Face of Defense: Apache Pilot Fulfills Lifelong Dream

By Mollie Miller

1st Infantry Division

FORT RILEY, Kan. – Although Chief Warrant Officer 2 Laura Tanski first “slipped the surly bonds of Earth” as an Army aviator two years ago, she has been living in the clouds for most of her life.

“For as long as I can remember, my room was filled with airplanes and helicopters,” Tanski, an Apache helicopter pilot with the 1st Infantry Division’s 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, said recently. “I have always loved aviation, and I knew since I was a kid that I was going to fly.”

Tanski’s route to the skies began in her hometown of Dearborn Heights, Mich., long before she was even old enough to ride a bike, much less fly a helicopter.

“We were always attending air shows or visiting the air museum,” said Patricia Tanski, the Apache pilot’s mother. “Her passion for flying just grew and grew.”

While in high school, Tanski got her first taste of flight during flying lessons at a local airport. That quick taste, which included a rather harrowing solo flight in a snowstorm, left the young pilot hooked.

“I am fascinated by the fact that a huge machine like a plane or a helicopter can actually fly,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of that.”

After a short tour with the Air Force and a deployment to Iraq with the 25th Infantry Division as an Army air traffic controller, Tanski decided that it was time that she stopped managing aircraft from the ground. She put in her paperwork to attend flight school and was selected in early 2008.

“The day I got selected for flight school was the best day of my life,” she said. “I just kept looking at that selection list on the computer – I had to double and triple check it to make sure I was seeing things right.”

Tanski spent two years learning how to fly at Fort Rucker, Ala. The young aviator said the flying part came easy in the early days of flight school – she was, in fact, one of the first students in her class to fly solo. When the time came to select her advanced aircraft, she said, she had her heart set on one, and only one, airframe: the AH-64 Apache, one of the Army’s most lethal pieces of equipment.

“My intent has always been to get as close into the battle as possible, and I knew that the Apache was always right there in every mission.”

Her mother was not surprised that Tanski selected the Apache; she said she would have been more surprised if her daughter hadn’t selected the high-tech aircraft.

“Laura has always welcomed a challenge, so it was no surprise that she would choose the most challenging and complex helicopter,” she said.

When she began the Apache helicopter block of instruction, Tanski was the only woman in her class. Today, she is one of just four Apache pilots in her battalion, and one of fewer than 20 female helicopter pilots who call the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade home.

Being a member of such a small group has never made much of a difference to her, Tanski said. There is no difference between the soldiers to her left and right and the big brother who tore up and down the roads of Dearborn playing street hockey with his little sister, she explained.

“Having an older brother really prepared me for life in this unit and in the Army,” she said. “All the soldiers here are just like brothers to me. We play jokes on each other and have a good time, but we work hard, too. Our company is very close. It really is like a family down here.”

Now edging toward 300 total flight hours, including 80 combat hours, Tanski said she is looking forward to her future in Army aviation.

“I want to become an instructor pilot I had some fantastic instructors while I was at Fort Rucker, and I want to be able to teach others just like those great IPs taught me.”

She also has a few things to teach women who are blazing their own Army paths in fields typically dominated by men.

“Never give up, no matter who says you can’t do it,” she said. “If you want it, if this is your dream, go for it.”

Her daughter’s dedication to excellence and never ending pursuit of her dream has made the pilot’s mother quite proud of a little girl who used to save her allowance so she could buy rocket kits and host launch parties in the backyard.

“I feel my daughter is not only a role model for her family, especially her nieces, but for every woman who has a goal that she is working to accomplish,” she said. “Even I continue to be inspired by my daughter every day.”

Kentucky Army National Guard Soldiers fast rope into training

By Army Sgt. David Bolton

1133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

ARTEMUS, Ky.  - Artillery simulators, grenades, convoy attacks, casualty evacuations and fast roping from UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were all part of the training that Soldiers of the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment experienced at the Harold L. Disney Training Center outside Barbourville, Ky.

“A lot of these guys are new recruits fresh out of basic, so it’s good training for them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Dennis Bumgardner, with B Company, 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt.

 The training these Soldiers received was not just to improve their skills in various fieldcrafts, but also to prepare them for stressful combat situations.

“We want these guys to get a feeling of what combat is like,” said Spc. Thomas D. Gross, an indirect-fire infantryman and acting trainer with Company A, 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt. “Being here lets us spend more time with the new guys and gives us a chance to train them to be comfortable under stress.”

Adding to the stress, daily rain showers kept the training areas constantly muddy. Grass, mud, and water covered their uniforms as the Soldiers crawled under barbed-wire obstacles, ran through the soggy underbrush and dangled from ropes in the cloudy skies.

 To enhance their training, Soldiers from another Kentucky Army Guard unit—the 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment—augmented the infantry Soldiers by providing the aircraft and aerial support for casualty evacuations and fast rope insertions and extractions, which for many Soldiers added to the excitement of the training and brought it all together.

“The training gets us where we need to be,” said Army Pfc. Markus W. Higgs, an infantryman with B Co., 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt. “It’s nice to be able to get a sense of the heat of the moment.”

Texas Army Guard retires Army's last A-model AH-64 Apache helicopter

By Sofia Bledsoe

Program Executive Office, Aviation

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (7/17/12) - It was a proud, historic and emotional moment for the Soldiers of the Texas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack/Reconnaissance) as the last AH-64A Apache helicopter, aircraft 451, was “retired” from the Army and handed over to the Project Office for Apache Helicopters during a ceremony on Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, July 15. The event was hosted by the battalion as it was the unit that had the last A-model Apache in its fleet.

The aircraft will be flown to San Angelo, Texas, by Chief Warrant Officer Five Jim Sandberg, standardization pilot with the unit, and Chief Warrant Officer Two Adrian Domonoski, maintenance test officer with the unit, where it will be ‘depopulated’ or disassembled, then reconfigurated into the next generation AH-64D Apache Longbow.

“As the Project Manager for the Apache attack helicopter, I’m really proud to take custody of the 451,” said Army Col. Shane Openshaw. “In about a year from now, you’ll see 451 come out of the production line as the latest and last AH-64D.”

And many in the unit were sad to see the aircraft go, despite its scheduled return as an upgraded model.

“It’s like losing an old friend,” said Army Capt. Stacy James Rostorfer, commander of B Company, 1st Bn., 149th Avn. Regt. “That aircraft has saved my life; it has saved many lives. It’s armored in all the right places, so you can go in, protect others and protect yourself. We always brought everybody home.” 

Rostorfer said he had been an Apache fan as a young man and recalled playing with Apache models when he was ten years old. “They’re still in the basement of my parents’ house. I’ll never part with it.”

During the ceremony, Army Lt. Col. Derrek Hryhorchuk, commander of the battalion, recounted the unit’s heroism, remembering that aircraft 451 kept them safe and alive. 

“We’re going to make sure that aircraft goes out in style,” he said. Hryhorchuk had flown the Apache’s predecessor, the AH-1 Cobra, and noted that things that needed to be improved in the Cobra were in place in the A-model Apache. “I’m looking forward to the capabilities that needed to be improved in the A-model that are now in the D-model Longbow.”

Despite the highlight of the aircraft, the ceremony also focused on the Soldiers.

  “I’m not here to talk about the aircraft,” said Army Maj. Gen. William “Tim” Crosby, program executive officer for Army aviation. “I’m here to talk about you. You, the Soldiers of the Texas National Guard, who have stood up and said, ‘I want to make a difference. I want to give back to my country’. And it’s your pride, your courage, your passion that make that aircraft special. Because aircraft don’t fly. Aviators fly. And they fly because of the mechanics and the crew chiefs who make them ready to fly.”

Aircraft 451 has had a long and proud history with the unit, who was recently nominated for the Valorous Unit Award. Four of its aviators had been recognized for their heroism and extraordinary achievements with the Distinguished Flying Crosses in Ramadi, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Aircraft 451 took numerous heavy ballistic damage, but the aircraft and crew and the Soldiers they protected always came home safely.

 In one case, aircraft 451 was used to quite literally bring a wounded Soldier home.

During a firefight that took place when the unit was deployed to Iraq, an infantry Soldier was seriously wounded. Traditional medical evacuation assets were not able to respond. The crew of aircraft 451 landed and placed the wounded Soldier in the front seat of the Apache. The co-pilot/ gunner, who would normally occupy that seat, attached himself to the aircraft by the wing and fuselage holds. The wounded Soldier was quickly treated and provided the advanced care he needed. In the end, he recovered fully from his wounds.

For this action, the crew was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

“After you get through a couple of weeks in combat, you strap yourself into an Apache, you feel a sense of invincibility,” said Col. Richard Adams, 36th CAB commander. “There are a lot of sons and daughters in America who are alive because of that aircraft.”

South Carolina Army Guard aviation unit delivers a piece of history to military museum

By Army Staff Sgt. Jorge Infriago

South Carolina National Guard

COLUMBIA, S.C (7/17/12). - Soldiers from the South Carolina Army National Guard’s B Company, 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment took part in unique training in preparation for an upcoming deployment while at the same time giving an old bird one more chance to soar.

The Soldiers from the unit airlifted an H-13B Sioux helicopter from Pierre, South Dakota, to its new home at the South Carolina Military Museum, which focuses on the history of the South Carolina National Guard.

The Sioux is a three-man observation and basic training helicopter that was used by the U.S. military throughout the 1950s. The Sioux is often said to be the birth of Army rotary wing aviation and it has a significant role in the history of the South Carolina Army Guard.

“The helicopter was significant to South Carolina,” said E.G. “Buddy” Sturgis, director of the South Carolina Military Museum. “It was the first rotor wing in South Carolina Army (Guard) aviation.”

The only problem was how to get the newly acquired helicopter down to South Carolina. That’s where the South Carolina Army Guard stepped in. The Soldiers from B Company have been preparing for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan by performing cross-country flying missions flying the CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

 The Soldiers from the unit needed additional cross-country flying time for their deployment and unit members jumped at the chance to perform this unique historical mission to help transport the helicopter to its new home.

“I think it was nice to be involved in the aircraft’s last flight from South Dakota to South Carolina before the aircraft’s final home at the museum,” said Spc. Tommy Hunt, flight engineer with B Company.

The Sioux is scheduled to go on display at the South Carolina Military Museum in the near future. South Carolina Army Guard members and museum staff are working together to restore the piece of history to its original condition.

MQ-8B Fire Scout Training Facility Unveiled at Naval Air Station Jacksonville

By Clark Piece, Editor, Jax Air News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Northrop Grumman and Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Atlantic (HSMWL) personnel hosted a ribbon-cutting reception July 10 for the new MQ-8B Fire Scout operator training facility at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

The facility is equipped with four mission simulators and an instructor's station, as well as separate classrooms.

After two years of operational testing with squadrons assigned to HSMWL, the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program is seeking to lock in its future with the Navy by providing a leading-edge simulator center.

Commander, HSMWL Capt. Doug Ten Hoopen said he was pleased to bring yet another training capability to NAS Jacksonville. "Our wing of Bravo and Romeo Seahawk helicopters is the only one in naval aviation to fly the Fire Scout. We began in 2010 with a 4th Fleet drug interdiction mission aboard the guided-missile frigate USS McInerney (FFG 8), where Fire Scout helped confiscate 60 kilos of cocaine from a fast boat."

The next MQ-8B success came from the 5th Fleet deployment aboard the frigate USS Halyburton (FFG 40). From off the coast of Somalia, Fire Scout provided an overland intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) platform for special operations forces.

Most recently, the frigate USS Klakring (FFG 42) deployed to the Horn of Africa area of responsibility with a Fire Scout.

"As the Fire Scout UAV program evolves, it will be part of what we call 'composite detachments' that deploy with a manned MH-60R Seahawk and an unmanned Fire Scout.

Also, with today's shrinking budgets, this new center allows us to train squadron personnel without incurring the travel, food and lodging expenses to send them to NAS Patuxent River, Md. Today, we're bridging the Fire Scout simulator capacity gap and improving the already robust training environment here at NAS Jax," said Ten Hoopen.

"For the past two years, operator and maintainer training has taken place here in temporary spaces among the H-60 Seahawk crews," Hoopen said. "In a few minutes, you'll see the leading-edge design of our new permanent simulator facility."

George Vardoulakis, vice president and program manager of tactical unmanned systems for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, welcomed the military and civilian guests.

"Fire Scout complements the Navy's manned helicopters by effectively extending the range and area of ship-based intelligence gathering operations," said Vardoulakis.

"Its modular architecture accommodates a variety of electro-optical, infrared and communications payloads that provide ground- and ship-based commanders with high levels of situational awareness and precision targeting support," he added. "The system has been in development for about 10 years and is particularly well suited to support littoral combat ship missions such as drug interdiction, anti-piracy, search and rescue, and reconnaissance operations."

He said that today's Navy is increasing its mix of manned and unmanned activities - and that this Fire Scout training facility will ensure operators are well schooled in executing its multi-mission capabilities.

According to a Northrop Grumman, the MQ-8B Fire Scout is an unmanned helicopter for U.S. Navy situational awareness and precision targeting. The unmanned aircraft is based on the Schweizer Model 333 two-seat manned helicopter. It can autonomously take off and land on any aviation-capable warship and at unprepared landing zones near battlefields.

Northrop Grumman has demonstrated MQ-8 Fire Scout radar capability to detect and track several targets with a Telephonics RDR-1700B radar system. The Fire Scout may eventually be armed with gun pods, Hydra 70-millimeter rocket pods and small missiles.

The MQ-8 Fire Scout is 30 feet long and 9.4 feet tall, with a rotor diameter of 27.5 feet. It can fly as fast as 125 knots and achieve altitudes of up to 20,000 feet.