TIKRIT, Iraq - After months of training, American and Iraqi Special Forces, and American CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache crews all participated in a recent mission here to capture high-value targets in northern Iraq as part of Operation Santa Monica.

The Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division's air assault went off seamlessly, according to pilots, who say that any mission involving a Chinook is especially risky given the number of people on the aircraft.

The air assault began at 5 p.m, April 6. The Chinook pilots, after leaving their final brief, turned around and updated their crew chiefs, who were busy preflighting the bird.

Less than 10 percent of the brigade's aircraft are Chinooks, which is the only helicopter trhat can provide massive combat power. It has 30 troops to a Black Hawk's 10. So with few birds and a lot of requests, air assaults are pretty routine for the pilots of the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua Locke, one of the CH-47 pilots who participated in the mission.

At 7:30 p.m., pilots received the word and lifted into the air, test-firing their weapons at a nearby range before heading to Forward Operating Base Warrior to refuel with the aid of fuelers equipped with night-vision goggles.

Night is a Chinook's best friend, according to pilots.

If insurgents hit a Chinook it would be catastrophic, so to minimize the risk to pilots and passengers alike, "we use every available asset. Number one, we use the cloak of darkness. Number two, we do extensive route planning to ensure we avoid any areas where (the enemy) may have an advantage," said Locke. "We also use escorts to defend us from attacks. We have the Longbows who stay with us for these deep infiltrations, or any scout-weapons teams that might be there. So we have quite a few factors working in our favor."

Flying in darkness requires the use of NVGs, which in turn requires a highly trained and skilled pilot. According to Locke, pilots' depth perceptions are off with the goggles, and they have no peripheral vision so their apparent rate of closure and ground speed are in error.

Just before 11 p.m., the Chinooks arrived at remote FOB Gabe to find U.S. Special Forces Soldiers and Iraqi Special Operation Forces soldiers waiting in the darkness.

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Marine Lance Corporal Robert Crutchfield had wanted to be a Marine, and he made that goal. He survived his time in the sandbox, only to come home and have some scum shoot him for not carrying more than $8 on him, saying that since he was a Marine and didn't have any more money on him, he didn't deserve to live. They left him for dead, but he fought a different battle then, and I was sad to read that his battle to survive is over.  I do hope that the DA does up the charges and goes for the death penalty, for while he had begun to live his dream who knows what all he might have done.

May the light shine on his family and friends, now and in the days ahead.

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I have a brother who is over seas serving and I find it hard to call him as often as I would like, until now! I have discovered the next best thing since sliced bread. In an article I read they predicted that this product has the potential to put phone cards out of business. Phoenix, itself, is a phone card carrier but has now started taking the steps to revolutionize the phone card business completely with their new product. Released in January, the new dial direct product allows customers to acquire a local phone number for them that will ring to any international phone number in the world without having to dial a pin number, a 1-800 number, or a long international number, which was exactly what he was looking for. Also, there is no contract and it is rechargeable. Phoenix has single handedly found a way to create a product like a phone card with the same and better rates in many places but has eliminated the hassle that phone cards come with. They also have cut out the contracts that long distance providers require to use their service.

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I called my cousin today who is serving over seas. He told me about al the crazy stuff hes doing and I have to say I was quite impressed. I wanted to send him a care package to help him out and need some ideas of what to put in it. I got some basic stuff already like a tooth brush, some books, and I was thinking about throwing in a razor or something. I really would like to send him some more stuff so if you have any ideas please feel free to send them my way!

Thanks

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I recently read an article on how AT&T has a monopoly on all calls in Iraq and I was outraged. How can one company control all the calls coming from Iraq. With out competition they can set the most ridiculous rates for soldiers calling home and they have. I think it is unfair that the soldiers fighting over in Iraq don’t have a choice on how they can call and they don’t get to choose from a list of prices. They get one rate and they have no other choice but to pay it. Other companies are able to offer the same service to the soldiers in Iraq and for less than half the price of what AT&T is charging but because AT&T has their monopoly the soldiers are stuck paying these outrageous rates.

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my cousin is a marine on his third tour now and hes like my brother so we talk as much as we can. ive blown over a thousand dollars in phone bills just to keep in touch  with him and now i feel foolish ever since ive realized i dont have to pay so much to call him. i found this website that allows you to call internationally by dialing a local number for me. i have no idea how it works but it does work. the service was made specificlty for military familes and friends trying to keep in touch with loved ones who are serving our country. if you want to check it out heres the website.

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