Hey, If You Aren't 'Cheating,' You're Not Trying...
In the civilian world, sneaking a peak at an exam before taking
it will earn someone a failing score... but things are a lot
different in Iraq, where seaking a peak at the front lines before
leaving the base for a mission can save lives in a combat zone.
Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division's Unmanned Aerial
Systems Platoon, Company A, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team, help provide that sneak peek for Stryker
Brigade soldiers as well as others in the Multinational Division
Baghdad operational area. This group is responsible for operating
and maintaining the Tactical Unmanned Aerial System for the RQ7B
Shadow 200, an unmanned aerial vehicle.
While some Unmanned Aerial Systems Platoon members work at the
3rd BCT Tactical Operations Center, both flying and monitoring the
video feed from the Shadow, about half of them are at the launch
and recovery site here attached to Company G, Task Force 12, said
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Lilly, the platoon sergeant.
Soldiers of 3rd BCT at the launch and recovery site, working as
part of Task Force 12, work with soldiers from other brigades in
the Baghdad area of operations recovering and launching Shadows
throughout the day.
The Shadows they launch and recover will not necessarily spend
all of their flight time in any one brigade's area of operations,
said New York City native Chief Warrant Officer 2 Antonio Mitchell,
the Striker Brigade's Unmanned Aerial Systems Platoon operations
chief, attached to Company G, Task Force 12.
"What we are doing here is not a traditional UAS operation,"
said Mitchell, who has been working in the unmanned aerial vehicle
field since 1997. "Normally, a UAS platoon works directly for (its)
brigade."
Because there are several brigades in Baghdad, multinational
division officials determine which one gets to use the Shadow and
for which missions, said Lilly, a Beckley, WV native.
The division grants the brigade's airspace priority based on the
threat and the amount of benefit it will provide in a certain area
for a certain period of time, Mitchell said. When a Shadow is in
the Stryker Brigade area of operations, Unmanned Aerial Systems
Platoon soldiers in the brigade tactical operations center monitor
the video it produces. Nearby, other soldiers remotely control the
unmanned vehicle, Lilly said.
Soldiers may be monitoring an area of interest for various
reasons, including sweeping areas for improvised explosive devices
as well as helping soldiers with specific operations, Lilly
added.
"Before soldiers go out on a mission, we can give them a better
picture of the battlefield," Lilly said.
Having a bird's-eye view helps keep soldiers safe and allows
them a greater success rate during their missions, he added.
(Aero-News thanks Army Pfc. April Campbell, 27th Public
Affairs Detachment)