Afghanistan: Mississippi Army National Guard Soldier continues life of service, chooses deployment over retirement

By Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon

82nd Combat Aviation Brigade

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan (8/20/12) - Spc. Terry Mills, a crew chief with Company F, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment—made up of personnel from the Mississippi and Texas Army National Guard—focuses all his attention downward. His eyes are locked so intently on a hook dangling 85 feet below the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he sits in, it’s almost as if he’s trying to move it toward the narrow ledge below using nothing but willpower. His legs dangle from the open door of the helicopter and his body leans forward as he maneuvers the cable by hand.

Mills doesn’t seem to notice the buffeting wind as he calls in small adjustments—slide left two feet, go forward one foot—to the pilots up front. All he cares about now is getting Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Rogers, his friend and crew mate, onto a two-foot-wide ledge overlooking a 50-foot drop off to save a pair of stranded and wounded Soldiers in Khowst Province, Afghanistan.

For Mills, who at 51 and already retired from a civilian career as a firefighter, it’s all part of the job.

 Mills originally joined the Army in February1978 during his junior year of high school in Gary, Ind. While most of the people he knew graduated high school and went to work in the local steel mills, Mills said he wanted something more.

He served on active duty as an OH-58 Kiowa Warrior crew chief until 1985. After first serving in Germany he was then assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was part of a new special operations aviation unit, now known as the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

It was an exciting time, he said, as the unit pioneered all kinds of advances in Army aviation.

 “Some of the things we did, nobody had done until that time,” said Mills. “Night vision goggles were not a thing to be flying with—they were for ground guys. We actually flew with goggles held to our helmets with surgical tubing.”

However, despite that excitement Mills decided to leave the Army. But that didn’t end his commitment to serving and he spent the following years as a firefighter, fire chief and arson investigator.

 A life of public service, said Mills, was something he was called to at an early age. His father and grandfather were both firefighters as well as military veterans.

“Not everybody is cut out to do rescues and lifesaving and fight fires, but it’s something I wanted to do,” said Mills. “It was a way for me to give back to the community, a way to help people out. I’ve always been a helping-type person. I may not know you, but I’ll give you the shirt off my back to make sure you’re alright, and that was my way of doing it—being a firefighter.”

Mills worked as a firefighter in Indiana before moving south to Louisiana and the path that would eventually lead him back to serving in the military.

In 2006, as Hurricane Katrina raged across the Gulf states and flooded New Orleans, Mills’ wife of 15 years passed away from brain cancer.

“My late wife was a state bagpiper,” said Mills. “Her funeral was one of the largest firefighter funerals they’d had in a long time. We had over 40 trucks and 600 firefighters attend her funeral from all over the state, plus Texas and Mississippi.”

 For Mills, his wife’s death also meant it was time to move on.

“There were a lot of things in Louisiana I was running away from,” he said. “A lot of memories.”

 Mills found a new home, a new job, and a new life in Mississippi. He was hired on as the assistant fire chief of the Pearl River Fire Department and then later became chief. He retired from that department in 2008, where he met his current wife.

 It was his wife, Carol, who encouraged him to re-join the military.

 “I wanted something to do,” said Mills. “I’m not the one to sit on the front porch in a rocking chair with a glass of iced tea... I like to do things. I’ve raced stock cars. I’ve got a hovercraft I’ve finished. I’m going to build an experimental helicopter when I get back. I don’t like sitting around.”

Not only did Mills enlist in the Mississippi Army Guard, his wife, a former-Marine, did as well. They were both 47 at the time.

  “There’s a lot of people that have said things about us coming back, that we’re crazy, that we’ve lost our minds, we must really be bored,” said Mills. “There’s been a lot of comments about it, but most have been very positive. It makes me even prouder to have done this.”

As a crew chief in an air ambulance unit, Mills brings with him not only his previous military experience but also experience gained working as a firefighter for several decades.

 “Our circumstances are unique,” he said. “All our crew chiefs get back there (in the aircraft) and help the medics. I spent about eight years as a paramedic while on the fire department. It’s been 10 years since I held that certification, but now that I’m with Medevac, that training comes back. We’ve got some awesome medics, but they’re just like anyone else, sometimes they get overloaded and we try to do the best we can to help them out.”

And Mills unit stays busy. Based out of Forward Operating Base Salerno, the small Medevac platoon ran more than 170 missions last month. But Mills takes it all in stride.

 “A lot of people asked if I could get out of deploying,” he said. “I told them I wasn’t about to. This is what I trained for, this is my job. If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t have joined.”

 That doesn’t mean that Mills doesn’t get scared now and then.

 “Do I get scared at times? I do. I get scared out of my mind. My training just kicks in a little better. If you don’t get scared, there’s something wrong with you,” he said.

Back in the helicopter as he reels in 85 feet of cable bearing a wounded infantry Soldier at the other end, if Mills is scared it doesn’t show. Even as the ground behind the helicopter suddenly explodes and Soldiers in an AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopter pound the area nearby with 30mm cannon fire, Mills doesn’t even turn his head.

  At that moment, under enemy fire and with seven lives and a multi-million-dollar helicopter in his hands, Mills— the former firefighter who races dirt-track stock cars, builds hovercrafts, and dabbles in experimental helicopters—is right where he wants to be.

“I was trying to think three steps ahead,” said Mills afterward. “Trying to think of what I needed to do next, and still keeping in mind what I was doing at the time, making sure (the wounded Soldier) was going to stay safe, that he wasn’t going to get injured and I wasn’t going to run him into a wall.”

 Mills gets lost in thought for a moment, recalling the mission. He’s silent for a moment or two and then he smiles beneath a bushy grey-and-red mustache and old-fashioned square-metal sunglasses. He leans back on the bench he’s sitting on.

“It was [freaking] awesome,” he said. Although they’re hidden behind dark lenses, it doesn’t take much imagination to see his eyes as big as saucers with excitement.

MH-53 Helicopter Crashes Near Oman

American Forces Press Service

FIFTH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS, July 19, 2012 – An MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasure Squadron-15 crashed 58 miles southwest of Muscat, Oman, today while conducting heavy lift support operations, according to a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command news release issued today.

The crash was not due to hostile activity and the status of the five crew members is still being determined, the release said.

Another MH-53E helicopter assigned to the squadron is on the scene, providing search and rescue assistance, according to the news release.

The incident is under investigation, the release said.

New Mexico Guard aviators ‘Steal from the Reaper’

By Army Sgt. Daniel Schroeder

25th Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan - “Medevac, medevac, medevac” comes over the radio as flight crews from Company C, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, New Mexico Army National Guard run out to a UH-60 Black Hawk, start it up and take to the skies in response to the request for medical evacuation.

The standard for medevac missions are to launch the aircraft in 15 minutes and to get the patient to a medical facility within one hour. According to Army Lt. Col. Christopher Holland, the 1-171 commander, this Guard unit maintained a 99.9 percent success rate of achieving that standard.

Over the past 12 months, Soldiers of Company C, located at Camp Dwyer and Forward Operating Bases Edinburgh, Paine and Delaram, have completed more than 1,400 missions; treated more than 1,800 patients; and flew a cumulative total of more than 3,900 flight hours from across the four locations.

“The crew chiefs and medics did extraordinary work during the course of the deployment,” said Army Staff Sgt. Chuck McGould, the operations noncommissioned officer in charge. “The ability of these Soldiers to be flexible to any changes, such as geographical separation, injuries … and weather conditions when accomplishing the mission was one of the most valuable qualities of the unit.”

In addition to treating American service members, the medics also tended to International Security Assistance Forces partners and Afghan National Security Forces, as well as Afghan civilians of all ages.

Some of those calls left long lasting memories on the Soldiers of Company C long after their missions were complete.

“I remember two medevac calls we got when I was on shift,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Moya, a flight medic with the unit. “We responded to the call of a 7-year-old local Afghan girl who had been burned by oil and a 5-year-old boy with a head injury. The innocence of the children, being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, causes the memory [to] stick with you.”

The Soldiers of Company C come from different backgrounds, allowing them to bring different experiences and knowledge to the team. Their careers, ranging from a curriculum implementation school administrator to a sales manager for a tool company, brought diverse knowledge to the team as well.

“With all the diverse backgrounds and skills of the Soldiers in the unit, it is possible to find someone that has some knowledge about anything,” Holland said.

The Soldiers showed their dedication to the medevac mission by continuing to stay on top of maintaining the aircraft, equipment, and themselves.

“Our mission out here is all about the Marine, troop, or person on the battlefield,” Holland said. “When the crews react to a mission, they go by the motto ‘we will be there and be there fast.’ They have done a great job of getting the job done each and every time.”

With the last 12 months of medevac missions conducted, the Soldiers of Company C, 1-171 can return to their families and friends back in the states knowing they gave all they had helping those in need and living up to the unit motto, “Stealing from the Reaper.”

Photos from the Front Lines

Foot Bridge

U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Trevino uses a foot bridge to cross a swollen river outside of the village of Marzak in Afghanistan's Paktika province, April 4, 2012. Trevino is assigned to the 172nd Infantry Brigade. Afghans had washed their clothing on the far bank.

Apache Flares

An AH-64 Apache helicopter releases flares over a valley to support coalition special operations forces and Afghan soldiers during a firefight near Nawa Garay village in the Kajran district of Afghanistan's Daykundi province, April 3, 2012.

Troop Movement

Afghan soldiers and coalition special operations forces discuss troop movement from a hilltop during a firefight near Nawa Garay village in the Kajran district of Afghanistan's Daykundi province, April 3, 2012.

Face of Defense: Guard Couple Deploys Together

By Army Spc. Bradley Wancour
13th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, March 5, 2012 – For military marriages, deployment normally means a yearlong separation. But that’s not the case for two Kansas Army National Guard soldiers.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Dale, a Black Hawk helicopter maintenance platoon sergeant with Company D, 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment, and Army Staff Sgt. Danielle Burke, a human resource specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-108th Aviation, are deployed here together.

“We get to see each other every day, which is the main benefit,” Dale said. Burke said having her husband nearby allows her to unwind after a difficult day.

The Topeka, Kan., natives were married about nine months ago, and their unit has been in theater for more than four months. The couple already has experienced some of the advantages of being deployed together.

“He’s my support system, so it’s good to have him here so I can talk to him if I get frustrated at work or if I just had a bad day,” Burke said. But being deployed together does present some challenges.

“We’re always in uniform, so we have to maintain our professionalism all the time, which means we can’t even do simple things like hold hands,” Burke said. And the deployed environment makes spending quality time together difficult, she added.

“We know we have it better than most married soldiers,” Dale said, “so I feel bad saying there are disadvantages, because at least we get to see each other.”

But the workload in a deployed environment doesn’t allow for as much time together as the couple would like, Dale said. “We still have our mission, so our hours may not be the same,” he explained. “It can be hard knowing she is so close but the job won’t allow us to see each other.”

Still, Burke and Dale said, they accept these small challenges willingly, knowing that a traditional military couple usually has to deal with the challenges of spending a year apart.

Kuwait: Kansas Army National Guard couple deploys together

By Army Spc. Bradley Wancour
13th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (3/1/12) – For military marriages, deployment normally means a year-long separation. This is not the case for two members of the http Kansas Army National Guard -- Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Dale, a Black Hawk helicopter maintenance platoon sergeant, D Company, 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment, and Army Staff Sgt. Danielle Burke, a human resource specialist, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-108th Aviation.

“We get to see each other every day, which is the main benefit,” said Dale.

Burke agreed and went on to explain how having her husband nearby allowed her to unwind after a difficult day.

The Topeka, Kansas, natives have been married for roughly nine months, said Burke.

Soon after they were married, the unit deployed, and has been in theater for more than four months. Burke and Dale have already experienced some of the advantages of being deployed together.

“He’s my support system, so it’s good to have him here so I can talk to him if I get frustrated at work or if I just had a bad day,” Burke stated.

While they are hesitant to admit it, there are certain challenges to being in a deployed environment with one’s spouse that many people may not realize, Dale explained.

“We’re always in uniform, so we have to maintain our professionalism all the time, which means we can’t even do simple things like hold hands,” Burke said.

While they do get to see each other in a professional setting, the deployed environment makes spending quality time together difficult, Burke stated.

“We know we have it better than most married soldiers,” said Dale. “So I feel bad saying there are disadvantages because at least we get to see each other.”

Other difficulties arise from the workload each spouse has to shoulder while in a deployed environment, Dale stated.

“We still have our mission, so our hours may not be the same,” said Dale. “It can be hard knowing she is so close but the job won’t allow us to see each other.”

Both Burke and Dale understand the difficulties and accept them, just like the traditional military couple deals with the challenges of spending a year apart. Overall, they are optimistic about their deployment and are happy to be able to spend time with each other.

Third Army is dedicated to shaping the future by supporting families deployed together.

The Logistics of Leaving Iraq – Part Four: Reposturing Effort

This is the fourth post of our Leaving Iraq series, detailing the logistics involved in ending military operations in Iraq.

Two MI-17 Iraqi helicopters made their way over the city of Ramadi, and the Euphrates River to land at the helicopter-landing zone on Camp Ramadi in November.

Staff Brig. Gen. Hussein Mostof, the senior military advisor to the Receivership Secretariat and his team from the Government of Iraq’s Basing Committee had arrived to supervise the transition of Camp Ramadi from U.S. Forces to Iraqi Forces.

As they exited the aircraft, the group made its way to a small building where Brig. Gen. Hatim of the Habbaniya Location Command was waiting with Lt. Col. Steven Hart, the Reposture Assistance Team Officer In Charge with 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, going line by line over the list of equipment that would be left for the Iraqi Army when the camp was turned over after the completion of the paperwork.

“The reposture effort was a priority from day one of arriving in country,” said Hart. “The bottom line is that transferring bases, facilities, infrastructure and equipment to the Iraqi Security Forces translated into increased capability for them and represents an investment by the American people in the enduring strategic relationship between our two countries.”

Hatim and inspectors from his command conducted inventories on all equipment and buildings on the camp. He will be responsible for the custodianship and the security of the base.

Talking through an interpreter, Mostof thanked Hart, saying he had made the transition smooth so that the Government of Iraq can take over and make things better for Ramadi.

Within an hour of the signing over of Camp Ramadi, Iraqi Soldiers were poised to take over guard towers and security at the camp’s entry points.

Due to the contributions of U.S. military service members and Iraqi Soldiers, policemen and civilians over the last eight years, Ramadi has transformed from a hotbed of terrorist violence into a city mostly free of terrorist attacks. The city has a place in history as previous being one of the toughest cities in Iraq, but had an “Awakening” in 2006 when coalition forces and tribal leaders came together to fight Al-Qaida.

Because of the continued efforts in Ramadi to recruit and train Iraqi Soldiers and Policemen, American military Troops can now leave the city in the capable hands of the Iraqi Security Forces.

Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Navarro, the acting first sergeant for B Battery, 2-319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment “Black Falcons,” said his deployment in support of Operation New Dawn was a much better experience than his previous two deployments to Iraq, the first in 2003 as part of the initial invasion and again four years later during the Surge. The aluminum trailers Navarro and his Soldiers stayed in were better accommodations than his first two tours, and the security situation was much better.

Now, as they made final preparations to leave their current accommodations, there were more than 40 vehicles lined up waiting for the order to begin movement. They were the last of the almost 300 military vehicles to leave the camp. This would be the last movement out of Camp Ramadi for U.S. Forces.

The “Black Falcons” first destination of the two-day convoy was Contingency Operating Base Kalsu. Paratroopers cleaned out the vehicles of the day’s debris, ensured they were ready for the next leg of the trip and talked about what they were going to do when they got home.

“I am going to cook my own food and spend time with my wife and daughter,” said Sgt. Edwin Tyren, a 2-319th gunner.

After leaving Kalsu the next morning, the Troopers had a short stopover in Contingency Operating Base Adder to check their vehicles, stretch their legs and get something to eat. This would be their last meal in Iraq after more than six months. They had arrived earlier than expected, so they continued on to Kuwait that day.

After arriving at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, the 2-319th Paratroopers worked late into the night and early into the next morning, turning in ammunition and preparing the vehicles for turn-in later that day, and reflecting on what they accomplished.

“I am proud of what we have done here in Iraq,” Navarro said. “Completing the mission honors all who came before us.”

Written by Staff Sgt. Nancy Lugo for Army.mil.

Face of Defense: Soldier Earns Medal for Saving German’s Life

By C. Todd Lopez
Army News Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2011 – Army Staff Sgt. Peter Woken was uniquely honored recently for proving that, in combat, it doesn't matter what languages your allies speak, every soldier who fights alongside you is like a brother.

The German government highlighted that reality of war Dec. 8 when German Ambassador to the United States Peter Ammon presented Woken with the German Medal of Honor for Gallantry in Action -- an award similar to the American Silver Star.

Addressing the noncommissioned officer’s wife and two sons who attended the ceremony, Ammon told the family an entire nation is thankful for Woken’s actions in Afghanistan which saved the life of German Cpl. Tim Focken.

"The German government and the German people are deeply grateful for your husband and your father," Ammon said.

Ammon pinned the medal on Woken's uniform. The sergeant, now part of the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, Texas, is the first American to receive the medal on American soil. Seven other U.S. soldiers involved in saving Focken's life also received the medal, though it was presented to them in theater by German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière.

Woken had said that he views the recognition as confirmation of what soldiers know about their comrades -- that soldiering together unites servicemen across languages and nationalities.

"Even though Germany is honoring me this way, I think what they are conveying is that we are all brothers," Woken said. "This type of award generally doesn't go to Americans. It will go to Germans on German soil. We feel the same way. They are fighting the same enemy that we are, and we are all brothers."

To an infantryman, uniform, language and nationality make no difference if you're fighting on the same side, Focken said.

"We've had a lot of battles, and we've fought side-by-side with 10th Mountain," he said. "There was never a discussion of who is there to help who and to save who. It's basically like brothers, and if anybody needed help, nationality doesn't matter. You're there to help."

Focken was shot Oct. 7, 2010 when his German ground patrol at Qala-ye Zai, Afghanistan, came under enemy fire. After receiving immediate medical assistance from German army medics, Focken boarded an American Black Hawk helicopter where flight medic Woken tended to the injured soldier's wounds during travel to a military hospital.

The action in Afghanistan that earned him the award was typical of what combat medics are called upon to do as many as 10 times a day. Woken said he has performed so many rescues that he's lost count.

"I had stopped counting at 357," he said. "At that point, it was becoming kind of redundant to even count."

Woken, a Tacoma, Wash., native, said teams like his are on call for 48 hours at a time with 24 hours of down time between. On that day in Afghanistan, his team was waiting in a "relaxed state," he said, until they got the call to do a rescue. Then, he said, "We went from basically zero to 100 in a matter of minutes."

"We were flying about as fast as we could go to the scene," he said. "We were told there were troops in contact. Once we got there, we overflew the scene one time. Normally we will do a high recon and then a low recon. And we only did one low recon and we landed. I guess our pilot chose to not do a full landing. We took off due to safety reasons."

The crew decided quickly to land again to pick up the injured German soldier; personal risk is not part of the equation, he said, when you are trying to save somebody's life.

"A flight medic shouldn't feel like they are taking a risk whatsoever," Woken said. "You have to think that God has your back, and you have the back of the soldier on the ground."

The Black Hawk stayed on the ground for less than a minute before Focken, who had been leading a team of three soldiers on the ground, was on board, Woken said.

"Our job was to go into the town, Qala-ye Zai, to do recon," Focken said. "We got there early so our company commander could do [intelligence gathering] and recon. My three soldiers and I were on the compound roof securing the perimeter. About a half hour after we got into Qala-ye Zai, heavy fighting broke out, with the Taliban insurgents firing. After about one and a half hours of intense fighting, a sharpshooter picked me off the roof."

Focken was hit in the left shoulder.

"I was talking to one of my guys when I got shot," he said. "It felt like a bolt of electricity going through my arm."

He was able to maintain order among his soldiers even after he was shot, and his soldiers applied aid to try to stop his bleeding. Once on the ground, a German medic tended to his wound, and then he was able to get to the helicopter.

"His attitude was probably one of the best I've seen out of any injured soldier," Woken said. "He was still in top physical condition. He was able to jump into the helicopter even though it was three and a half feet off the ground. He was able to speak with me and explain how he was feeling. And at the end of the mission, he walked off the helicopter."

Both Woken and Focken were present at the ceremony -- brought together for the event by the German government. The two had not been in contact with each other since Focken departed Woken's Black Hawk in Afghanistan in 2010.

"Normally I'll get my patient, I'll take care of them on the aircraft, then they walk away. I never hear or see from them again,” Woken said. “This morning, I got to meet Corporal Tim Focken and start a relationship. It provides a lot of closure for me."

For Focken, he got a chance to say "thank you" to one of the American soldiers that helped save his life. "It's a great thing to say ‘thank you’ personally to Sergeant Woken and to his crew that saved me," he said.

Ammon said the award ceremony was about more than just a medal. He said it was about an enduring friendship between two allied nations.

"Today is more than just paying tribute to the bravery of one courageous serviceman who saved a fellow soldier," Ammon said. "Today, we also celebrate the lasting vitality of our alliance in challenging times -- an alliance that has roots going back to the American revolution of 1776, and an alliance that will remain a cornerstone of our security well into the 21st century."