Final mission for venerable MH-53

[CommunityEditor]

Born from a helicopter designed to pluck aircrews out of the jungles of Vietnam, the MH-53 Pave Low will die just like it was born — in combat.

The storied heavy-lift helicopter was to fly its last mission Sept. 30 in Iraq.

Details on when and where the last flight happened are minimal since it likely carried special operators to assault an enemy target, said Maj. Derrick Stamos, 20th Special Operations Squadron assistant director of operations.

The Air Force has gradually phased out the Pave Low after Air Force leaders decided to replace it with the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

Six MH-53s remain in Iraq with the corresponding crews that include two pilots, two flight engineers and two aerial gunners for each Pave Low.

The crews will return home and the MH-53s will return aboard C-5s to aircraft bone yards or be enshrined at aviation museums.

The last Pave Low stationed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., with the 20th Special Operations Squadron left on Sept. 16.

It flew a few miles away to the Air Force Armament Museum in Shalimar, Fla. Both current and former Pave Low aircrews marked the helicopter’s absence from Hurlburt for the first time in 28 years with a barbeque, Stamos said.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” he said. “There is a lot of pride it’s going out on a high note because it stayed relevant and it’s fighting to the end.”

The MH-53 Pave Low is an upgraded version of the HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant, first brought into the Air Force in the 1960s.

The HH-53’s eventually evolved into the MH-53 Pave Low IV’s that have advanced radar and avionics suites.

The new suites include a terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radar, forward-looking infrared sensor, inertial navigation system with global positioning system, and a projected map display that allows the pilots to insert and extract special operations teams.

Pave Lows have flown historic missions including the air strike that kicked off Operation Desert Storm in 1991 After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pave Lows flew reconnaissance missions over Ground Zero.

They were even called on to rescue survivors of the Jonesboro massacre, the 1998 school shooting in Arkansas that resulted in five deaths and 10 injuries.

Despite the Pave Lows retirement, Stamos said all of its aircrews will stay in Air Force Special Operations Command.

The younger aviators will transfer over to the Osprey and others will move to the 318th Special Operations Squadron and fly the U-28 — an intra-theatre lift aircraft.

Pave Low aerial gunners will transfer over to AFSOC’s gun ships.

Stamos said officials plan to deactivate the 20th SOS on Oct. 17. The following night a reunion of all Pave Low aircrews will occur right outside Hurlburt’s gate at the Soundside Club.

“It’s open to anyone who has every flown or worked on a Pave Low,” he said.


Article: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/20...ement_093008w/