Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter 86-01659.

86-01659

17 February 2008: CH-47D Chinook helicopter 86-01659 gets some tender loving care at Camp Striker, Iraq. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger image.

   86-01659, Boeing build number M3164, was a CH-47D helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 28 May 1987. As of 22 June 1998, 86-01659 had accumulated 1,767.2 D model hours and 5,493.1 total aircraft hours.

   86-01659 was a conversion from the original A model Chinook 66-00102.

   At some point, 86-01659 was assigned to an unknown unit at Fort Hood, Texas.

   At some point, 86-01659 was assigned to A Company - "Pachyderms", 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

   At some point, 86-01659 was assigned to B Company - "Hercules", 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 18th Aviation Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps, located at Hunter Army Airfield, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

   As of 17 February 2008, the 18th Aviation Brigade was located at Simmons Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, and was subordinate to the 18th Airborne Corps. The 18th Airborne Corps was subordinate to Forces Command (FORSCOM), which was a major command (MACOM) of 2nd Army.

   At some point, "Hercules" was redesignated B Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade.

   At some point, 86-01659 deployed to Iraq with "Hercules". At some point, 86-01659 was returned stateside and assigned to B Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Riley, Kansas.

   As of 11 October 2011, the last known location of 86-01659 was at Fort Riley, Kansas.

   Aircraft status: Flyable.

Camp Striker, Iraq

PFC Monica K. Smith

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office

(edited for accuracy and content)

17 February 2008: Her name is Ann and she has been deployed since 2005. She took care of troops in two different units before joining the Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 3rd Infantry Division (ID), last December. She is CH-47D Chinook helicopter 86-01659.

"We call her Raggedy Ann or Little Orphan Annie because she's been around so long," said Sgt. Jimmy Fletcher, B Company - "Hercules", 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd CAB.

Before Raggedy Ann came to 3rd CAB, she worked with the 1st Cavalry Regiment stationed at Camp Taji. At the time, B Company, 2-3 Aviation Regiment was using Chinook 84-24185 but discontinued use because of cracks in its sheet metal, said Fletcher.

Chinook 185 was sent back to the States and Ann moved to B Company.

"We spent half a day at Taji and brought it down that night," Fletcher said. "We flew a couple of missions and then put it in phase where the 603rd Aviation Support Battalion spent almost a month in phase to repair all the sheet metal damage ... it runs like a champ, minus a few gremlins."

The Chinook helicopter has a strong lineage dating back to the beginning of the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

The first Chinook, designated an YHC-1B, was produced by Boeing in 1961 for the Army as a medium-lift helicopter. Four years later, during the Vietnam War, Chinooks were first used in combat and by 1968 had logged 161,000 hours in flight, carried 22.4 million passengers and transported more than 1.3 million tons of cargo.

That heritage continues with today's Chinook fleet. To date, B Company has moved over 12 million pounds of cargo and 55,000 passengers, said Captain Kurt Blankenship, commander of B, 2-3 Aviation Regiment.

"We move mail, passengers, equipment - anything to keep as many trucks off the roads as possible with the improvised explosive device (IED) threat," said Chief Warrant Officer Rodger Howard, Standardization Instructor (SP) pilot with B Company. "We take everyone: Army, Marines, Air Force, the Special Forces guys, foreign soldiers, prisoners, anyone who asks or needs to be moved."

After the Vietnam War, plans were developed to upgrade the fleet of A, B and C models into what is now the CH-47D. In 1982 the first D model aircraft were delivered. The fleet upgrade was completed in 1994. Since then, only three new build D model airframes were produced. They replaced some of the aircraft losses incurred during the Persian Gulf War and due to accidents elsewhere. Most of the D model airframes are more than 40 years old, with many approaching 50 years old.

86-01659 was originally an A model Chinook, tail number 66-00102. The basic airframe is 41 years old.

It's the same airframe, but it's been remanufactured," said Lt. Col. Alex Covert, commander of 2-3 Aviation Regiment. "Helicopters in general are maintenance intensive. With Chinooks, every 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 hours there is a scheduled inspection. A lot of times we replace parts or items. You almost rebuild it completely, but it's essentially the same airframe."

The constant inspecting and maintaining of the aircraft adds to the Chinooks' durability over the years.

"The Chinooks have a lot of inspections for safety and the replacement of parts," said Staff Sergeant Daniel Enus, B, 2-3 Aviation Regiment. "As long as we follow the maintenance program set forth, the birds will last forever."

This aircraft was piloted by:

CW2 Dan Hodge, UNK, April 2010 - February 2011

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This aircraft was crewed by:

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