Guardian East October Issue | Page 6

DART gets helicopters back in the air Story by U.S. Army Capt. Randy Ready 4th Public Affairs Detachment O ne of Kosovo Forces most important capabilities is being able to move KFOR soldiers by air to quickly respond to any threat to a safe and secure environment or freedom of movement throughout Kosovo. The responsibility of ensuring Multinational Battle Group-East’s helicopters remain operational to carry out this mission falls on Detachment 2, Company B, 638th Aviation Support Battalion. On Aug. 21, the unit was put to the test when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter had to make a precautionary landing at Camp Prizren due to an engine fault PG 6 light. To get the aircraft back in the air, the company turned to the Downed Aircraft Recovery Team. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Derrick Kuhns, the Det. 2, Co. B, 638th ASB Production Control and DART Noncommissioned Of?cer in Charge, said the DART provides a mobile maintenance capability that enables disabled aviation assets a path to return to service. “[The DART’s] mission is to recover aircraft and put them into a ?yable state to recover it back to its home station,” said Kuhns, an Indiana National Guardsman and a native of Carmel, Ind. Kuhns said the DART is not made up of speci?c soldiers; rather the team’s personnel depend on each individual incident. The situation will determine which soldiers, tools and repair parts they will need. Other factors, such as the security of the location the aircraft is in, will also impact the DART’s mission. In Prizren, it was quickly determined that the helicopter’s engine was going to have to be replaced. Though the aircraft was on a secure base, the DART still ????????????????????????)?????????????????????+?qQ????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????t((0