Flying Officer's DFC
Flying Officer's DFC
Congratulations Has, surprised there hasn't been more coverage of the awards in this forum:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../norris216.xml
In one of the most remarkable feats of helicopter flying an RAF pilot made his Chinook "pull a wheelie" to clear a building while under heavy gunfire.
In a manoeuvre "never practised before and never tried since", Flying Officer Chris Haslar put the helicopter on its back wheels for the front rotors to clear a building by six inches. It was "kind-of non-orthodox" he said modestly yesterday in Colchester.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the feat and for another action north of Sangin when three Chinooks had to extract Paras from an ambush.
Under heavy fire he carried 30 paratroopers from out of the area. "The rounds got really close," said the 26-year-old pilot of 18 Squadron. "I looked at my co-pilot I saw these big balls of green passing over his head which were tracer rounds."
In a manoeuvre "never practised before and never tried since", Flying Officer Chris Haslar put the helicopter on its back wheels for the front rotors to clear a building by six inches. It was "kind-of non-orthodox" he said modestly yesterday in Colchester.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the feat and for another action north of Sangin when three Chinooks had to extract Paras from an ambush.
Under heavy fire he carried 30 paratroopers from out of the area. "The rounds got really close," said the 26-year-old pilot of 18 Squadron. "I looked at my co-pilot I saw these big balls of green passing over his head which were tracer rounds."
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A brave act to be sure...
But 18Sqn did this all the time while taxying back to their dispersal in Gütersloh I often saw them wheelie the full length of the taxiway....even managed to Fod a Harrier once. OC Eng. not a happy chap and the practice stopped...for a while.
But 18Sqn did this all the time while taxying back to their dispersal in Gütersloh I often saw them wheelie the full length of the taxiway....even managed to Fod a Harrier once. OC Eng. not a happy chap and the practice stopped...for a while.
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Congratulations buddy and nice phot! Wasn't that spelling of your name last seen regarding the 'young Flt Lt nurse who has just come up from Haslar'. Bloody good job mate - I reckon you could count the number of Fg Off DFCs on Abu Hamza's right hand. See you for a beer Mon.
PS I have an idea of what I want to give your sister for Christmas. Need your opinion.
PS I have an idea of what I want to give your sister for Christmas. Need your opinion.
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It is widely recognised by the AAC that your award and those of your colleagues was richly deserved, and, very well done to all those Chinook drivers involved. It's a shame the AAC can't write its own folk up for similar awards! Well done to Tom J who will always be recognised by those that matter for his extraordinary contribution.
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Didn't want Craig Wilson to feel left out, so here's all 3 of 18(B) Sqn's DFC citations:
Flt Lt Craig Wilson was Captain of a Chinook from 1310 Flt in Helmand Province. On 11 Jun he was tasked with his second casualty evacuation of the day. He had only been in theatre a few weeks and had completed a minimum of theatre night flying. A British soldier had been very seriously injured during enemy contact. To avoid giving away his presence and maximising the element of surprise he flew at 150ft and landed with precision at night in the middle of the stranded patrol's location, recovering the man to safety.
Just a few hours later he was tasked yet again with a further casevac, but had to hold off while an Apache gunship suppressed enemy action. By the time he returned to base with the casualty he had barely enough fuel to remain airborne, but he knew a man's life had been at stake. Gallantry and extreme and persistent courage ensured the recovery of the two very seriously wounded British soldiers and almost certainly played a vital role in saving their lives. A short while later he volunteered to fly a further mission - despite having been on duty 22 hours - to insert troops badly needed as re-enforcements. He was awarded the DFC.
Flying Officer Christopher Hasler was a Chinook Captain, also part of 1310 Flt. In July 2006 as a relatively inexperienced pilot he led a formation of Chinooks into Sangin, a Taliban stronghold, to re-supply and extract elements of 3 PARA, under extremely dangerous conditions. The day before a soldier had been killed trying to secure the helicopter landing site. To make the most of surprise he chose to land in an area away from the usual landing site where there were buildings on three sides, with the ever-present threat of one of the two rotors striking a building and causing catastrophic damage.
To give the Chinook more space he intentionally placed one of the spinning rotors above a single-storey rooftop. Any error could have been fatal. The mission was a complete success. On another occasion he landed troops while the Taliban were firing at him with RPGs and rifles. He held his nerve while his troops were disembarking at the hottest of helicopter landing sites, allowing them to suppress enemy positions with minimum UK casualties. He acted with great courage and composure in the most demanding, high-risk environment the Chinook Force has operated in within recent history and displayed the highest standards of gallantry and professionalism and outstanding capability as a helicopter captain. He was awarded the DFC.
RM Major Mark Hammond was an exchange Chinook pilot with 19(B) Sqn and was involved in 3 separate casevac engagements in one night in Sep 06 in which he showed leadership, superior flying skills and inspirational command of his crew – each time under fire. The first was the extraction of a seriously wounded soldier from Sangin under fire. While Apaches provided suppressing fire he made an aggressive quick approach to the landing site and successfully collected the casualty. On arrival back at Camp Bastion he received a second call to extract a critical casualty.
Despite knowing the casualty location was under attack from the Taliban, he landed using night vision goggles while being engaged by enemy fire from several positions and the approach had to be aborted. A nearby Apache crew witnessed two rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) pass just 10 metres above and below the Chjinook. Back at base four rounds were found to have hit the aircraft, one causing almost catastrophic damage to a wing blade root. So Hammond took another Chinook and, despite further sustained fire, managed to extract the badly injured soldier. He was awarded the DFC. He was awarded the QCVS for his services during Op Telic ( Iraq ) in 2002
Just a few hours later he was tasked yet again with a further casevac, but had to hold off while an Apache gunship suppressed enemy action. By the time he returned to base with the casualty he had barely enough fuel to remain airborne, but he knew a man's life had been at stake. Gallantry and extreme and persistent courage ensured the recovery of the two very seriously wounded British soldiers and almost certainly played a vital role in saving their lives. A short while later he volunteered to fly a further mission - despite having been on duty 22 hours - to insert troops badly needed as re-enforcements. He was awarded the DFC.
Flying Officer Christopher Hasler was a Chinook Captain, also part of 1310 Flt. In July 2006 as a relatively inexperienced pilot he led a formation of Chinooks into Sangin, a Taliban stronghold, to re-supply and extract elements of 3 PARA, under extremely dangerous conditions. The day before a soldier had been killed trying to secure the helicopter landing site. To make the most of surprise he chose to land in an area away from the usual landing site where there were buildings on three sides, with the ever-present threat of one of the two rotors striking a building and causing catastrophic damage.
To give the Chinook more space he intentionally placed one of the spinning rotors above a single-storey rooftop. Any error could have been fatal. The mission was a complete success. On another occasion he landed troops while the Taliban were firing at him with RPGs and rifles. He held his nerve while his troops were disembarking at the hottest of helicopter landing sites, allowing them to suppress enemy positions with minimum UK casualties. He acted with great courage and composure in the most demanding, high-risk environment the Chinook Force has operated in within recent history and displayed the highest standards of gallantry and professionalism and outstanding capability as a helicopter captain. He was awarded the DFC.
RM Major Mark Hammond was an exchange Chinook pilot with 19(B) Sqn and was involved in 3 separate casevac engagements in one night in Sep 06 in which he showed leadership, superior flying skills and inspirational command of his crew – each time under fire. The first was the extraction of a seriously wounded soldier from Sangin under fire. While Apaches provided suppressing fire he made an aggressive quick approach to the landing site and successfully collected the casualty. On arrival back at Camp Bastion he received a second call to extract a critical casualty.
Despite knowing the casualty location was under attack from the Taliban, he landed using night vision goggles while being engaged by enemy fire from several positions and the approach had to be aborted. A nearby Apache crew witnessed two rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) pass just 10 metres above and below the Chjinook. Back at base four rounds were found to have hit the aircraft, one causing almost catastrophic damage to a wing blade root. So Hammond took another Chinook and, despite further sustained fire, managed to extract the badly injured soldier. He was awarded the DFC. He was awarded the QCVS for his services during Op Telic ( Iraq ) in 2002
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Helidriver,
Nice try in raising awareness for the AAC boys (and girls)-but obviously lost in the noise. There is no doubt that over the summer significant acts of bravery took place in Afghanistan and I for one am very proud that when it counted that everyone stepped up to the plate.
But you must surely recognise that honours and awards are all driven by political motivation - and I am not talking 'cash for honours' which leaves a really bad taste in the mouths of those that have genuinely earned theirs-and not just allegedly made a huge donation to a political party.
But on a lesser scale the fact that the AAC did not get any of the bravery awards (MBE/DSO/DFC etc) over the Chinnie boys is that those in the positions of power are trying to raise awareness for the over used, under resourced SH capability. No one is listening to the numerous papers being written at 1 star level and above on the SH lift shortfall or the now nearly forgotten 2004 NAO report critisicing the Govt for a woeful lack of SH lift.
Lets be honest, the AH capability has had significant investment of resources and because it is new and shiney and instantly grabs the medias attention it is always in the publics eye (and therefore also the public opion conscious Govt).
So therefore all of these awards to the Chinnie boys get the whole SH piece back into the public arena and just remind the politicians who are very quick to forget Theatres along way from home - exactly what is going on and why continued investment in SH is required - and if you have served with a Chinnie Det you will know exactly which areas require investment yesterday!!
Lets be honest, no other way has made the blindest bit of difference!
From listening to mates recording their tales, without a shadow of a doubt they all openly and honestly state that they would not have been able to even begin to do their brave stuff without UK Apaches being embedded with them and providing the fire support when required. They all really appreciated what has obviously been a success for Teeney Weenies despite some disbelievers and doubters.
Maybe Helidriver you can cut us some slack on this one - within the Joint community we have had to suffer and lose resources in order to try and bring you into the professional (and not flying club) aviation environment - now you can just suck your teeth while we try and regain some investment for us.
But hey, you guys didn't go unrecognised I saw that an AAC Lt Col got an OBE and according to the guys in the bar he was instrumental in the success of the whole JHF(A).
Nice try in raising awareness for the AAC boys (and girls)-but obviously lost in the noise. There is no doubt that over the summer significant acts of bravery took place in Afghanistan and I for one am very proud that when it counted that everyone stepped up to the plate.
But you must surely recognise that honours and awards are all driven by political motivation - and I am not talking 'cash for honours' which leaves a really bad taste in the mouths of those that have genuinely earned theirs-and not just allegedly made a huge donation to a political party.
But on a lesser scale the fact that the AAC did not get any of the bravery awards (MBE/DSO/DFC etc) over the Chinnie boys is that those in the positions of power are trying to raise awareness for the over used, under resourced SH capability. No one is listening to the numerous papers being written at 1 star level and above on the SH lift shortfall or the now nearly forgotten 2004 NAO report critisicing the Govt for a woeful lack of SH lift.
Lets be honest, the AH capability has had significant investment of resources and because it is new and shiney and instantly grabs the medias attention it is always in the publics eye (and therefore also the public opion conscious Govt).
So therefore all of these awards to the Chinnie boys get the whole SH piece back into the public arena and just remind the politicians who are very quick to forget Theatres along way from home - exactly what is going on and why continued investment in SH is required - and if you have served with a Chinnie Det you will know exactly which areas require investment yesterday!!
Lets be honest, no other way has made the blindest bit of difference!
From listening to mates recording their tales, without a shadow of a doubt they all openly and honestly state that they would not have been able to even begin to do their brave stuff without UK Apaches being embedded with them and providing the fire support when required. They all really appreciated what has obviously been a success for Teeney Weenies despite some disbelievers and doubters.
Maybe Helidriver you can cut us some slack on this one - within the Joint community we have had to suffer and lose resources in order to try and bring you into the professional (and not flying club) aviation environment - now you can just suck your teeth while we try and regain some investment for us.
But hey, you guys didn't go unrecognised I saw that an AAC Lt Col got an OBE and according to the guys in the bar he was instrumental in the success of the whole JHF(A).
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Having been on the aircraft with Has, I must say well done mate and also to Craig and Mark too. To the AH boys congrat to Chris for his MiD, but gents don't be disheartened you are doing a great job for us. BZ
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Gongs handed out:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories
I reckon you could count the number of Fg Off DFCs on Abu Hamza's right hand
Many congrats to all concerned - looks like I got out of Dodge at just the right time. Very impressed by all I read from the comfort of my HEMS/ Police offices about Chinny crew and AAC antics these days.
Gentleman Aviator
I reckon you could count the number of Fg Off DFCs on Abu Hamza's right hand
I'm not quite that old, but he was a QFI when I went through training - and he was still a (fairly senior) fg off in those far-off B Exam days.....
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Royal Oz Air Force had a single striper helo pilot with both a DFC and an AFC back in the early 70's.
I know he won the DFC whilst still a Pilot Officer (for the hot extract of a SAS patrol in Vietnam), and I seem to remember that he got the AFC just before he got the wider stripe, but I'm not sure of that (it may have been after). I think the AFC was won rescuing some people from the roof of a building during a major flood.
I know he won the DFC whilst still a Pilot Officer (for the hot extract of a SAS patrol in Vietnam), and I seem to remember that he got the AFC just before he got the wider stripe, but I'm not sure of that (it may have been after). I think the AFC was won rescuing some people from the roof of a building during a major flood.