Mechanics at War in Afghanistan (With Attack Chopper Photo Gallery)

• Afghanistan
• Army
• helicopters
• warfare
• aviation
• aircraft
• engineering

Bagram Air Base — Afghanistan is hell on helicopters: Temperature swings can ruin seals and gaskets; towering mountains with low air density sap power from spinning rotor blades and engines; dusty deserts gum up hydraulics; and enemy combatants pepper the machines with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Keeping the Army's helicopters aloft in this hostile environment is the job of maintenance crews in bases across the war-torn country. Day in, day out, these unsung professionals do routine and emergency repairs on fleets of choppers that are the linchpin of U.S. operations, from resupply to offloading troops into combat to supporting ground troops with powerful guns and rockets. "Every time we launch a helicopter, that's one less vehicle that has to use roads and risk improvised explosive devices," says 32-year-old company commander Capt. Jeffrey Baird, of the 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, as he watches one of his crews start the rotors of a Chinook during a ground test. The 7-101, known here as Task Force Eagle Lift, is responsible for 52 helicopters, including Apache attack helicopters, Kiowa attack/scout choppers, heavy lifters like the Chinook and all-purpose workhorses like the Black Hawk. In addition to servicing helicopters, Eagle Lift ferries ground troops on surprise raids, escorts convoys and resupplies remote bases.

Without the regiment's dedicated support staff, none of these vital jobs would get done. "I'm not sure that people understand what it takes to launch even one of these helicopters," says Maj. Randy Spell, the battalion executive officer of Eagle Lift. Spell's command includes more than mechanics and technicians. There are test pilots who make sure the diagnostics and fixes are correct, supply professionals who can pull parts from bases, depots and factories around the globe, ground vehicle motor pool crews, weapons experts who handle the rockets and missiles of the attack choppers and quality-control experts who look for trends in what's breaking down and why. National Guard units, called Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depots, attached to the task force do large overhauls on aircraft that suffer structural damage.

Mechanics no longer work exclusively in the rear. Many repairs that used to be done stateside are now handled at air bases, some of them in remote locations. Forward operating bases that host helicopters can conduct routine inspections and repairs, but most must send their fleets to Bagram for heavier work. Maintainers at Bagram can also find themselves in the field: When a helicopter breaks down while on a mission, Eagle Lift officers determine how best to rescue crews and salvage equipment. The preference is for a "Band-Aid fix" that can be applied by the crew—just enough of a repair to limp back to a base. If not, within an hour maintainers are loaded into choppers with rapid-deployment toolkits in hand.

Under the Hood of an Apache

On the eastern fringe of Bagram, two AH-64 Apaches rise from the tarmac on a mission to escort a ground convoy. The sight of the helicopters cruising ahead of ground vehicles, with rocket pods on each side and a 30-mm cannon fixed under the cockpit, serves as a deterrent to insurgent attacks. The Apache is engineered to end lives. In flight the craft looks sleek, predatory and organic. But under the black exterior are miles of wiring, a powerful engine, a complex transmission, hydraulics, sensors for attack and defense, and an array of weapons. "This thing is a flying tank," says Sgt. 1st Class Ja'qua Weaver, who is responsible for keeping the Apaches of Eagle Lift ready for action. "I've never seen one get shot by small-arms fire. They just move too quick."

Weaver's staff of 30 dotes on its nine Apache helicopters; half of the crew works on the craft, the rest on the weapons systems. Because of the size and ferocity of the ordnance, Apache maintainers work away from the transport helicopters at Bagram. There is always an Apache ready to react to ground troops fighting with the enemy, and crews can launch these warbirds within minutes. To ensure the choppers are ready, Weaver must juggle routine maintenance with the unexpected breakdowns that come with operating two flights per day in wartime. After 500 flight hours the entire craft must be broken down and cleaned; worn parts are replaced. The guns are dismantled into dozens of component parts and cleaned, vibration diagnostics are tested, and the rotor blades, often scoured by sand and rocks, are repaired. This comprehensive overhaul takes only about 18 days. (See the slide show below for details of maintainers at work on Apaches at Bagram.)

The Apache was built to kill Soviet tanks, but the platform is proving useful against insurgents. Hellfire missiles, configured to blast rooms instead of armored vehicles, can provide devastating air strikes from distances so far the targets don't even hear the rotors. The 30-mm cannon can use airburst rounds that make hiding behind rocks ineffective. And the high explosive rockets, imprecise but deadly, make quick work of trucks used by Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

CLICK FOR MORE Chopper Mechanics at War in Afghanistan
1. Under the Hood of the Apache	2. New Birds, New Improvements	3. Two Blackhawks Take Off	4. CH-47 Chinook
5. Armed Apache attack helicopter	6. Apache Overhaul	7. On the Flight Deck	8. Beneath the Smooth Exterior
9. No Shorts	10. 30-mm Round	11. Intimidating Opponents	12. Test Flight

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