European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday. January. 19sb the stars and stripes Page s spec. 4 Steven Williams works on cobra Racket pod at Gofen shr Field site. Pfc. Dutty Bellow Tim a hands on approach id repairing a cobia none run. Teamwork key to War eagles no. 1 status Stirry and Holm lib Tony nauhot1i morn Letb Bureau Grai Knohr. Germany the pilots of Hie 1st army div s newly designated 2nd Len. I is aviation ret the War Ragl i Are proud of i heir Lalus As the Bell in Usarek. Bui Fin Wal members Aren t patting Lac much in the Back. We re a solid a ave race said 2nd l n commander it. Col. Gregory Johnson. Lie Calls his fliers Trench aviators and refers in their cobra helicopters As just flying links cd capt that they in pc a third dimension vertical to worry instead of bragging about in night feats if fancy talk often renters on the 360.dwi Accident free Miles lugged on the unit s More than 100 wheeled Chi Els. And Johnson easts the spotlight More toward his ground Crews in fuel opera Lions and maintenance so thai top wrench nets equal Billing with top gun i be. David hollow was asked How he contributed toward earning he award. The Wheaton iii., Soldier shrugged As he wrestled with a 20mm Cannon drooping from the note of a cobra. The Small pans bared their cold Metal Ichih against his unloved hands. To gel recognized when inc guns work and the rockets Fin he said. Another ground Crew member sgt. Terry Cains. 24. Said the award does t make any difference in our Day to Day the operations this Day were held Dur ing a recent cold snap at . Hooded in fur and braced against the approaching night air the Pensacola Fla Nallive added " the cold is unpleasant but unless they Ico Brasi have armaments and unless they work they re nothing More than expensive two Man such a statement from a maintenance crewman might be unseemly even uppity. But the. Grunts in the trenches Lake Isdr Cue from the top. I try to make each Guy fed important Johnson said As he leaned into a straight backed chair at battalion head quarters. While Bollow was sticking his Bare Lin Gers Back into the cobra s Metal jaws sgt. Danny Gonzalez 25, was going Over daily fuel consumption figures with sgt. Robert Bicknell 22. They stood in a warm up Lent their rear ends facing the army version of a pot bellied stove that glowed with warmth in the dark. They had just finished hot fueling a cobra out in the open. Hot fueling does t mean the soldiers arc warm. It Means the Pilot keeps the rotors running while the fuel pour in. If in s not done right it can be dangerous. But they do it right. The Rotor Wash whipped their ponchos in a straight line behind them and for 10 minutes they were living in a wind chill Factor too Tow to mention. Back in inc Lent Gonzalez from Brooklyn n.y., and Bicknell from Riverside. Calif., calculated their figures 19,000 Gallons consumed since dec. 1. That represents a lot of hours leaning uncomplaining into the Rotor Wash. Johnson said thai because an aviation unit has far fewer members in it than other kinds of army battalions he has to ask his soldiers Tor 110 percent to get everything done and they must double up in their duties. He said they do it willingly. I just kind of tweak them step Back and incy do what needs to be done he said. Others in the unit said that Johnson docs indeed take Good care of them. For example through creative fund raising the unit has managed to take what they Call War Eagle trips to air shows in 1 Aris and England ski resorts in Austria and to other vacation spots. Just before Christmas. Johnson found transportation to take his troops to local Nutcracker Crystal and stuffed animal Facia Ries so they could get some shopping in before their dec. 23 Clum to their Home stations and their families. Sgt. Uryan Cox 23, a Crew chief from Marsh Allown Iowa walked toward the warm up Lent he had a shopping bag in his hand. A new pack of aviator Brand playing cams peeled through the opaque plastic How Ilid i contribute to the award he asked. Well. I went for parts and i kept my aircraft up and running smooth. It was a a average answer. Bundled sip against the w ind and could. Pfc. David Bollow stacks rockets on the Rocky Grounin i Crafin Wuhr utter unloading them from cobra gunship
