Staff Sgt. Chuck Call, of Company C, 1st Battalion, 106th Assault Helicopter Battalion, of Fort Leonard Wood, hangs from a UH-60 Black Hawk hoist during training in Springfield. (Photo by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Steven Haley) Missouri Guard gains ability to perform helicopter hoist extractions from Black HawksFORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 14, 2009) — The Missouri National Guard now has the capability and training to provide hoist extractions with some of its UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 106th Assault Helicopter Battalion of Fort Leonard Wood and the Springfield-based 1107th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group trained using hoists from Aug. 28 to 30 in Springfield. The hoists can be used to extract up to 600 pounds of personnel or cargo per lift into a Black Hawk during appropriate state or national emergencies. Possible uses are lifting stranded people off cars and rooftops during floods or failed river crossings, as well as pulling injured or stranded hikers out of difficult terrain, like a ledge on the side of a bluff.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...By Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs Follow me on Twitter:
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