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On the wing of an Apache
Apache drivers with real big brass onesFor two Apache Longbow pilots, the night of Oct. 16 was just a regular night flying a reconnaissance mission around southern Baghdad. A distorted cry for help came across the emergency radio shattering the chatter of all other communications. They recognized the call sign, they recognized the area and a few minutes later, they were in route to perform what would become a heroic rescue. "I really couldn't make out at first what was going on. The transmission over the radio was broken up and weak, but I could make out that it was a distress call," said Lodi, Calif., native Chief Warrant Officer Justin Taylor, an Apache pilot, with Company C, 1st Battalion 227th Aviation Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. At first, the transmission seemed as though it might be coming from an U.S. Marine Corps aircraft. The call sign speaking to the downed aircraft was of Marine Corps designation Taylor said. He radioed to Marine Corps headquarters asking if any aircraft of theirs was down in the area, to which the response came back negative. Then a call sign familiar to Taylor and Capt. Ryan Welch, the air mission commander, came across the guard, or emergency channel. "We're in zone 43âŠ." came the weak transmission "I recognized the area and immediately made the decision that we were going to break from our sector and go over to the area," said Lebanon, N.H. native Welch. "Those were our guys on the ground and we had to help. My first thought was we would provide aerial security." As the team changed flight paths they notified the USMC aircraft of their intention as well as calling back to 4th BCT headquarters to alert them to their movement. When they arrived on station they began trying to contact the pilots on the ground. Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-11-02 |
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