After both the aircraft and the gear are ready, each crew conducts a brief to bring up any possible issues with the bird. ?We talk about the aircraft, if there?s any discrepancies, issues with radios, issues with fluid levels,? said Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley, a pilot with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion). (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
A Black Hawk prepares to lift off for a night flight from Contingency Operating Base Basra. Crewmen must prepare to fly at night, and they must prepare to work long hours to fulfill the mission. ?My longest flight period was seven and a half hours, but the day can last the full 14 hours,? Rowley said. (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
?We don?t get bored,? Rowley adds. ?We?ve got to continue to perform fuel checks, we have to do radio checks. Our hops are not much further than an hour and a half before we land. A lot of times we?ll just have conversations with each other, a lot of teasing.? (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
Soldiers of Echo Co., 1st Battalion, 189th Regiment refuel a Black Hawk and Soldiers of Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 189th Regiment clean a Black Hawk?s engine. ?Maintenance is always an ongoing thing,? Rowley said. ?Every forty hours we have to wash the engines to clean out the carbon build-up and whatever dust and sand deposits that have accumulated inside the engine.? (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
Once the shift is over, the crew performs an in-depth post-flight inspection. As the pilot, Rowley washes the windows and attaches the nose cover, cleans off the struts and ties the blades down. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew inspects the aircraft and its parts and the pilot commander enters the flight into the logbook. Once that?s all done, it?s time to rest and recover, for tomorrow is another day. (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
Dawn breaks over Contingency Operating Bas Basra, and the pilots and crewmembers of the Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 189th Regiment are already getting their birds ready for the day. The UH-60 Black Hawk is a finicky machine, and a lot of work must be done before it can fly. It?s going to be a long day. (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
Once the crew brief is done and the aircraft is ready, the crew piles into the aircraft. It?s simply a matter of waiting for passengers now. ?We?ll sit there on the radio and wait for our customers,? said Rowley, a native of Helena, Mont. ?Once they come in, we start the engines and go through all our checks and take off.? (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
The life of a Black Hawk crewmember is a transitory one, and a day?s work may involve hopping from one base to another for hours on end. Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley recalled one particularly busy day: ?We went up to Talil, dropped off a crew, immediately took off from Talil, went to up to Endeavor, dropped off our customers, went to Echo, sat at Echo, got refueled, up to Endeavor, back down to Echo for refueling, back up to Endeavor, back down to Talil, got fuel and picked up a crew, and then back down to here.? (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Mathew Rowley)
