ACORN
22nd Mar 2002, 23:33
By Sean D. Naylor, Times staff writer. .. .The soldier's weather-beaten face was streaked with tears of gratitude. Just. .days earlier, separated from his buddies and pinned down by intense fire. .from al-Qaida soldiers in the ridgelines around the Shah-e-Kot valley, he. .thought he was going to die.. .. .Then, like fire-spitting avenging angels, Apache attack helicopters sliced. .through the thin mountain air pouring rocket and chain-gun fire on his. .would-be killers.. .. ."We came in and took the fire away from him," said Capt. Bill Ryan, the. .commander of those Apaches. He said it matter-of-factly, as if there were. .nothing remarkable about piloting a helicopter through hails of bullets and. .rocket-propelled grenades to save a man's life.. .. .Now safely back at Bagram Air Base, that soldier had come to thank his. .deliverers.. .. .As Operation Anaconda wound down, a string of well-wishers stopped by to pay. .homage to the dozen or so Apache pilots who had kept the al-Qaida troops at. .bay.. .. .Not every visitor broke into tears. But all echoed the sentiments of Lt.. .Col. "Chip" Preysler, commander of 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment.. .Preysler's battalion was one of two that flew into the teeth of entrenched. .al-Qaida positions March 2, the first day of the operation. Their very lives. .depended on Ryan's seven Apaches for close air support.. .When he came out of the battle nine days later, Preysler immediately sought. .out Ryan. With a smile on his face and his hands spread wide, he said, "You. .guys have huge balls.". .. .The Apache exploits on the first day of the battle of Shah-e-Kot have done. .much to bolster the reputation of an aircraft that saw its battlefield role. .called into question after its role in Albania in 1999. In that bleak. .period in the helicopter's history, 24 Apaches were sent to Task Force Hawk. .for use in the war against Yugoslavia. But the choppers were held back from. .combat after two crashed and two pilots died during mission. .rehearsals.. .. .The Apache community complained that ignorant journalists and. .casualty-averse Pentagon officials had unfairly turned their beloved killing. .machine into a scapegoat.. .. .Now, three years later, the contrast could not be starker. The Apache. .drivers are being lauded as heroes, and their helicopter is receiving what. .to many pilots is praise long overdue.. .. .With al-Qaida fighters so close to U.S. troops that close air support from. ."fast mover" jets was often out of the question, the Apaches became the only. .fire support available to ground commanders.. .. .In the crucial hours of that first day, when the carefully scripted battle. .plans had been rendered irrelevant and the outcome hung in the balance,. .Apaches saved the day.. .. ."The weapon that changed the face of the battle for us was the Apache," said. .Col. Frank Wiercinski, commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air. .Assault)'s 3rd Brigade and in charge of all conventional U.S. troops in the. .battle.. .. ."I was just so impressed by its capability," he said. "I had never seen the. .Apache in combat before, though I've always trained with it. I am a firm. .believer right now that a brigade combat team commander needs his Apache. .battalion in an air assault division - its ability to protect us en route,. .its ability to set the conditions on the landing zones and then its close. .combat attack capability to take out fires.. .. ."Artillery is a wonderful asset, but you need an observer, you need a. .sensor, and then you've got the artillery [tube] as the shooter. An Apache. .can do all of that, and it's always moving.". .. .On station in the valley from dawn on the battle's first day, the Apaches. .flew again and again through withering small arms, heavy machine-gun and. .rocket-propelled grenade fire to provide fire support to the beleaguered. .infantry troops.. .. .Five Apaches were present at the start of the battle, a sixth arrived later. .that morning and a seventh flew up from Kandahar to join the fight that. .afternoon. None of the helicopters was shot down, but four were so badly. .damaged they were knocked out of the fight.. .. .The fire the Apaches braved was so intense that when the day was over, 27 of. .the 28 rotor blades among the seven helicopters sported bullet holes, said. .Lt. Col. James M. Marye, the commander of the 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation. .Regiment. Marye's aviation task force included the Apaches of Ryan's A. .Company, 3rd Battalion, 101st Aviation.. .. .Beneath the cold numbers are tales of heroism and extraordinary achievement.. .None are more dramatic than the story of Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jim Hardy.. .At about 6:45 a.m., an RPG exploded under the nose of Hardy's Apache,. .sending shrapnel slicing through the helicopter's innards.. .. ."I looked up and there was a black puff of smoke, like World War II flak,". .said Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Hamilton, who was flying nearby. "There. .was major damage to that aircraft," Ryan said. "They had lost the weapons. .systems and the target-acquisition systems.". .. .Despite the fact that Hardy's Apache was now essentially unarmed, he stayed. .on station. He later told Hamilton that his plan was to fly up the valley. .and draw fire, allowing the other Apaches to engage enemy gunners once they. .had revealed themselves.. .. .About 10 minutes after an RPG struck Hardy's aircraft, another hit the. .Apache piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Keith Hurley, smashing into the. .left Hellfire missile launcher. "The RPG struck me on the left, rocked the. .aircraft, and a microsecond after that, a bullet came through the cockpit,". .Hurley said. By the end of the day there were 13 bullet holes in Hurley's. .aircraft. Lights immediately started flashing on Hurley's control panel,. .warning him that he was hemorrhaging oil. Hardy, one of the company's most. .experienced pilots, realized Hurley was in trouble, and got on the radio.. .As Hurley recalls it, Hardy told him, "I've got to go back to the [Forward. .Arming and Refueling Point], fall in trail and follow me, and we've got to. .go quick.". .. .The two wounded Apaches headed for the FARP, a way station for the. .helicopters roughly halfway between the valley and their temporary base in. .Bagram, north of Kabul. They didn't make it very far. About a mile west of. ."the Whale," the humpbacked ridgeline that marked the western edge of the. .valley, more lights came on in Hurley's cockpit, including one that told him. .he had no fluid left in his transmission. "I called off the lights to Mr.. .Hardy and he said, 'You've got to land,you've got to land now,' " Hurley. .said. The two landed in a dried-up riverbed, within range of the al-Qaida. .positions. With bullets flying around him, Hardy, who Hurley described as. ."the unit maintenance god," shut the helicopters down and went to work on. .Hurley's aircraft.. .. ."He did sort of a triage of the aircraft, examining it like a doctor,". .Hurley said. Hardy took the three one-quart oil cans that each helicopter. .carried as spares and poured all six quarts into Hurley's engine. Then he. .told Hurley they were going to swap helicopters and fly back to the FARP.. ."He told me, 'Don't dick around, when I get it started, I'm going,' " Hurley. .said. Hardy was drawing on his deep knowledge of the Apache to take a. .calculated risk. With Hurley's chopper leaking fluid like a sieve, he knew. .the six quarts of oil he had just poured in would not last long. But he also. .knew that the. .Apache's engine was supposed to last 30 minutes without oil before seizing. .up.. .. .Hardy was gambling that he could nurse Hurley's Apache 50 miles to the FARP. .in less than half an hour. The alternative was to strap two of the four. .pilots onto the side of Hardy's helicopter, leaving Hurley's Apache behind. .as a dead loss.. .Hardy's gamble paid off. Twenty-six minutes after taking off under fire from. .the riverbed, the two damaged Apaches landed safely at the FARP. Hardy's. .colleagues were in awe. "There are not a lot of folks out there who would. .have taken that aircraft off the ground," Ryan said. "It was an incredible. .action by Mr. Hardy." Hamilton said: "He's a hero, no doubt about it.". .Marye recommended Hardy for a Distinguished Flying Cross. He also. .recommended Ryan, who continued flying despite being nicked on the chin by a. .bullet, for a Silver Star and several other pilots for the Air Medal with. ."V" device.