So long, Old Friend

WASHINGTON, DC (11/18/2011)(readMedia)-- Other than some tears and good-humored teasing about hanging on to the last UH-1 "Huey" in the Army's inventory, it was an unremarkable day as the legendary helicopter lifted off for its final flight from Davison Army Airfield, Va. It was replaced last week by the arrival of the D.C. Guard's first UH-60 Blackhawk.

"It's the end of an era," said Sgt. George Wagner, production control manager for the 121st Medical Co. (Air Ambulance).

The last remaining Huey is close to four decades old. The Army's first Hueys saw combat in Vietnam beginning in the 1960s. "I cut my teeth on the Huey in 2000 when I became a crew chief," he said.

Reminiscing about its legacy, Wagner said the Huey reminds him of lines from

the movie "We Were Soldiers," a 2002 film that dramatizes the Battle of Ia

Drang in 1965. The true-to-life film stars Mel Gibson as Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Hal

Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, both of whom were at the battle.

The movie depicts how the Army developed the Huey to transform the 1st

Cavalry Division (Airmobile) into an unconventional infantry unit. The

primary purpose of the Huey during Vietnam was to transport troops into

battle for the air assault division.

"In 1964, it was the new technology," Wagner said. "It has withstood the

test of time."

More than 17,000 Huey's were bought by the Army, many times more than any

other helicopter, according to Lt. Col. Maureen Bellamy, DCNG State Army

Aviation Officer.

"Many more thousands of people flew Hueys or had a memorable ride in one in

combat," she said. "Every time we brought a Huey to an air show, it would

draw a crowd of people with a smile and a memory to share."

The DC Guard, which first acquired the UH-1 in late 1973, had two Hueys left

this past year, but had to keep getting Army approval to continue using

them. Most Hueys have been replaced by the UH-60 Black Hawk or the UH-72

Lakota, which was fielded in 2009 to the DCNG's 121st Medical Co. (Air

Ambulance) at Davison Army Airfield adjacent to Fort Belvoir, Va.

"The Huey is a venerable icon of the Vietnam era, but it's also a veteran of

every conflict since, up to the Global War on Terror," Bellamy said. "Hueys

could be found in almost every corner of the world."

Even when it became too outdated for combat, the Huey remained an ideal

aircraft for domestic operations," she said.

"Our Hueys deployed to Fort Hood and four other installations to provide

MEDEVAC backfill for a year as part of Operation Noble Eagle," she said. "We

flew our Hueys to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to support rescue efforts

after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We took them to fly the Southwest Border

in Operation Jump Start."

And the list goes on and on, including landing at the Pentagon to do MEDEVAC

missions right after it was hit by a commercial airliner on 9/11.

Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, Acting Director of the Army National Guard

and a frequent flyer on board the D.C. Guard's last Hueys, was able to take

a final ride on the same day the Huey was flown to Ozark, Ala., where it will

be refurbished and used as trainer for Air Force flight students at

neighboring Ft. Rucker.

"It was a great privilege for me to be on the flight," Carpenter said. "The

UH-1 has spanned my career and it is the helicopter that has supported the

Army and the Army Guard for almost half a century. Truly a remarkable record

for one of the most reliable pieces of equipment the Army has ever

acquired."

CW4 Rohn Legore, a longtime maintenance officer and pilot for the D.C.

Guard, said he first worked on the Huey as a mechanic in 1979 when he was

serving in Korea.

"I found out that the D.C. Guard had the Huey down here at Davison Army

Airfield, so I joined," he said.

Bellamy flew the Huey on her first assignment in Korea as a UH-1 Maintenance

Platoon Leader.

"We like to say that a flight school diploma is a license to learn," she

said. "Flying the UH-1 in Korea that first year taught me some of the most

important things I know about flying."

Bellamy went on to become a UH-1 instructor pilot at the Army Aviation

Center at Fort Rucker and later deployed to Desert Storm as a Huey and

Blackhawk maintenance officer.

"I've been a pilot-in-command in other aircraft," Bellamy said, "but the

right-front seat of a Huey feels like home."

CW5 Steven Mueck, a DCNG aviation instructor pilot, had similar feelings.

"It really felt like losing an old friend," he said about watching the Huey

take off for the last time. "In 30 years of flying, it never left me without

a ride home. Never had an accident or incident. She was a true pilot's

aircraft."

Mueck had more than 4,000 hours in the Huey, flying in good weather and bad,

the daytime and nighttime with night vision goggles.

"She always brought me home safe and sound," he said. "She was a workhorse

and will be dearly missed."

Posted Friday November 18, 2011 at 05:17 pm by DC National Guard
Last Updated Monday November 21, 2011 at 03:58 pm