THE DAILY NEWS OF JACKSONVILLE
Sunday, March 4, 2007

JACKSONVILLE

The Marines of the Helicopter Support Team have a dangerous job.

Consider what they did on a recent day at work: Each member of the eight-Marine team repeatedly ran beneath a hovering CH-53E helicopter to attach a nearly 8,000-pound steel I-beam to a swinging hook - while facing wind gusts of up to 175 mph. Oh yeah, and the helicopter itself is generating about 175,000 volts of electricity.

"The down-wash is like standing in the middle of a hurricane," said Staff Sgt. Robert Martin. "And getting (an electrical shock) is, well, not fun."

Each team has its own Navy corpsman just in case something goes wrong. Dangers include getting hit by the wheel of a helicopter flying too low or stepping in front of the 8,000-pound load.

"It's very fun when we get under the bird, though," said Cpl. Juan Torres, the team leader. "It's a big adrenaline rush."

It's dangerous but exciting work for members of the team from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group at New River Air Station. Their job is to conduct a successful single- or dual-point external lift, in which a helicopter transports a large vehicle or pallet. CH-53E helicopters can lift loads of more than 30,000 pounds.

The training conducted last month at Landing Zone Phoenix in Holly Ridge gave the Helicopter Support Team and Marine Helicopter Training Squadron 302, from Marine Aircraft Group 26, a chance to perfect something that can be vital during war.

"You have to train really hard because when we're in Iraq, you have to produce," Torres said. "Otherwise, people are going to be without ammunition, supplies and food."

Learning how to execute a lift takes a lot of practice - and a great deal of communication.

An outside director and a director beneath the helicopter help center the chopper over the load to be lifted, which could be anything from a Humvee to a pallet of food. The directors are vital to the safety of the operation. With one quick hand signal they can send the helicopter away.

"One of the biggest things we hope doesn't happen is if something goes wrong," Torres said. "I have to have constant eye contact with the crew chief (of the helicopter), so I can just wave them off if something goes wrong."

Once the helicopter is centered, it must hover over the load while the team attaches the load to a hook. A "leg man" ensures that the slings or ropes on the load don't get crossed.

The "static man" has a grounding tool that attaches to the hook and then into the ground to keep Marines from being electrocuted. While all of that is happening, the "hookup man" has to attach the load.

Marines on the ground are also in constant communication with those in the helicopter. Pilots are kept informed by a crew chief, who lies on his stomach and looks down through the hole holding the hook and load, and others aboard the chopper.

"The guys in the back make that thing fly," said 1st Lt. Steven Adair, a student pilot with HMT-302, which conducted a number of lifts. "I can only see so much because there are no mirrors. Those guys are my mirrors. You've got to trust them."

For Adair's first external lift, he said he wasn't sure what to expect.

"With such a heavy weight on there, I knew it would act different," he said. "It's kind of nerve-racking at first because you've got guys underneath the helicopter."

With a whole lot of trust in one another, the Marines made their lifts and drops successfully.

AP MEMBER EXCHANGE

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