Heroes in Helicopters by Avi Heiligman

Heroes in Helicopters

by Avi Heiligman

The Hind heist during Operation Hope III William H. Pitsenbarger Black Hawk helicopters had to be modified before being used in the raid at Osama bin Laden’s compound

After the incredible first flight of the Wright airplane in 1903, other inventors started working on further advancing flying machines. One shortfall of the airplane was that it always had to be moving, because if it tried stopping in midair or even slowed down, it would fall out of the sky. In the 1930s, inventors went back to the drawing table to come up with an aircraft that would be able to hover in midair.

In 1939, Igor Sikorsky tested the first successful helicopter. Although it didn’t see combat during World War II, it played a major part during the Cold War and beyond.

Helicopters brought CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) missions to a whole new level during the Cold War. Pararescuemen are U.S. Air Force Special Forces operators who fly in helicopters on rescue missions. The unit was created with the task of recovery and medical treatment of personnel in harsh, usually combat, environments. These airmen are highly skilled, and only a very small percentage passes the rigorous training. During the Vietnam War, these men went on numerous missions into hostile territory. One of the best PJs (the nickname for pararescuemen) was William H. Pitsenbarger.

Pitsenbarger was from Ohio and qualified as a PJ right after basic training. In 1965, he was assigned to the 38th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron which was stationed near an airbase near Saigon. The squadron flew HH-43 Huskie helicopters, and Pitsenbarger flew over 250 missions with some incredible heroics. Once, he went dangling from the helicopter’s cable over a burning minefield to rescue a wounded South Vietnamese soldier.

On April 11, 1965, Pitsenbarger was sent to extract wounded Americans from the battlefield and send them up into the helicopter by cable. As the choppers came back for a second load, the men on the ground were attacked, and Pitsenbarger waved off the helicopter and electing to stay with the wounded. The helicopters could not land, and Pitsenbarger continued to tend to the wounded and picked up a rifle to fight the Viet Cong. He gathered ammunition and continued to fight with the soldiers. Later that night, he was killed by an enemy sniper. When his body was found he was holding a rifle in one hand and a medical kit in the other. For his actions that night, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

In an incident that could have come from a major Hollywood movie but is completely true, U.S. Special Forces captured a Russian helicopter in spectacular fashion. The Mil Mi-24 and its export model, the Mil Mi-25 Hind, is a large helicopter gunship that can also be used as a troop carrier. First introduced in the early 1970s, the attack helicopter is still in use today and has the nickname the “Flying Tank.” The CIA was keen on getting one of the best Russian helicopters, when word came that the Libyan Air Force had left one in northern Chad. It was parked at the Ouadi Doum airfield.

In 1987, the U.S. made secret plans to capture the valuable prize. The training and planning took a year – all the while, the abandoned Hind was never moved, even though Libyan forces were highly active in the area.

The team that was tasked with the mission, called Operation Hope III, was the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), otherwise known as the Night Stalkers. Two MH-47 Chinook crews flew 490 miles after being offloaded from a C-5 Galaxy at the Chadian airport in their capital. The first Chinook arrived on scene and secured the location and prepped the Hind for extraction. The second Chinook then simply sling-loaded to the bottom of the helicopter!

The scene was quite incredible as one helicopter was carrying another helicopter, and they even made it to safety just before an oncoming sandstorm. Within 36 hours, the Galaxy arrived back in the U.S. – this time carrying the captured Russian helicopter. The mission was a complete success.

Perhaps the most well-known helicopter is one that is also shrouded in a bit of secrecy. On May 2, 2011, 24 SEALs landed in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on two helicopters, with another platoon of 14 SEALs ready to come in as backup. Their target was the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden who had evaded attempts by the Americans to capture him a decade earlier in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

The helicopters used in the raid were described as “two Black Hawk helicopters that had been modified for stealth.” A stealth or “low-observable” aircraft is designed to be invisible on enemy radar and sometimes equipped with devices to jam enemy defenses as well as keeping a low profile. Airplanes are much easier to make stealthy, as helicopters have huge rotors, are generally very loud, and have large sides. Modifications were made on the Blackhawks used in the raid as were identified from photographs of the tail rotor of one the choppers after it crashed during the raid. The raid ultimately was successful, although some of the technology used to keep the Blackhawk stealthy is still a mystery.

Today, helicopters are used for wide variety of assignments, including search and rescue, medical evacuation, troop deployment, special warfare, transport and attack roles. Their versatility allows them to access areas otherwise deemed unsafe for other aircraft and can operate in all types of conditions, terrain, and weather. The servicemen and women who have flown in helicopters, whether as a pilot or crewmember, and have dedicated their lives to protect freedom and that is history not to be forgotten.