Military News, News From Iraq & Afghanistan - Military Times

Pilots navigate a no-fly checkerboard

CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq — Just north of Baghdad, there is a place U.S. helicopter pilots call “the ‘hood.”

At least one U.S. helicopter has been brought down there this year by enemy fire. The 12-square-mile area is marked on aviation maps with a bright red trapezoid, one of several expanding “no-fly zones” for U.S. pilots.

“It’s a bad area,” said Capt. Reggie Remley, the intelligence officer for the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

After insurgents shot down at least seven U.S. helicopters in just more than a month this year — equaling the total shot down in 2006 — pilots must now cope with a maze of new tactics and restrictions on where and how they can fly. The tactical changes may be working for now — the U.S. military has reported no aircraft downed by enemy fire since Feb. 21 — but the military is constantly working to outwit savvy and increasingly well-armed adversaries.

On a recent mission ferrying soldiers from base to base, Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Remington had to plan his flight around six no-fly zones — marked by red circles on his map —and four “danger” zones, where pilots could enter but need to be extra alert.

Remington, 34, of Wahu, Hawaii, said he’s aware of the dangers but doesn’t hesitate to fly on missions.

“They tell me to fly, and I fly,” said the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot. “For the most part, pilots know what they’re getting into.”

As more U.S. forces deploy to Iraq as part of President Bush’s plan to increase security, helicopter pilots will take more flights to ferry them around and conduct combat missions, said Col. A.T. Ball, commander of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. The brigade is made up of about 600 helicopter pilots.

Another brigade, the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, led by his brother, Col. Dan Ball, will deploy in the coming weeks, Ball said.

“Certainly, there will be more aviation requirements just because we will have more brigades on the ground,” Ball said.

To fill the requirements, aviation commanders are starting to send staff officers, such as company commanders who ordinarily work on bases, into cockpits on flights, said Maj. Rich Gordon, the 2nd Battalion’s executive officer.

“Pretty soon, we’ll be getting back to what we need to do as an aviation brigade: Everybody flies, everybody fights,” Gordon said.

Pilots have made other tactical changes, such as alternating altitudes and flying more at night. They sometimes climb to 2,000 feet — more than 1,500 feet above normal — when crossing hot spots just outside Baghdad.

“It’s not natural for me to be that high,” Remington said. “We’re trained that the terrain is your friend.”

Enlarging the no-fly zones may push pilots repeatedly into the same areas, creating a pattern insurgents could detect, said Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Remington, who pilots a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with the 2nd Battalion.

“It’s just a matter of time before the enemy realizes, ‘Hey, they used to come that way, now they’re coming this way,’” Remington said.

Insurgents have been closely studying the brigade’s flying patterns since it arrived in Iraq last summer, said Chief Warrant Officer Antonio Ruiz, another Black Hawk pilot with the battalion. “They’re not stupid,” he said. “They’re learning things. We change, then they change.”

American helicopters are increasingly relied upon in Iraq as roadside bombs target U.S. troops, making ground travel deadly. U.S. helicopter pilots are likely to fly about 400,000 hours this year, up from 240,000 in 2005.

The area north of Baghdad has been worrisome. Last week, members of a Special Iraqi Army Forces unit broke up an insurgent network in southern Salahuddin province, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, that was training fighters to use SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles, according to a U.S. military press release.

Weapons caches containing U.S. Stinger missiles have been discovered in the area, said 1st Lt. Rosadolores Ramirez, assistant intelligence officer with the 2nd Battalion. Insurgents are also carefully planning ambushes with automatic rifles and Russian-built heavy machine guns, she said.

“They’re becoming more aggressive, more accurate in their targeting of coalition forces,” Ramirez said.

Some pilots are allowed to fly into no-fly zones on combat missions known as “lightning strikes” that deliver troops into hostile areas.

On a recent nighttime lightning strike, Capt. Paul Moreshead, another Black Hawk pilot, and his crew circled over the ink-dark palm groves and farm huts around the area of Muqdadiyah. Moreshead, 27, of Gainesville, Fla., flies missions several times a week over the area.

“You trust your training, you prepare best you can,” he said. “I personally don’t lose much sleep over it.”