Chinook shipment a joint effort by Army, Air Force

  • Published
  • By Corey Dahl
  • 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
PETERSON AFB, Colo. --  Working in Peterson's Air Terminal, 2nd Lt. Carolyn Griffin has seen a lot of different Army shipments come through Peterson.

"Everything from Blackhawks to office supplies," said the lieutenant, the officer in charge of air terminal operations for the 21st Logistics Readiness Squadron. "Basically anytime Fort Carson is sending something overseas, it comes here."

But Lieutenant Griffin and dozens of other Team Pete members got the chance to see something new recently. Peterson employees helped load 12 Army Chinook helicopters onto Air Force C-17s during the last two weeks of August.

The Chinooks, the first to be shipped through Peterson, made an important pit stop here before heading overseas to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Airmen, Soldiers, contractors and civilian personnel disassembled and inspected the choppers before loading each one onto a separate C-17, the aircraft transporting the Chinooks to their new stations.

While up to four Blackhawks can fit into a C-17, only one of the 50-foot long Chinook CH-47 helicopters can be squeezed into the C-17's 88-foot long cargo bay, a fact that made the whole project labor-intensive and time-consuming. But, Lieutenant Griffin said, no one really seemed to mind.

"This is the first time we've had Chinooks come through here, so we're all really excited," she said.

Peterson staff, from security forces to fuel management, spent months coordinating the shipment with officials at Fort Carson as well as the Army National Guard unit responsible for the Chinooks.

That unit - Detachment 1, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, out of New York and Maryland - arrived at Fort Carson earlier this summer to train at high altitude with the Chinooks. The choppers were then taken to Peterson, where Guardsmen and contractors disassembled them - a process that takes between 10 and 18 hours and about 35 workers per helicopter.

Peterson staff then inspected the helicopters before Guard members and contractors loaded them onto C-17s, an hours-long effort often performed in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, depending on the timing of a plane's arrival.

"A lot of people have had long hours," said Robert Schwaeble, Peterson's airfield manager. "But we've got a bunch of good people here who cinched it up a notch and made it happen."

And for 1st Lt. Terrance Thorgramson, one of the Guard pilots deploying with the helicopters, the teamwork and coordination involved - and not the Chinooks, as cool as they may be - ended up being the most amazing part of the whole effort. He said working with such a variety of personnel is also a good learning experience for everyone.
"The military is getting pretty diverse now," he said. "I go anywhere and I could be working with Air Force, Marines. Cooperating like this really helps prepare us for working together in the future." 

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