"NO SHIT, THERE WE WERE..."
The desert of southern California. 5th of September. 2340 hours.

That is the standard opening line that one would expect to hear when an aviator is going to tell his version of a story...usually full of exaggeration ...but let me tell you: No shit, there we were!

"O.k. guys lets do it the same as we did on the insertion. Clear the aircraft,use clear and concise terms and maintain positive communications..and lets not chop any heads off." I spoke out on the intercom system as we rounded the mountain on approach to the pinnacle landing zone (LZ) where 3 hours earlier we had inserted a special forces team whos mission was to laser designate targets for the OH-58D's.

"Havoc 06 this is Redhawk 1-1, we are inbound for extraction at this time. One minute out."

The team leader responded,"Roger that Redhawk. We are in the LZ at this time and the chem lights are popped--we have you in sight."

From our view point, the teammembers in the LZ were barely visible. The side of the mountain was sheer cliffs full of jagged rocks and extremely uneven terrain on all sides. There was absolutely NO room for error. We locked the parking breaks on and moved into the LZ, creeping forward and down ever so slowly.

The moon was bright this night. Nearly 100% illumination which was a huge advantage to our mission. The green shapes and shadows from the night vision goggles made out the terrain over which we were flying.

"Left main is on the ground in 3 Sir." Delancy called out as he was watching the left side, the most dangerous side of the bird for this operation. The left wheel came in contact with the ground but the rocks were to high and threatened to pierce the bottom of the aircraft. "Clear to slide to the left." Delancy's watchful eye kept pacing back and forth from the rocks below to the steep slope that was inches from the rotor blades. The aircraft climbed slightly and slid to the left and began to settle slowly to the ground.

On the controls was Joe Santee. Cool under pressure and this was it! Steadily he leveled the aircraft into the LZ and held it solidly into the rocks. Only three feet to the front of the aircraft was a cliff...500 feet below was the jagged ground that we had just flown over to get where we were. To the left the mountain rose drastically and this is where the rotor was nearly in contact. To the right...more cliffs and jagged rocks. Like I said before: No room for error.

Joe held the aircraft in place as the crew chiefs looked back at the tailwheel. "Is it on the ground?" asked Joe knowing the answer was the same as when the insertion took place. "No sir its not." "Hey sir, the stabilator (a portion of the tail of the aircraft) is about a foot and a half from a huge boulder."

We were wedged in their like the proverbial rock in a hard place. No where to go but up!

The SF team got up out of the prone position (we had to nearly land on top of them due to the terrain in which we were operating) and climbed aboard the aircraft. Joe held her steady as the team buckled in.

"Saber 06, Redhawk 11 is Kiev at this time."

"Roger, out.""

The insertion/extraction went as planned and we returned, low level over a vast array of ever changing terrain. We began our flight in a populated area, moved to a desert full of cactuses and tumble weeds, on to jagged, rocky mountains then finally to deserts with nothing but sand dunes rising up into the air.

---Hell, I at least give credit to all that I am learning here. If nothing else, I am getting an opportunity to fly under conditions that I would normally never fly into, a place where a PPC does really mattter especially when we are carrying external fuel tanks and a full load of troops (yep, that's right....troops and tanks..imagine that!).

Just another day in double A! Airborne!

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