New York's Fixed Wing Aviators Gear Up for Afghanistan Deployment

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Beech UC-12B Huron

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New York National Guard

Story by Canadian Forces Sgt Steven Petibone
Date: 02.27.2009

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. - Four New York Army National Guard aviation Soldiers got a taste of high-altitude flying in Afghanistan, on Feb. 25 without leaving the United States.

The Afghan-bound members of Detachment 20, Operational Support Airlift, when through high-altitude training at the U.S. Air Force oxygen chamber here. The Soldiers must be able to recognize the symptoms of hypoxia, or oxygen starvation, in themselves and others in order to undertake the mission , said Chief Warrant Officer Kent Wagner , the commander of the deploying detachment.

Sgt. 1st Class Mike Judge, Sgt 1st Class Tarek Warner, Staff Sgt. Scot Leslie and Spec. Brad Provost made it through the training with flying colors.

Ten members of the Virginia Army National Guard, who are also slated for an Afghan deployment, also took part in the training.

The Active Duty Air Force trainers first let the Soldiers experience the feel of flying without an oxygen mask at 8,000 feet, by lowering the pressure the oxygen chamber. Then they "flew" to 25,000 feet and repeated the exercise again.

The Soldiers were instructed to take off their oxygen mask at each altitude and perform basic tasks, so they could recognize the symptoms of oxygen deprivation.

Det. 20 OSD normally operates fixed-wing, turbo-prop C-12 Huron aircraft, ferrying VIPs and Guard personnel around the country.

In mid-March, they'll mobilize ten Soldiers to deploy to Afghanistan as part of Task Force ODIN. They'll fly C-12s designed to detect IEDs from the air.

The C-12 aircraft are specifically fitted with high-tech instruments for Task Force ODIN.

The acronym ODIN derives from "observe, detect, identify and neutralize". The Army put the ODIN concept together in 2006 at Fort Hood, Texas and was sent to Iraq later that year to tackle the problem of roadside explosions, which had become the main method of attacking military personnel and truck convoys.

In September 2008, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told Congress that he wanted to replicate the ODIN units in Afghanistan as soon as possible.

ODIN began with a small, sensor-carrying civilian aircraft, the Beech C-12, and a network of unmanned surveillance vehicles equipped with night-vision, infrared and full-motion video. This entire network of surveillance equipment was linked to infantry units and Apache attack helicopters armed with missiles and machine guns.

The current ODIN units involve as many as 400 personnel. The C-12 aircraft carry analysts with monitors and other equipment that allows them to supply real-time video and data to troops on the ground and Apache helicopters in the air. One system can provide data that show changes over time in the roadways over which the aircraft fly, which could indicate the presence of buried explosives.

Currently, the U.S. Corps of Engineers, according to a Pentagon source, is putting out construction bids for work contracts to design and build a secure area at the Kandahar, Afghanistan, airport for the C-12 aircraft and crews. As many as 26 hangars will be built.

Detachment 20 will join a company-sized C-12 aviation unit at Fort Benning. Ga., for their initial training cycle and then to Hagerstown, Pa., in order to get proficiency training on a modernized combat version of the C-12.

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