Former Black Hawk Pilot Puts Knowledge To Use In Other
Ways
Two-wheel landings on snowy Afghan ridge tops are more exciting,
but managing the exodus of a 4,000-strong brigade during the
drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq provides its own challenges for one
deskbound helicopter pilot with 82nd Airborne Division.
Capt. Catherine Omodt (left) with a Crew Chief of a
UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq
Army Capt. Catherine Omodt's job is to orchestrate the movements
of incoming and outgoing personnel and equipment of two
"advise-and-assist" brigades as they swap places in Iraq's
expansive Anbar province for the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
the beginning of Operation New Dawn.
As the officer in charge of "Team Pax," Omodt provides command and
control for the deployment of the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th
Brigade and the redeployment of her own unit, the 82nd Airborne
Division's 1st Brigade, to the United States.
The former 101st Airborne Division UH-60 Black Hawk pilot and
current brigade aviation planner said that knowing the abilities of
helicopters - such as how many people they can carry and how much
cargo they can take - and the ability to advise soldiers unfamiliar
with the planning of the movements of large numbers of people are
the most important skills she brings to her current role. "In
different times of the year, you can take more or less weight based
on aircraft capabilities of heat, cold and other environmental and
mechanical conditions," Omodt said. "When 18 people show up with
five bags each - you can fit 22 [passengers] on a [flight of] Black
Hawks - I have to tell them they're not going to get on with that
equipment. Instead of having to call aviation, we have someone in
the brigade that has that knowledge to be able to give realistic
expectations."
As a freshman at Vanderbilt University in 1999, Omodt's
expectations included neither helicopters nor the Army. With one
sister working as an equestrian in Kentucky and the other heading
off to work in interior design, Omodt set her sights on civil
engineering. However, Vanderbilt's $35,000-a-year fees spurred
Omodt to investigate the ROTC program. By her sophomore year, the
Army was paying for most of her education.
Five years later, she was flying Black Hawks in Iraq. "Flying
seemed like a fun way to spend my time in the Army," she said.
Omodt had listed medical service as a secondary branch choice, but
received her first, aviation. "Some officers in medical service are
also sent to flight school," she explained.
Omodt's first deployment was in September 2005 with the 101st to
Forward Operating Base Speicher, a rotary-wing hub north of
Baghdad, where she flew Black Hawks in general aviation support.
Two years later, she was at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, again
in the cockpit. "Flying in Afghanistan was awesome," she said. "I
was there mostly in wintertime, and it was ranges upon ranges of
mountains covered in snow. We could fly through passes and do
two-wheel landings on top of ridgelines. It was both fun and
beautiful."
Capt. Catherine Omodt
With more than 770 hours of flight time, Omodt's third
deployment landed her at a desk in Ramadi, Iraq, as her brigade's
aviation planner. The job was far less glamorous, but equally
important, she said. Her husband, Michael Omodt, a Black Hawk pilot
deployed most of the year to Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion, 3rd
Special Forces Group, also was bound to a desk doing aviation
liaison duty. "We commiserated," she said.
As the leader of a team of 11, she oversaw control of Anbar
airspace at the lower altitudes where helicopters fly, paying
particular attention to restricted operation zones and firing
ranges. She coordinated everything from standard movement of
passengers around the airspace to being the link between infantry
companies and aviation during air assaults. "What surprises people
the most is that they can't always fly immediately," Omodt said.
"For some types of aviation travel, they have to schedule days in
advance, and they can't reserve seats."
Knowing the ins and outs of the many different reservation
systems for normal ring routes, special air movement requests,
cargo flights, and fixed-wing flights and who controlled them was
how her team helped the most, the captain said. "For us, the
biggest challenge was that the systems were constantly changing,"
she added.
Late last month, Omodt and Team Pax began operations in Al Asad,
where they will remain until the brigade is fully removed from
Anbar. The hours are long and the work is at times tedious, Omodt
said, but good aviation logistical support saves time, expense and
stress on soldiers, and ultimately, it's what gets soldiers back
with their families.
ANN Salutes Army Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod