ARLINGTON, Va., - When you think of close air support, visions of
Army helicopters or Air Force A-10 Thunderbolts usually come to mind.
Now a unique group of Army National Guard aviators are providing a different
type of close air support in Afghanistan.
The Operational Support Airlift Agency (OSAA), based at Davison Army Airfield
on Fort Belvoir, Va., has been providing fixed-wing pilots and crews to fly
reconnaissance and surveillance missions in direct support and contact with
troops on the ground.
Part of Task Force ODIN-or Observe, Detect, Identify and Neutralize-the first
group of pilots and crews to support the mission recently returned from a
year in Afghanistan and a second group has taken over for them.
The mission of the task force is somewhat different from the usual type of
missions flown by the pilots and crews.
"Our organization, an Army fixed-wing organization, is historically flying
missions to support movement of equipment, cargo and passengers," said Army
Col. Michael Bobeck, commander of OSAA. "But this particular mission is more
of a direct warfight contribution. With this ODIN mission we are more in
direct contact with the platoon leader, specialist or sergeant who is
actually in combat and who is looking for our ability to provide a view of
what's behind that hill or what's around that corner, so we can give him
better situational awareness."
Flying the ODIN missions puts the aircrews not only in close contact with the
troops on the ground, but the possibility of close contact with hostile
forces as well, said Bobeck. Something which isn't as likely when flying the
normal utility missions Army fixed-wing aircrews regularly fly.
"Even though we are flying in combat, fixed-wing flying in theatre is, for
the most part, take off, climb to altitude and then it's a relatively safe
operation," said Bobeck.
Despite flying a new mission with new equipment, those who made up the first
rotation returned home with an outstanding safety record.
"The first rotation was accident and incident free, which speaks highly of
the experience that the pilots and crewmembers have that they've developed
over the years of flying," said Bobeck. "They were able to come together and
were able to quickly get trained up, deploy with relatively new equipment in
a new mission and then execute the mission and come back safe and sound."
And that safety record was accomplished by personnel drawn from at least
eight states, some of whom may not have ever worked together before.
"Once we were assigned to the mission, the Army National Guard was tasked
with finding crews and "backseaters" to work the equipment," said Bobeck.
"OSAA has fixed-wing pilots assigned to it and there are pilots and flight
ops personnel assigned to each state flight detachment around the country."
Even though the personnel came from multiple locations, they were able to
quickly get together and perform the mission, said Bobeck, adding that
because OSAA provides the overarching framework of standardization,
operations and safety and maintenance, pilots and crews knew what to expect
when working with personnel from other locations.
"One of the reasons the units were successful was regardless of what state
these flight detachments are in, we all operate the same way," said Bobeck.
"We have one SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) and we can pull together
folks from several states, and in a short time everyone is singing from one
page and we can functionally deploy these guys and gals in theatre for a
year."
What is also noteworthy about the task force, said Bobeck, is that the Army
has no formal organizational structure for the ODIN mission set.
But that may soon change. "As a matter of fact, the Army is pushing to
formalize the MTOE (Modified Table of Organization and Equipment) and make it
an enduring organization in terms of Army force structure," said Bobeck.
In addition to supporting the Afghanistan mission, OSAA may also be sending a
group of aviators and crew members to support the Multi-national Force and
Observers mission in the Sinai Peninsula in the near future.
"There is a requirement for an airplane to support the MFO inspectors," said
Bobeck. "The French, who are currently providing that airframe, pilots and
crews, are leaving this summer. We're being asked to take a look at it if we
can backfill them with a C-23 Sherpa. So we're studying that right now."
The new mission would be assisting inspectors as they validate various parts
of the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, who share a
border along the Sinai.
And the C-23 Sherpa is ideal for that mission. "Essentially, the Sherpa
provides an aerial platform that moves quicker than a helicopter and can
cover more distance, yet is slow enough to give the observers a capability to
look out the windows and see what's going on, on the ground, and verify
various aspects of the treaty," said Bobeck.
Both the ODIN mission and the possible Sinai mission says something about the
caliber of the pilot and crews as well as OSAA itself.
"It proves we're very adaptable and that we can quickly reconfigure or adjust
our missions and priorities to support the warfighters or the Army, Army
National Guard or DoD with Army fixed-wing capability," said Bobeck.
It is also a testament to the often forgotten Army aviators, said Bobeck.
"Whenever you think of Army aviation, everybody immediately thinks
helicopters, he said. "There are about 1,000 Army aviators out there that are
airplane drivers. It's important to note that they are providing a critical
contribution not only in the homeland defense, homeland security role here,
but also overseas in the warfight.