A C-17 Globemaster crew diverted to locate a crashed Army UH-60 helicopter during a routine training sortie from JB Charleston, S.C., earlier this month. “Around the time of the incident, we had just completed our airdrop training and were preparing to land to pick up our passengers” at an auxiliary strip, said 17th Airlift Squadron pilot Maj. Matthew Scheulen, in a release. “Columbia Approach Control gave us an immediate vector to his last known position,” and after bout 40 minutes, the C-17 crew located the helo. “From overhead, it looked like the helicopter hit quite hard” but it wasn’t on fire, Scheulen said. The South Carolina Army National Guard dispatched a second UH-60 to recover the crew, all of whom survived the Dec. 3 crash. “Even without any truly formal training for something like this we came up with a plan and executed it well,” he added.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe recently pledged “a plus-up in manpower” for the maintainer ranks, as the service prepares to launch a major overhaul of its maintenance career field next year.