A Soldier And His 'Shadow'
Troops on the ground in Iraq have an “eye in the
sky,” thanks to soldiers like Army Spc. Rodolfo Delatorre in
the 4th Infantry Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade, who
launches, recovers and maintains the Shadow unmanned aerial system.
Delatorre, who serves with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation
Regiment, hails from Fresno, Calif.
“I refuel, add oil, change spark plugs and change
filters,” he said. “I perform services on the Shadow to
ensure it stays in the air.”
Delatorre is attached from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st
Brigade Combat Team as a member of the “Iron Eagle”
company, which launches and recovers the Shadow surveillance
vehicles day and night.
Shadow maintainers perform takeoff and landing procedures from
their facility, using a pneumatic launcher for takeoffs. The
soldiers recover the vehicles by using an arresting hook and cable
system similar to the ones used on aircraft carriers. To keep the
fleet of surveillance aircraft in the air, maintenance, quality
control and production control are of high priority. Double- and
triple-checking all maintenance procedures is commonplace.
“Once one is launched, there is another one coming down.
Once it has landed, we do maintenance on it,” Delatorre said.
“I like this job because it is a lot of hands-on. I like to
work with my hands. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when
everything is launching well and there are no problems with the
UAS.”
The Shadow provides commanders on the ground the ability to see
the entire battlefield with its high-tech cameras and
communications equipment. Since the inception of unmanned
surveillance aircraft more than 10 years ago, the “eyes in
the sky” have become an integral part of the modern
battlefield. Commanders have come to depend on the Shadow’s
ability to give them surveillance footage from the sky; maintainers
here ensure the “overhead edge” continues on the
battlefield for Multinational Division Baghdad troops.
“His job is extremely important to the overall
mission,” said Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Lovell,
Delatorre’s supervisor at the UAS company. “We have a
high [operational tempo], and if it wasn’t for guys like
Delatorre, we couldn’t support the overhead mission for
MND-B.
“He is a stellar soldier,” he continued, “and
I tell other soldiers to emulate him. He is one of those soldiers
who make my job a lot easier.” [ANN salutes Army Sgt. 1st
Class Brent Hunt, AFPS, for the story].