battalions at Schofield and Kaneohe Bay have been tasked to the "re-balance" of forces to the Pacific.

For combat veterans and first deployers alike with B Company, however, there are the war-zone worries that haven’t changed: nearly a year away from family and home, possible attacks on base, the threat of enemy attack on helicopters and treacherous terrain.

"There is danger. I’m not worried about it. I know it’s there," said Spc. Cody Kuwa­hara, 19, a 2011 Aiea High School graduate and door gunner with B Company.

Kuwahara, who is heading out on his first deployment, said he’s more concerned about rocket-propelled grenades than the terrain.

"Those (RPGs) are specifically aimed for us, and the terrain is just there," he said.

On Aug. 6, 2011, an RPG hit another unit’s Chinook in War­dak province, killing 30 Americans, including Navy Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Kraig Vickers, 36, of Maui.

The helicopter was part of the replacement unit for the Hawaii Guard’s B Company on its last deployment to Af­ghani­stan. Had the Hawaii unit been in Af­ghani­stan just weeks longer, the ill-fated mission to deliver Navy SEALs and other troops likely would have been theirs, officials said.

Some B Company helicopters conducted door gunner shooting practice at Poha­ku­loa Training Area on Hawaii island in April.

In less than a month, the unit will travel to Fort Hood in Texas for about two months of final training before heading to Af­ghani­stan for about nine months, officials said.

Where the unit will conduct its missions remains unclear, but most deployments are in the south or east of Af­ghani­stan.

The big, twin-rotor Chinooks continue to be in huge demand in the country, where mountains, improvised explosive devices on the ground and a lack of developed roads make it far more preferable to fly.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Josh Kim, 35, an instructor pilot with 1,300 flight hours who is heading to Af­ghani­stan on his second deployment, said he’s proud of the soldiers going on the mission.

"We’re deploying less than two years upon returning from our last one, which for a National Guard unit is pretty unheard of," said Kim, who graduated from Kame­ha­meha Schools in 1995 and Hawaii Pacific University in 2003.

The married pilot has a 6-month-old son, he and his wife’s first child, which makes the deployment extra tough.

Also deploying is Spc. Lei Sing, 42, a single mom of four children. Two are grown, but the other two are 7 and 10. "I have my parents (to help watch the children)," Sing said.

In Afghanistan she’ll be a fueler. In Hawaii she’s a Hawaiian-studies teacher at Mae­mae Elementary School in Nuu­anu.

Her students want her address as soon as she gets to Af­ghani­stan so they can write her letters, she said.

Sing said she feels honored to go to Af­ghani­stan and wants to serve her country. Her father served in Vietnam, and two brothers also served in the military.

"I just want to know how they (U.S. service members) live, what they are doing and how we can help the military kind of get out of Af­ghani­stan," she said.

On Wednesday one of the Chinooks flew to what’s known as Landing Zone Black, a grassy plateau about three football fields in size.

Kim gave flying pointers to the second pilot, while Sgt. Fred Dona provided instructions in the back on securing and lifting cargo beneath the helicopter with a sling.

"If you lose one engine, you gotta release the load," Dona cautioned. "These are the things you gotta pay attention to."

In Afghanistan two pilots, a flight engineer and two door gunners fly on the missions.

Hooking up the exterior load required reaching through a trapdoor and grabbing the sling off the ground with what’s known as a shepherd’s pole to secure it beneath the helicopter, which had landed, but with the rotors continuing to turn.

In Afghanistan, B Company will face a whole new set of challenges.

"From an aviation standpoint, it’s very unforgiving with the heat and the mountains and the weather," Kim said.

Approaching the ground, the helicopters kick up hurricane-force winds, and that sometimes leaves the crews in blinding and disorienting dust.

The new "F" model CH-47s that the Guard flies do have an advantage with their ability to auto-hover and descend a few feet at a time until they’re on the ground.

"Not very tactical, but it’s safer, definitely," Kim said.