“The Wings of Normandy”

 

9 December 2001

 

It’s hard to believe that we are already into our 2nd week of December, and that Christmas is just around the corner! We are almost to the halfway point of our deployment, which is quite a significant milestone for us and for our loved ones back home.

Although the weather is beginning to slow down the pace of our flight operations, we continue to work hard and have flown more than an incredible 1250 flight hours. That is about what we would fly in an entire year back home! We have honed our aviation skills well beyond what we would be resourced to do at home. We now have a total of 16 pilots that have been designated as Pilots-In-Command with 2 more close to reaching that plateau. We are also in the process of evaluating 2 more Crew Chiefs to be designated as enlisted Flight Instructors. I will proudly introduce them to you in these pages after all 4 have completed their evaluations. One of our temporary Beasts (he is actually a Renegade from A Co, 1-159th at FT Bragg) CW3 Derry Hartley has completed his evaluation and has been designated by his Commander as Pilot-In-Command. Congratulations go to him for this accomplishment.

I am proud to welcome into the ranks of the Virginia Night Fighters; CW4 Darryl Scarborough, 1LT Jeff Laing, WO1 Jesse Ramirez, SGT Ken Perry, SGT Warren Hudson, and SGT Chris Watts. They all recently completed their progression to Night Vision Goggle Readiness Level-1.

Two of our excellent crew chiefs, SGT Warren Middlekauff and SPC Tung-Son Callies, were also recently recognized for their extremely hard work and high standards by the Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Shinseki. He awarded both of them his coin in a ceremony held at Eagle Base.

A delegation from Maryland that included BG Joe Goode (a past B Co Beast Commander), and several important civilians also recently visited us. Among them was Fred Samuelson the Maryland Ombudsman Coordinator for the Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve (ESGR). He generously donated a significant amount to our refugee camp/elementary school project. It is that type of spontaneous generosity that defines America as a country. We are proud to know and associate with selfless people like Mr. Samuelson.

Speaking of the camp and the school, we have made several visits and each one gets better. So many soldiers want to make the visit we are having trouble getting enough transportation for them. Please read the trip reports on this web site to share in our experiences. It really defines for the Bravo Beasts our reason for being here. Although difficult, the 7-month separation from our own families is put into perspective when we witness the good that our presence is doing for these people. We recently dedicated the phone line that will enable the children and administrators at the school to have Internet access. One of our next project is upgrading the playground.

Our latest significant event is the US Army Europe Corps Aviation Safety & Standards Detachment (CASS-D) inspection that we are in the middle of right now. This ARMS is the toughest and most important inspection that an aviation unit undergoes. So far, the results are good. 100% of our aviators and crew chiefs must take a written test. Of special note are the results of the crew chief written evaluation. The evaluators were impressed that our crew chiefs’ average score was approximately 6% higher than the rest of the army aviation units that they have tested. I’ll let you know the final outcome in the next newsletter.

Well, the football Beasts performed beyond expectations (I even scored a touchdown)! (Yes, Lisa, I ended up playing after all, and yes I am sore. You’re right, I’m not as young as I used to be!) We entered the single elimination 8 team tournament ranked 7th or 8th. Then it snowed. We destroyed the #1 ranked team from Eagle Base (in the snow)! The next night we walloped the #2 ranked Eagle team (in the snow)! We had made it to the Turkey Bowl Championship and would face the MPs from eagle Base the following night. Not that they would do anything underhanded, but our bus was not initially allowed to enter the Eagle Base gate. Hmmmmm! The MPs were scared! They need not have been because we seemed to have left our Cinderella story game back at Comanche and were unable to mount any offense. We lost 20-6 (our defense scored our 1 touchdown). After a moment of hanging our heads, we redirected our efforts into dumping all of the clean referees (including our 6’4”, 240-pound, former infantryman turned chaplain) into the 4-6” of icy cold water and mud that covered the field. That seemed to raise everyone’s spirits! We received our 2nd place trophy and our medals. And headed back to Comanche to search for our Motrin bottles. Almost everyone in the company played on the team during the course of the season, which made it a fun time and true company team.

To all of the Girl Scouts (especially Jennifer-I got your can with the ‘God Bless America’ sign-it is hanging in my office) from Troop 785 in Richmond, we send a special THANK YOU for your thoughtfulness in sending us the cashews. They were enjoyed by all of our soldiers. (We even shared them with other soldiers from other companies.)

In closing we want to wish you all peace and joy at this very special time of the year. We realize that this can be a particularly hard time of the year for you at home as it is for us away from home. We will be with our wives, children, family and friends in spirit knowing that you are safe and that our separation is beginning its final stretch. Know that you are in our hearts, and as we celebrate the birth of Christ, we wish upon all people the Peace and comfort that comes with that celebration.

God bless America!

                                         NEAL J. EDMONDS

                                         CPT, Aviation

                                         Commanding

 

 

“Bravo carries the Task Force!”