said Kuhns. “So it is our responsibility
to quickly assess and recover that
aircraft so it’s back in the ?ght.”
For U.S. Army Spc. Justin Sciscoe, an
engine mechanic with Det. 2, Co. B,
638th ASB, one of the most challenging
tasks for the DART was determining
all of the lubricants, parts, and tools
they would have to bring with them to
Prizren to replace the engine.
“There is a lot more preparation doing
[DART] than opposed to working here
[Camp Bondsteel] changing an engine,”
said Sciscoe, an Indiana National
Guard soldier from Martinsville, Ind.
“We have everything we need [at Camp
Bondsteel] where it is easy if you forget
something to send someone to go
grab it, but for [DART] we had to get
everything we might possibly need and
make sure we had everything ready to
go. It was a little more of a challenge.”
The team packed all the required repair
parts and tools they thought they would
need for the mission and left for Camp
Prizren, where upon arrival they hit the
ground running.
“We jumped right into it,” said U.S.
Army Spc. Nathan Thompson, a
Harmony, Ind. native and engine
mechanic with Det. 2, Co. B, 638th
ASB. “Everybody got in and got their
hands dirty as soon as we got there and
we had the engine out within 15-20
minutes.”
Another challenge the DART faced was
not having their lift assets with them to
take out the old engine and put the new
one in. For help Kuhns coordinated
with the German Army contingent
stationed at Camp Prizren, who were
able to provide a crane, forklift and
personnel to operate the equipment.
“Without them we couldn’t have gotten
the job done,” said Kuhns.
Sciscoe added that the German soldiers
were willing to help out wherever they
could even though they didn’t have any
experience working on Black Hawks.
of being noti?ed of the precautionary
landing, enabling the helicopter to ?y
safely back to Camp Bondsteel and
return to service.
This outstanding achievement was
not lost on U.S. Army Capt. Stephen
Kempf, the commander for Det. 2, Co.
B, 638th ASB from Carmel, Ind.
“The thing I’m most impressed about is
these guys having very little experience
and very little background in engine
changes were able to take all the parts,
all the tools, all the little support things
you wouldn’t think about because of
the convenience of your home base
or home station,” said Kempf. “These
guys took everything they needed and
we didn’t have to call for a second parts
run or get additional support to change
an engine, which is quite a feat.”
“They jumped up on the aircraft with
us and helped wherever they needed
to,” said Sciscoe. “They were ready to
get their hands dirty.”
Perhaps just as important as getting
the helicopter back in service is the
con?dence it gave the young soldiers in
being able to respond to future DART
missions.
Despite all of the challenges, the DART
was able to replace the helicopter’s
engine and perform all of the necessary
safety checks and tests within 48 hours
“It was a stressful situation,” said
Sciscoe, “but having done it once now
I think I feel a lot more comfortable
doing it.”
U.S. Army Spc. Nathan Thompson (left) and Sgt. Terry England (right), with Detachment 2, Company B, 638th Aviation Support Battalion, replace
the engine on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that made a precautionary landing at Camp Prizren due to an engine fault light Aug. 21. The soldiers
were part of a Downed Aircraft Recovery Team that provides a mobile maintenance capability that enables disabled aviation assets a path to return to
service. (Photo coutresy of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brian Phelps, Det. 2, Co. B, 638th ASB)
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