Military history for the month of October
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
Battle of Point Pleasant, 1774
October 1, 1879 – Joseph Preyer Nuckols appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Luke P. Blackburn.
- Adjutant General Joseph Preyer Nuckols
October 1, 1887 – Samuel Ewing Hill is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Simon Bolivar Buckner.
October 1, 1950 – Capt. Richard Lee Ross, of Prospect (Jefferson County) died in an aircraft accident near West Point Kentucky during a training flight. He was a member of the 165th Fighter Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard.
October 2, 1867 – Franklin Lane Wolford is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. John W. Stevenson.
October 2, 1869 – Pvt. Allie Cooper was killed while on state active duty in Springfield, Marion County while serving with Captain Levy’s Cavalry Company of the Woodford Rifles . The Guard had been called out by the governor in response to a request from a District Judge citing lawless bands in the area, sometimes referred to as “Regulators,” they had hung a man named Clem Crowdus. The Guard was sent to assist in capturing those responsible and to keep further similar incidents from occurring. Pvt. Allie Cooper’s killer, a citizen with the last name of Rollins was tried and convicted for Cooper’s murder. Newspaper accounts from the time say that Cooper and an unknown number of fellow soldiers were apparently off duty, were fired upon from the back room of a saloon by at least two assailants. Cooper and his fellow soldiers had been attending the county fair, was reportedly killed by a member of one of the “lawless bands” the Guard had been called in to quiet shortly after they entered the saloon and were speaking to the owner.
October 4, 1846 – Duel at Port Lavacca, Texas, between Capt. Thos. F. Marshall and Lieut. James S. Jackson, of Capt. Cassius M. Clay’s company, both of the Kentucky cavalry regiment; two shots exchanged, but both escape unhurt (Mexican-American War).
- The Battle of the Thames (War of 1812)
October 5, 1813 – Kentucky Governor Shelby, with 4,000 Kentuckians reinforce Gen. Harrison, and take part in the brilliant victory of the river Thames, which closes the hostilities in the northwest theatre of operations (War of 1812).
October 6, 1954 – The Kentucky Medal for Valor presented to Jess D. Brown, Walter Carter, Howard A. Curtis and Charles W. Simmons by Governor Lawrence Wetherby. They were the first Kentucky Air National Guard recipients to be awarded the medal.
October 7, 1961 – The 413th Ordnance Company arrived at Fort Stewart for active duty in response to the Berlin Crisis. They returned to Kentucky National Guard status on August 12, 1962.
October 7, 2001 – Operation Enduring Freedom began (Global War on Terrorism).
- The Battle of Perryville (Civil War)
October 8, 1862 – Battle of Perryville, followed by Gen. Bragg’s withdrawal from Kentucky (Civil War).
October 8, 1971 – Operation Jefferson Glenn (Vietnam War)
October 9, 1950 – Invasion of North Korea (Korean War)
October 10, 1774 – Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore’s War. Frontier militiamen from Va. were attacked by Ohio River Valley Indian tribes. After an all day battle the Indians left the field, heavy casualties on both sides. The treaty that followed this battle ceded the land southeast of Ohio River to Virginia, opening up that territory for settlement.
October 10, 1942 – Sgt. Oscar Dean, Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery (World War II).
October 10, 1950 – Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Fighter Group, personnel and equipment placed on active duty at the direction of President Harry S. Truman. They are ordered to report to Standiford Municipal Airport to serve for a period of 21 consecutive months unless sooner relieved. The unit is part of the First Air Force, Continental Air Command. Elements called to active duty: 123rd Fighter Group, 165th Fighter Squadron, 223rd Air Service Group (Less Detachment C) and 165th Utility Flight (Korean War).
October 10, 1961 – The 3rd Medium Tank Battalion arrived at Fort Knox for active duty in response to the Berlin Crisis. They returned to Kentucky National Guard status on August 12, 1962.
- Adjutant General Frank Wolford
October 11, 1867 – Gov. John W. Stevenson authorizes Adjutant General Frank Wolford to raise 3 volunteer companies in Boyle, Marion, and Casey counties, to sustain the laws and protect the people against the outrages and murders of the “regulators.”
October 11, 1991 – Tebbs Shewmaker Moore is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Wallace G. Wilkinson.
October 12, 2000 – Bombing of USS Cole in Yemen.
October 13, 1775 – United States Navy established in Philadelphia, Pa.
October 14, 1861 – John William Finnell is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Beriah Magoffin and re-appointed to the position by Gov. James F. Robinson.
October 14, 1858 – Presentation to the Masonic Grand Lodge of Kentucky, of the sword worn by Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess when he fell at the Battle of Tippecanoe – enclosed in a box made of oak from the vary tree under whose shade he expired; presented by Judge Levi H. Todd, of Indiana, a native of Kentucky and a member of the family of Col. Daviess.
October 14, 1952 – Operation Showdown/Battle of Hill 598 (Sniper Ridge) began (Korean War)
- Medical corpsmen of the 1st Battalion Aid Station, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th U.S. Infantry Division, assist in helping wounded infantrymen of Companies D and L, 31st Regiment, following the fight for Hill 598. (Korean War)
October 15, 1813 – Kentucky troops reach Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, on their return from the victory of the Thames. They collect 65 skeletons of their massacred countrymen, and inter them with proper honors (War of 1812).
October 19, 1781 – Surrender of Gen. Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia (American Revolutionary War).
October 20, 1969 – 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery returned home and was released from active duty on October 20, 1969 after serving 11½ months in Vietnam (Vietnam War).
October 20, 1950 – Korean War’s first Airborne Operation (Korean War)
October 22, 1790 – Harmar’s Defeat. Col. Trotter leads Kentuckians during the campaign (Early Indian Wars)
October 23, 1944– Battle for Leyte Gulf (World War II)
- Capt. John William Shewmaker
October 23, 1951 – Capt. John William Shewmaker of Harrodsburg was a pilot with the 165th Fighter Squadron for several years and went to Korea with the 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and was killed while flying an escort mission over North Korea on a bombing raid on this date. He was classified missing in action until the end of 1953. The Kentucky Air National Guard base was named Shewmaker Air National Guard Base in his honor on February 17, 1959 with a public ceremony in June 1960. The name was ordered changed in 1976 with the new designation of Standiford Field (ANG).
October 23, 1965 – Battle of the Ia Drang Valley began (Vietnam War)
October 23, 1983 – Beirut Terrorist Attack
October 24 – United Nations Day
October 24, 1944 – Pvt. Vernon H. Bussell, Pfc. Robert V. Cloyd, Pfc. Ancel Edgar Crick, Pvt. First Class John Lewis Cummins, Pvt. James William Sallee, all serving with Headquarters Company 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died aboard the Japanese “Hell Ship” Arisan Maru, when it was sunk.
October 25, 1983 – Operation Urgent Fury.
October 27 – Navy Day
October 28, 1961 – The 2nd Medium Tank Battalion arrived at Fort Stewart for active duty in response to the Berlin Crisis. They returned to Kentucky National Guard status on August 12, 1962.
October 29, 1967– Battle of Loc Ninh began (Vietnam War)
- Kentucky Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Richard L. Hudson
October 30, 1957 – 2nd Lt. Richard Lloyd Hudson perished near Vevay, In., when the Kentucky Air National Guard F-86A Sabre Jet he was piloting crashed during a routine Air Defense Command scramble. He enlisted in the Kentucky Air National Guard in August 1953. He entered cadet training in November 1955 and received his commission and wings on March 28, 1957.
October 31, 1968 – Operation Rolling Thunder ended (Vietnam War)
- Sgt. Daniel Wallace
October 31, 2008 – Sgt. Daniel Wallace, of Dry Ridge, Grant County, Kentucky was killed when his unit was attacked by enemy forces while conducting a route clearing mission to remove improvised explosive devices (IED’s) in West Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Wallace was a member of Company C, 201st Engineer Battalion based in Cynthiana and serving with Company B from Olive Hill in Afghanistan. Wallace was serving as a gunner on a Mine-Resistant, Armor-Protected vehicle (MRAP) when they came under small-arms fire. The 201st mobilized in March 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in May 2008. Wallace enlisted in the Kentucky National Guard in May of 2006.
Story by Master Sgt. Philip Speck, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
A Kentucky Air National Guard C-130 takes off from the Louisville International Airport. Recent training offered by employees of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority was designed to familiarize the Air Guardsmen with commercial lighting systems like those at Louisville International Airport and, as it so happens, Bagram Airfield. (US Air Force Photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tech. Sgt. Willie Halfhill and Staff Sgt. Monty Williams were eating midnight chow at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, when they received an urgent call from the airfield tower June 18, 2011.
The runway lights were pulsing from bright to dim, posing safety issues for pilots attempting to land at the Air Force’s busiest airfield. Halfhill and Williams, both electrical journeymen in the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Civil Engineer Squadron, quickly left the dining facility and were on-site within minutes.
“When we arrived on scene and saw the lights fading in and out, I knew there was a problem,” Halfhill recalled.
They located the airfield lighting regulator, but after running a series of tests, the regulator stopped working altogether. In an instant, the runway went completely dark.
Halfhill and Williams scrambled to wake sleeping engineers who could help investigate the lighting system along the 11,800 foot runway, but a stream of air traffic continued to roll in. Pilots donned night-vision goggles and kept landing their aircraft, preventing the engineers from gaining access to the runway, 30,000 feet of lighting cable and hundreds of lights, Halfhill said.
The crew decided to stand down until lunchtime when the airfield could be closed for 30-minute intervals. After repairing a cable, the problem persisted, but they soon discovered another issue: a burned-out transformer. The team installed a new transformer, and all the lights came back up around 7:30 p.m.
The quick recovery was possible in part because of training the Airmen received in Louisville, Ky., before they ever deployed to Afghanistan, Halfhill said. That training, offered by employees of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, was designed to familiarize the Air Guardsmen with commercial lighting systems like those at Louisville International Airport and, as it so happens, Bagram Airfield.
If it weren’t for the training, Halfhill said, the problem would have been more difficult to diagnose and taken much longer to repair.
To show the unit’s appreciation for the training, the commander of the 123rd Civil Engineer Sqaudron, Lt. Col. Phil Howard, presented three airport authority employees with coins during a recognition ceremony held at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base on Sept. 21. Honored during the event were Tom Hatfield, Cameron Roberts and Tony Roy.
“One of the reasons (our Airmen) were able to do what they did out there is because of your generosity in allowing us to get out onto the airfield in Louisville and train,” Howard told the airport authority team.
Tom Hatfield(left) with the Louisville Regional Airport Authority is awarded a certificate of appreciation from Lt. Col. Phil Howard of the 123rd Civil Engineer Squadron at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Sept. 21, 2012. Airport authority employees assisted with training that became vital for Guardsmen serving in Afghanistan. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)
Lt. Col Matt Stone, deputy commander of the Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Mission Support Group, said the airport authority’s efforts had a direct and positive impact on Operation Enduring Freedom.
“You contributed directly to the war effort over there,” Stone told the men. “These guys went over there as an experienced, much-better-trained crew — a more capable crew — because of what the three of you did. You spun them up on modern technology in airfield lighting.”
Prior to the Kentucky Air Guardsmen’s deployment, Halfhill contacted his civil engineer counterpart in Afghanistan for information about conditions at Bagram. He was told the airfield used commercial lighting gear, and not the Emergency Airfield Lighting System the Kentucky Airmen were familiar with.
So Halfhill contacted the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, with whom the Kentucky Air National Guard shares an airfield, to arrange training. Four civil engineers met with the airport team for two weeks, learning about the maintenance and troubleshooting of commercial airfield lighting.
“That two weeks of training we got helped immensely,” Halfhill said.
Halfhill, Williams and a Tennessee Air Guard civil engineer made up the airfield lighting team during the 123rd’s extremely busy deployment to Bagram. They worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., six days a week (and sometimes more), constantly replacing lights that were damaged by jet blasts or run over during hundreds of daily aircraft operations. Sometimes, the team would have just a 30-second window in which to replace a light.
“The tempo was unbelievable,” Halfhill said. “That place never stopped.”
Howard compared the engineers to a well-oiled pit crew because of their ability to execute precision repairs in minimal time.
“I went out one night and took a video of them,” Howard recalled, “and it looked like the Indianapolis 500.”
Hatfield, an airfield technician with the airport authority, said his team was pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Air Guardsmen.
“It made us feel good that we were able to teach them how to work on these existing systems safely, and feel comfortable with the system, so it would be one less thing to worry about on their upcoming deployment,” Hatfield said.
“We look forward to continuing this partnership, and helping educate any new recruits that may be deploying any time in the future,” he added.
Kentucky Guard sponsors first Bluegrass Mud Run
Photos courtesy of Kentucky National Guard Recruiting and Retention
Participants line up for an obstacle during the inaugural Bluegrass Mud Run in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky National Guard was proud to present the inaugural WUKY/University of Kentucky Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Bluegrass Mud Run at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012. The adventure run consisted of a 5K course with more than 20 challenges.
More than 400 participants ran, dove, swung and plunged through the obstacles while a crowd of more than 500 cheered them on. Funds raised by the event went to support ROTC at the University of Kentucky.
Lexington Sports reporter, Mary Jo Perino was on hand as the master of ceremonies and honorary starter.
To see more photos from the Mud Run, click here.
Participants find out just how cold the water is in one obstacle of the inaugural Bluegrass Mud Run in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012.
A participant runs through ankle-deep muddy water during the inaugural Bluegrass Mud Run in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012.
Participants manage the monkey bars during the inaugural Bluegrass Mud Run in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012.
Participants arrived appropriately attired for the inaugural Bluegrass Mud Run presented by the Kentucky National Guard in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 22, 2012.
Realistic training ensures deployment readiness for 138th
Story by Capt. Olivia Cobiskey, 205th Infantry Brigade Public Affairs
Spc. Ashley Craig, an in-home care specialist from Louisville, Ky., looks through the gate at the Entry Control Point during a training scenario that tested the procedures Soldiers of Task Force Longrifle, 2/138th Field Artillery Battalion, Lexington, Ky., learned from the 205th Infantry Brigade trainers at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuvering Center, Ind., Sept 22, 2012. (Photo by Maj. Penny Zamora, 205th Infantry Brigade)
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind., – At an Entry Control Point, Spc. Ashley Craig, an in-home care specialist from Louisville, Ky., looked through the gate as local contractors arrived to report for work. Craig, charged with determining who would be allowed inside the gates, called on all the skills she had only recently learned during mobilization training.
National Guard Soldiers from Kentucky preparing to deploy to Djibouti as Task Force Longrifle gained a sense of the challenges they will soon face when they participated in the realistic training exercise. Developed by the 205th Infantry Brigade at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuvering Center, Ind., the exercise was designed to help Craig and other members of the 2/138th Field Artillery Battalion, Lexington, Ky., test the procedures they had learned but also reinforced their confidence as they prepared to deploy.
“The First Army team has given us tips on how to man the ECP,” said Craig, one of 565 Soldiers deploying to the Horn of Africa from the Kentucky National Guard.
The realistic training give her confidence that she will be prepared to keep her fellow Soldiers secure when she arrives in country, she said.
Pfc. Ismaila Pam, a student at Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., and Task Force Longrifle teammate, agreed.
“It’s a view of what it’s going to be like,” said Pam, who emigrated from West Africa. “So, we can be more confident of how it will be when we get down there.”
This will be the first deployment for two-thirds of the Task Force Soldiers, including Craig and Pam.
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Richardson, 205th Inf. Bde., the scenario developer, spent nine days on a pre-deployment site survey in Djibouti doing research prior to the Kentucky Soldiers’ arrival.
National Guard Soldiers from Kentucky preparing to deploy to Djibouti as Task Force Longrifle are getting a sense of the challenges they will face manning an entry control point during a realistic training exercise developed by the 205th Infantry Brigade at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuvering Center, Ind., Sept. 22, 2012. (Photo by Maj. Penny Zamora, 205th Infantry Brigade)
“I spend one day at each of the mission sets talking to the guys to see what they do,” Richardson said. “It’s a permission environment over there; it’s not like Iraq and Afghanistan.” Conducting the PDSS (pre deployment site survey) is just one way that First Army Division East ensures they tailor training to each deploying unit’s misson.The scenarios covered the loss of sensitive items, a vehicle breaking down at the ECP, movement of local contractors who work on the base, a media engagement, and other issues.
Richardson said the scenarios were meant to help prepare the Soldiers for the repetitive nature of their upcoming deployment.
One of the scenarios tested the Soldiers of Task Force Longrifle, 2/138th Field Artillery Battalion, knowledge of command messages and ability to interact with reporters.
Brigade public affairs officers Maj. Penny Zamora and Staff Sgt. Reginald Graddy portrayed reporters trying to get information.
Sgt. 1st Class Wesley Averkamp, an observer, trainer with the 1-335th Infantry Regiment, 205th Infantry Brigade, watched as the National Guard Soldiers kept the reporters at a safe distance. Averkamp, there to help mentor the unit and make on the spot corrections during the scenario, spoke with one of the Soldiers.
After nearly 10 minutes of the reporters constant questions and comments, 1st Lt. Andrew VonHandorf, gave the name and number of the Task Force Longrifle’s public affairs officer to the reporters. VonHandorf was later told he had reacted correctly; however, for these younger Soldiers, not only was this their first interaction with members of the media as Soldiers, it was their first mobilization and deployment.
Staff Sgt. Steve Tressler, public affairs professional with the Task Force, said the Soldiers are ready for the deployment to begin. The public affairs office has developed command messages and a “Troop Card” for Soldiers.
“If you can develop public affairs guidance that the lowest ranking Soldier can understand and discuss the mission and what they are doing and why, it becomes a very powerful tool,” said Col. John F. Dunleavy, commander of the 205th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East. “Everyone expects senior leaders to speak to the media, but when Pfc. Jones can articulate why they are there and what they are doing it’s a powerful thing.”
Sgt. 1st Class Wesley Averkamp, an observer, training with the 1-335th Infantry Regiment, 205th Infantry Brigade, watch as National Guard Soldiers from Kentucky’s 2/138th Field Artillery Battalion, Lexington, Ky., preparing to secure a facility where recently freed hostages are being debriefed during a training exercise developed by the 205th Infantry Brigade at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuvering Center, Ind., Sept. 22, 2012. (Photo by Maj. Penny Zamora, 205th Infantry Brigade)
Last year, First Army Division East trained more than 19,000 Soldiers for deployment to places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa.“It’s going to be a life changing experience,” said Spc. DeMarcus Hopson, a student at Kentucky State, Ky., the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Entry Control Point during a training scenario.
DeMarcus, who is studying secondary education, smiled and laughed a little before continuing. “I’ve always wanted to go to Africa, I guess I get to go for free now.”
DeMarcus said the 205th Infantry Brigade has helped his Soldiers understand how to maintain positive control of the entry point.
“The Soldiers who just returned from Djibouti helped enforce the training we’ve received here and gave us a better understanding of what the job entails,” he added speaking of Richardson’s site survey.
Its part of meeting today’s challenges and tomorrow’s uncertain conflicts, said Dunleavy said.
“We must field an Army that can rapidly dominate any operational environment and provide decisive results across a full range of missions that include deterring and defeating aggression, providing humanitarian assistance, and engaging with our allies while building partner capacity which is what these Soldiers will be doing in the Horn of Africa.
Kentucky Airman serves in Afghanistan for new friends and old
Story and photos by Sgt. Paul Evans, KY ADT 4 Unit Public Affairs and Historian Representative
FORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB, Afghanistan — Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathon Stribling, a 24-year-old native of Louisville, Ky., didn’t originally come to southern Afghanistan as part of the Kentucky National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team 4 just for himself.
Stribling, a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Aerial Port Squadron came because of a friend from his previous deployment to Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base in 2011. That friend is fellow Airman and Louisville resident Staff Sgt. Austin McDonald.
“It was pretty funny, actually. When word of this deployment came up, me and him (McDonald) made a deal that if one of us committed to it, then the other one would follow,” Stribling recalled. “He committed and I followed.”
“Maj. (Walter) Leaumont came to our base and sparked our interest,” Stribling said. Leaumont is ADT 4’s Executive Officer. “I basically told Sgt. McDonald, ‘if you want to do this, I’ll go with you.’ He said he wanted to do it, we signed our names down, talked to Leaumont, and here we are.”
“Just packing, I knew how to pack for this deployment,” Stribling said of what he learned from his first deployment in 2011. “The first deployment, I packed everything and the kitchen sink. For this one, I kind of knew a little bit better.”
Stribling offered his thoughts about deploying with ADT 4, a unit that is predominantly filled with Army National Guardsmen.
“You get this stereotype of the Army being from the Air Force…no offense, that they’re all dumb grunts,” he explained. “Now being here, these are some of the greatest people I’ve met. There’s real good people here. It’s a good mission.”
“I think being around NCOs in the Army will make me a better NCO in the Air Force, just with discipline being stricter, dress and appearance, just everything in general,” Stribling added.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathon Stribling (right) of Louisville, Ky. has his head ‘bandaged’ by Lexington, Ky.’s Staff Sgt. Robert Foushee (left) during first aid training in southern Afghanistan on March 9, 2012. Stribling, a member of the Louisville, Ky. based 123rd Aerial Port Squadron, is currently serving on his second deployment. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Evans)
“Being away from home for this long is different,” Stribling noted. “We only deploy four month deployments (in the Air Force)…we’re here for a year. I think the time’s a challenge just being away from family.”
“I definitely miss my parents and my sisters, and I’m real proud to be here serving with the Army. My father was in the Army for 14 years,” Stribling explained. “It makes me feel pretty good that I’m also somewhat following in his footsteps.”
“My father, he’s kind of used to this being gone. My mother…it’s going to hit any mother hard when their son goes off,” Stribling said about how family is dealing with his deployment.
“My girlfriend, she’s not from a military family, so it’s hitting her pretty hard. It’s hard for her to cope without me being there,” he added. “They’re making it, though.”
Stribling recalled a few things he found surprising on his trip to Afghanistan.
“Just the chaos you see. They (Afghans) drive crazy,” he observed. “That’s the best way to put it. It’s kind of a culture shock, really. Just trying to compare it to home life–it’s a completely different world.”
“Back home in the States, you don’t see little six-year-old kids walking down the street carrying 30 pounds of water jugs,” Stribling added. “But here, it’s a normal thing.”
“How many aerial port guys can say that for a year they were in Afghanistan going outside the wire doing combat operations,” Stribling asked. “It’s a great experience.”
“The question is ‘what haven’t I learned?’ Weapons is not part of our skillset in the Air Force…and I’ve just been trained on several different weapons, been to a MRAP (mine resistant ambush-protected vehicle) driving course for three weeks, it’s the kind of stuff that I can’t get in the Air Force,” he said.
Spc. Joseph Bucaro, an Army Soldier from Louisville, Ky. met Stribling during intial pre-mobilization training in December 2011.
“He’s an easy going guy, easy to talk to,” Bucaro said. “He’s a good listener. When you’re stressed out, he talks to you.”
“Stribling’s a hard worker, he’s there when he needs to be, and he’s around when he doesn’t need to be, but he’s always there to learn and do his job,” Bucaro said. “All I can say is he’s helped out a lot of Soldiers with problems.”
Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathon Stribling (second from left) of Louisville, Ky. poses for a group photo with the Airmen of the Kentucky National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team 4 in southern Afghanistan on March 6, 2012. Stribling, a member of the Louisville, Ky. based 123rd Aerial Port Squadron, is currently serving on his second deployment. Also pictured (from left): Staff Sgt. Austin McDonald of Louisville, Ky.; Tech. Sgt. Bucky Harris of Lietchfield, Ky.; Staff Sgt. Jeff Ward of Georgetown, Ky.; and Staff Sgt. Raphael Williams of Louisville, Ky. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Evans)
“Relationships, I think they’re what drive us,” Stribling observed. “As far as our security platoon, we’re like brothers in our platoon. We’d do anything for any one of us. I think that’s what keeps us going.”
Since arriving in Afghanistan in February 2012, unfortunate circumstances sent some of ADT 4’s members’ home. Among them was Army Sgt. David Spry of Winchester, Ky., who went home a few weeks after a knee injury while Stribling was at home on leave.
“Losing Sgt. Spry was hard. He was a real good buddy of mine. Like I said, we’re brothers,” Stribling recalled.
“It hurts to get up and go over there to his area and he’s not there,” Stribling said. “Especially me, coming back from leave and he’s gone…I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him.”
“But he’s been keeping in contact with us on Facebook, emailing, things like that. It kind of eases us a little bit to know he’s doing alright, that he’s getting the treatment he needs,” Stribling said.
Overall, Stribling had a positive recollection of his second Afghan deployment. However, he said he plans on taking time off deployments to attend school at the Univ. of Louisville afterwards.
“I don’t regret a minute of it,” Stribling noted. “Certain areas, I feel like we’re progressing. I don’t feel like we’re wasting our time, so that’s a good thing.”
Kentucky Army Aviation helps keep the National Guard in the air
Story and photos by Sgt. Scott Raymond, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs Office
A Soldier with Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 376th Aviation works to repair a OH-58 helicopter at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 18, 2012. The Kentucky Guard has become the maintenance hub for OH-58 repairs for all of the National Guard. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Sgt. Scott Raymond)
FRANKFORT, Ky. – It is often thought that a warrant officer in an Army Aviation unit is only a pilot. That is certainly not always the case. The aviation field also demands that experts are on hand as maintenance technicians to ensure that those pilots have a working aircraft to fly.
In the Kentucky National Guard some aviation warrant officers are not only keeping Kentucky Guardsmen in the air, but they’re also working to keep pilots in quality aircraft nationwide.
Chief Warrant Officer Three Jay Calcaterra, an aircraft maintenance supervisor for the 351st Aviation Support Battalion works daily at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Frankfort, Ky. He confirmed that not everyone in the hangar is a pilot, calling he and other maintenance supervisors, “the walking warrants.”
“We determine which aircraft fly, how long they fly and what maintenance is required after they fly it,” said the Lawrenceburg, Ky., native.
Calcaterra said they have an extremely important job in the hangar, and that is to manage aircraft and the people who work on aircraft.
Spc. Tim Amyx with Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 376th Aviation, works on a OH-58 helicopter at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 18, 2012. Because of the increase in maintenance requests, some Soldiers were brought on full time to help handle the workload. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Sgt. Scott Raymond)
The Kentucky Guard’s fleet of UH-60 Blackhawks and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters, and their operational readiness is the responsibility of Calcaterra and Chief Warrant Officer Two Ryan Thompson.
They said it takes a seasoned expert to meet the demands of what they are asked to do, but in referring to their warrant officer training, they rely on their abilities and the proficiencies of their staff to provide that expertise and keep Kentucky aircraft in the skies.
In 2011, the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., was looking for a solution for the maintenance of all OH-58s flown by the Guard. They needed a hub where the aircraft could be properly and efficiently maintained to keep them flying. NGB looked to a state with a solid history of excellence in aviation.
“It’s because of our reputation, our work ethic and our operational readiness rates that we were asked to do this,” said Thompson. “Everyone knows we are always willing to step up and support the mission of NGB.”
With the amount of flight hours being put on a diminishing fleet of OH-58s nationally, NGB asked Kentucky to become the center though which all maintenance issues would stream. Kentucky’s Army Aviation originally only had four OH-58s of their own, but now they were asked to care for a lot more. Regardless of their home assignment, helicopters with any issue would be flown or transported to Frankfort to go through Thompson’s “phase”.
Thompson said the facility would normally put six helicopters through maintenance phases each year. Since February 2012, they have received, tested, worked on, and put back into service 23 OH-58s, across the country. That’s nearly a 400 percent increase and the year isn’t over yet.
He said Kentucky has worked with 16 different states in repairing their helicopters, transferring the aircraft back and forth to as far away as Arizona and Hawaii.
A phase begins with a test flight, if possible, to determine the faults or discrepancies, anything from broken radios to weak engines. The aircraft would then be disassembled from the nose to the tail and those problem areas would be fixed and required inspections completed. Upon its reassembly, the helicopter would be released for test flights to assure the problems were resolved, resulting in an “almost new” aircraft.
“I would never send out something that I wouldn’t give my own Soldiers,” said Thompson.
According to Thompson, the Kentucky Guard flies more hours in OH-58s than any other state. Thousands of hours of flight-time are given annually to support the state’s counter-drug program and in-state unit training missions.
Soldiers at the Army Aviation Support Facility prepare for a test flight in a OH-58 helicopter in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 24, 2012. The Kentucky Guard provides maintenance support to all OH-58s in the National Guard. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Sgt. Scott Raymond)
In addition to operations in the Commonwealth, OH-58s repaired by the Kentucky Guard are transferred to the U.S. State Department as well as flown in support of the Southwest border mission, Operation Guardian Eye.
Calcaterra, Thompson and the Soldiers in the hangars in Frankfort manage the maintenance of 75 percent of all OH-58s flying in the National Guard. Thompson said it’s a fine example of the Kentucky Guard preparing for and meeting the needs of the Guard as a whole.
Thompson believes the mission will last as long as OH-58s are flying for the Guard. In the meantime, Kentucky will remain nationally, a proven maintenance hub as well as an OH-58 parts hub.
The increased workload has benefitted some Soldiers with full-time work, which the warrants said creates an invaluable amount of experience for young aircraft mechanics. Thompson estimates that his Soldiers are getting as much hands-on training in two-weeks as some traditional Guardsmen serving on weekends would get in 15 years. In addition to the new airframes coming through, the experience for these Soldiers is the biggest gain of this mission said Thompson.
The warrants both said they couldn’t have done it without the support of Kentucky National Guard leadership. Thompson said Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, Kentucky’s Adjutant General and Col. Michael Furguson, 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade Commander, agreed to take on the mission and have consistently backed the mechanics’ efforts while promoting the quality work done by Kentucky Guardsmen.
“We take pride in what we do here,” Thompson said. “We have the experience and know-how to pull this off.”
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of hours, but we don’t have a reduction in our capabilities. This has been a whirlwind success.”
Kentucky Air Guard Fatality Search and Recovery Team provides training during national disaster exercise
By Master Sgt. Philip Speck, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Fatality Search and Recovery Teams search for simulated human remains at Patriot 12, a disaster-response exercise held at Volk Field, Wis., from July 13-20, 2012. The Kentucky Air Guard joined with FSTRs from Arizona and Minnesota to train the newly formed Indiana FSRT during the exercise. (Courtesy Photo)
VOLK FIELD, Wis. — Members of a Fatality Search and Recovery Team from the Kentucky Air National Guard helped train other disaster-response officials during a national exercise held July 13-20 at Volk Field, Wis.
More than 1,100 military and civilian emergency responders participated in the exercise, known as Patriot 12, a National Guard scenario designed to simulate the damage from a major earthquake.
The primary mission of Kentucky’s FSRT was to train a Fatality Search and Recovery Team from the Indiana National Guard, according to 2nd Lt. Jonathan Fairbanks, the officer in charge of the Kentucky unit. The Indiana team, which has just been stood up, had never fielded its equipment before.
Kentucky Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Jonathan Fairbanks (right), 123rd Force Support Squadron Fatality Search and Recovery Team officer in charge, talks with Arizona FSRT officer in charge Capt. Paul W. Jefferson during the Patriot 12 disaster-response exercise held at Volk Field, Wis., from July 13-20, 2012. Fairbanks’ team joined with FSRTs from Arizona and Minnesota to train a newly established Indiana FSRT during the exercise. (Courtesy Photo)
“We showed them everything, from the initial setup and the initial brief from the on-site commander, all the way through the end of the exercise and cleaning everything up afterwards,” Fairbanks said.
The Kentucky team was hand-selected for the task by Brad Whitlinger, lead exercise planner for the National Guard Bureau, because he knew the unit was experienced, fully capable and integrated well with other teams, Fairbanks said. FSRT teams from Arizona and Minnesota also provided training to the Indiana group.
Fatality Search and Recovery Teams are charged with locating and recovering the remains of victims killed in hostile action or natural disasters. Team members have special training and equipment that allow them to operate in a broad spectrum of dangerous environments, including those contaminated by nuclear, biological or chemical agents.
During Patriot 12, all four FSRTs conducted training on the proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment and the use of gear like litters and tents. They also trained on proper procedures for handling remains in contaminated and uncontaminated areas.
Actors added a dose of reality to the rubble-strewn environment, requiring FSTR members to interact with simulated victims, injured survivors and distraught family members who were frantically searching for loved ones.
Fairbanks said he was extremely pleased with the performance of his members, who had to balance the challenges of responding to exercise inputs in a dynamic environment with the need to train the Indiana unit while integrating with FSTRs from two other states.
Kentucky Air National Guard Senior Airman Shelby Basham (center), a Fatality Search and Recovery Team member, talks to other FSRT members and the on-scene coroner during Patriot 12, a disaster-response exercise held at Volk Field, Wis., from July 13-20, 2012. The Kentucky Air Guard joined with the Arizona and Minnesota Air Guard FSRTs to train a newly established Indiana team during the exercise. (Courtesy Photo)
“What I thought was going to be our biggest challenge — integrating with the other teams — actually was our biggest strength,” he said. “When you bring in four teams with four different ways of doing things, sometimes you run into issues. But we didn’t really have that.”
Master Sgt. Krista Lindsey, non-commissioned officer in charge of Kentucky’s FSRT, said the exercise helped prepare the team for real-world deployments in which members will be required to work with a broad range of disaster-response officials.
“This was a great training experience since it is very likely we’ll be working with other units and augmentees in a mass-casualty environment,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey and Fairbanks both noted the crucial nature of the FSRT mission, which ensures that the remains of deceased citizens are recovered with dignity.
“I tell my team there aren’t very many jobs more important than ours,” Fairbanks said. “We ensure they get to bring their loved ones home, to get a proper resting place.”
Lindsey agreed.
“Our job as the Fatality Search and Recovery Team is essential because we are there to maintain the dignity of the family’s loved one with respect at the scene of a mass casualty, in both a chemical and non-chemical environment,” she said.
“Our team is prepared to operate knowing that we support the local authorities and we can bring our capabilities, processes, procedures and lessons learned from our training to effectively support each mission.”
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