Home safe from Iraqi fire

The aviation unit based at the Hernando County Airport loses no one, despite dangerous missions and blistering heat.

By LOGAN NEILL, Times Staff Writer
Published October 2, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - From the window of his office, Lt. Col. Ben Lacy can see the lush, green grass around the headquarters of Company B of the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment.

After spending much of the past year in an arid region practically devoid of greenery, it's a sight the battalion commander says he no longer takes for granted.

"It's funny, the simple things that you miss," said Lacy, who returned two weeks ago from an 11-month stint commanding troops in Iraq and Kuwait.

The deployment, part of the ongoing Operation Iraqi Freedom task force, included an additional four months of training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Afterward, Lacy's aviation group of about 40, known as the Privateers, was combined with about 400 other guard troops from Florida that collectively flew both Black Hawk helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in nearly 4,000 diplomatic and medical missions.

The mobilization was the second Iraq deployment for the unit based at the Hernando County Airport, south of Brooksville. In 2004, about 35 guardsmen spent nearly a year assisting other coalition forces in the region.

Despite the hardship of leaving loved ones behind and a demanding schedule that called for round-the-clock readiness, Lacy believed his unit excelled in its duties. Several members were awarded Bronze Stars for meritorious service.

Perhaps the best thing, Lacy said, was that every one of the soldiers he commanded made it back. Although the majority of the missions involved ferrying VIPs and supplies between Kuwait and Iraq, a significant number of the sorties involved medical evacuations from hostile zones, flights that Lacy said involved considerable courage and tenacity.

"Whenever you fly into a hot area, it's a risk," he said. "But it's heightened by the fact that you have no capability to return fire."

Because the Geneva Convention prohibits medical aircraft from carrying armaments except for personal protection, Lacy said that pilots over Iraq had to think quickly.

Chief Warrant Officer Jason Godwin, a Black Hawk pilot, racked up more than 300 flight hours on medical support missions between Iraq and Kuwait.

He said pilots were often forced to make evasive maneuvers to avoid confrontations with insurgents, who he said often fired on aircraft.

Although he would not say how many times he faced enemy fire, Godwin said the possibility of being shot at almost always existed.

"You never knew exactly what you'd be facing," said Godwin, 26. "It could be kind of nerve-racking."

The region's climate also added to the risk factor for the airmen. Extreme temperatures and dust wreaked constant havoc on aircraft hydraulics and computer navigation systems. Black Hawk maintenance crew chief Sgt. Norman Plummer, 30, said that the lack of walls in portable hangars meant that work on aircraft had to be done during cooler nighttime hours.

"I saw a thermometer once that read 147 degrees in the shade," said Plummer, who accompanied Company B to Iraq in 2004, and also served in Bosnia and Sarajevo.

Lacy says he is unsure when or if his unit will return to the Mideast. Meanwhile, the aviation support regiment and its fleet of eight Black Hawks remain on regular active duty to assist in emergency situations throughout the state, including hurricane recovery and fighting wildfires.

"Our first mission is to always be ready to do our job, Lacy said. "That means serving either the president or the governor."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or 352 848-1435.

[Last modified October 1, 2007, 21:17:12]