Ron Young – Shot Down, But Not Out …

Filed under DoD News by on March 9, 2010 at 1:56 pm {no comments}

By Ron Young, Eagle Scout and U.S. Army Reservist

On March 23, 2003, my helicopter was shot down. I was a 26-year old combat rookie, just two days into Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I was with a group of 18 American helicopters flying north when red tracers from Iraqi anti-aircraft installations began streaking into the sky.

It was sporadic at first, but then everything changed.  All of a sudden, we hit a wall of lead and it didn’t let up for 25 solid minutes.  A bullet finally punched into the fuselage, and the Apache lost its weapon system.

I continued to guide Dave Williams, the pilot, through the maze of tracers, as best as I could.  But the bullets were getting closer and closer.  All of a sudden, the aircraft shook, shuddered, yawed to the left, and leaned back. I yelled at Dave not to slow down, and he screamed back that we’d lost an engine. That’s when I knew we were going down.
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DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Stephen W. Wilson

Filed under Bloggers Roundtable by on August 4, 2009 at 11:41 am {no comments}

We are hosting a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Stephen W. Wilson, commander of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. EST. Wilson will discuss the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s mission of providing combat airpower and support for today’s fight in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing is one of the largest, most diverse expeditionary wings in the Air Force. The wing and its associate units operate more than 100 aircraft, making the base a large hub for humanitarian airlift activity while providing mission-essential combat power, aeromedical evacuation and intelligence support for multiple theaters of operations.

To listen to the roundtable live, click here.

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    German soldiers of 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, 40th Mechanized Infantry Regiment pull security during an Operational Mentor Liaison Team (OMLT) training exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.  OMLT XXIII and Police Operational Mentor Liaison Team VII training are designed to prepare teams for deployment to Afghanistan with the ability to train, advise, and enable the Afghan National Security Force in areas such as counter-insurgency, combat advisory, and force enabling support operations. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ian Schell  (DVIDS)


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    U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt Jeremy M. Wilson (DVIDS)


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    (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte / Released) (DVIDS)