The Stinger Stings Back

By Anonymous Marine aboard USS Boxer (LHD-4)

Launch, recover, respot, and do it all again, that was our schedule. Our AH-1 Cobra was due back in a few minutes, and we were ready. It landed on Spot 7, and we waited for the LSE to signal for shutdown so we could secure the bird. I took my normal spot at the tail and grabbed hold of the stinger. That was the beginning of an incident I’d rather forget.

A yellowshirt directed us to raise the ground-handling wheels, and we began moving the aircraft to clear the landing area for Harrier launches. After the Harriers launched, we got down to business. We headed down the flight deck toward our parking spot. Everything was going according to plan, just as it always did.

The aircraft director pushed the Cobra into the lineup spot within a few minutes. Now it was our time to shine. One person was on each side of the skids and ready to lower the ground-handling wheels. I was on the

Navy photo by PH3 Evan Priesthoff