Com-Central.net

Check out this from the local Ft Hood Sentinal newspaper that just came out today;
www.forthoodsentinel.c...hp?id=3098


They are among the last of their kind and soon will be the last in the Army.

Four UH-1 Iroquois helicopters, affectionately known as Hueys, sit at Hood Army Airfield in the care of Fort Hood’s 21st Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat).

Eventually they will join nearly 100 other Hueys in a field outside Temple’s Draughon-Miller airport before they are scrapped.

For now, Hueys remain in regular use at one place in the Army – the 21st Cav. Bde.

The brigade uses the Hueys for Bambi bucket missions during fires, troop and dignitary transport, downed aircraft recovery training, medical evacuations and other training missions to augment 21st Cav.’s AH-64 Apache helicopter training program.

When the Hueys are gone, the brigade is scheduled to receive two UH-72 Lakota helicopters that can take on all required missions except firefighting.

Although the brigade is authorized three Hueys, they accept UH-1s that are due to be turned in to Temple for scrap and use the aircraft until the 150 hours before maintenance is required has expired, said Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Green.

Green, a III Corps standardization pilot, has been flying Hueys since 1977.

“We all used to fly them in flight school,” he said.

Now, Army aviators are trained in OH-58 Kiowas at Fort Rucker, Ala., the home of Army aviation.

Since the first Huey entered Army service in 1959, the aircraft has been a familiar sight with the distinctive “whoop, whoop” of its rotor.

They remain an enduring symbol of the Vietnam War where Hueys were the cavalry’s workhorses.

They also have enjoyed a long tenure at the brigade.

“The Huey has been a symbol of 21st Cav. for a while,” Green said.

Huey-qualified pilots are becoming scarcer in the Army, but the brigade does have a few Apache pilots who can fly the Huey.

Green retired from the brigade in 2000 but came back in the service to train a new generation on the beloved UH-1.

Captain Chris Anthony, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop commander at 21st Cav., could be the last Army aviator to qualify on a Huey.

A UH-60 Black Hawk pilot originally, Anthony volunteered to learn the Huey.

“I am getting lucky,” he said. “It’s something out of the ordinary.”

Though the Black Hawk and the Huey share some qualities, there are some distinct differences.

Black Hawks have received updates and modern technologies absent in the Huey.

“You actually have to fly this aircraft,” Anthony said.

Or as Green often tells Anthony, “It’s not gonna fly itself.”

Anthony has served a deployment as a Black Hawk pilot, but elected to enter the Huey program for the stability and the flight hours, as well as the opportunity to command an aircraft that has already gained its footing in aviation history.

“It’s a unique honor,” he said.

Just don’t ask him which aircraft is better.

Jeff,
I thought they had already been completely retired, in NG also, so this is some news.

You can imagine how I feel....

.....OLD !!!

HA HA HA

Regards
Don

And, effectively, retired.

I went to Air Assault school at Ft Campbell and earned my wings back in Nov-Dec 1986. The school was useing the Blackhawks, (new at the time) but they had been grounded service wide for some rotor problem if I remember correctly. So we trained and used Hueys the entire time. We were also the first class to use the then new Kevlar helmet. However we were still learning how to sling load GammaGoats, M151's, fuel blivets, etc... When I tell that to the soldeirs I serve with now, you should hear the "grandpa jokes" start up, haha.
Doug, remember when my boys got to ride in the Half-Track at Ft Irwin? Well they also got to climb in some of the Hueys there as guests of the museum director for the research I was doing fofr him. I just told them a few minutes ago that when they see the Hueys flying over our house now, that they need to remember them as they will never see them again flying with OD paint and military markings unless they are restored birds. They fly over our house all the time. When I was working in the III Corp, G4, in 2007, I was told that at that time there were only 22 Hueys still on active service by the head civilian in charge of III Corp air assets. My how times have changed huh?

Jeff

I believe the blackhawk grounding 'back then' was due to a number of 'runaways' resulting in a crash. One that I remember, ocurred at Ft Campbell, hince the nickname 'CrashHawk'.

Regards
Don

I was stationed at Fort Irwin when all that happened,

Seemed like one was crashing every month. IIRC it was some sort of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) with the rear wing control. It would cause the wing to all of a sudden max out, putting the nose in to a sudden downward pitch. Unfortunately most rotary wing aircraft operate at low altitude, giving the Pilot zero room for correction. Any ways , that's what I was told.

Pesky thing that EMI, caused some serious issues with the M60A2 turret stabilization system for a while. Solution was to shield the RF cables and modify the antenna. The new components were ID'd by their unique assembly number and they were the only authorized items for the tank. Warning stated that turret could suddenly move, causing serious injury or death. Also warned that all cables in the turret were to be positioned as far as possible from RF and antenna control cables and if routed over them to cross at a 90 degree angle.

Been doing more research on the A-Deuce lately

Also ties back into the Armor topic

Wow! I too thought they had all been retired. When I enlisted in the Army Reserve in '87, I came in as a Huey mechanic, 67N. I remember everyone talking about the "CrashHawk" at that time too. I also remember the CANG unit across the tarmac from my unit receiving their first Blackhawks in '89. At that time, they were still using UH-1M gunships.

DynCorp had some single Hueys in AFG flying counter-drug missions in 08. I guess they don't count as birds that are still on the books.

- SFC_Jeff_Button

Doug, remember when my boys got to ride in the Half-Track at Ft Irwin? Well they also got to climb in some of the Hueys there as guests of the museum director for the research I was doing fofr him. I just told them a few minutes ago that when they see the Hueys flying over our house now, that they need to remember them as they will never see them again flying with OD paint and military markings unless they are restored birds. My how times have changed huh?

Jeff,
What I recall is when you arranged for your "brother" to drive the half-track, but I recall the pics of the boys with the helicopters, including the very convincing OPFOR one in funky camo markings.

Some will be around for some time, but not with current service markings, sadly.

As of Oct 2011, Ft Hood still has 3 Hueys "on" the airfield and I have seen at least 1 flying over the post in the last month.

I could swear I occasionally see a 'dress green' Military District of Washington Huey flying near where I work. As y'all know the Huey has a very distinct rotor thump thump. I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open for them

I learned to fly the Huey at Fort Rucker in 1966-67 after completing the basic course in the TH 55 at Fort Walters Texas. I was one of 12 of our class of 57 (before the shake and bake classes started) selected to train in it instead of the H13 (was I thankful for that) and we graduated 23 before deploying to RNV. I loved flying the Huey as you had to fly it and ended up as a SIP with 1900 Combat hours and a total of 3300 hours in the UH1 series in RVN and Europe. When I got to Nam the first time I had to transition into the H34 as there were not enough Huey's to go around. I drew the line at flying the H21 as it did not seem to be able to stay in the air for long. We then received some A and B models before the D came in. That was a real treat to fly and on my second tour the H models came in which allowed us to do a lot more with them. The gun ships, C and M models were also super. I kept getting shot down when flying them so the Commander of my unit restricted me to slicks for the rest of the tour. The last tour in 72/73 was training VNAF and was easy compared to the first two. I had to quit flying because of the Army's change in my career pattern in 1976 so I missed the Blackhawk. Since I just completed 50 years of Federal Service I think I am ready to retire. Harry

"Since I just completed 50 years of Federal Service I think I am ready to retire. Harry"

Congrats on the 50 years of service! This past week I came down on assignment to Korea for a 3rd time. I head out late summer, 2012 and then return to Ft Hood where I plan to drop my retirement papers within 45 days of returning. That will give me 32+ years between the Ohio National Guard and active duty.
I'll try and see if I can get a picture of those Hueys this week if possible.

Hi Folks!

Speaking of old birds, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) retired the last of the RVN era OH-6s last week. The Border Patrol (BP) had been using them sense the draw down after the US withdrew from Vietnam.

A few years back the Army past a number of UH-1s over to the BP. Sadly, the BP ended up scarping all of them because their hours where maxed out and BP didn't have the funds to get them overhauled.

Spot Report!
Sgt, Scouts out!