Boeing's CH-47 Chinook helicopter - Waging the War against Terrorism [Page 14].

A Fight in Afghanistan

Sunset in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 7 February 2003.

Sunset in Kandahar. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger image.

CH-47D Chinook helicopters operating near Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.

CH-47D Chinook helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division transport 82nd Airborne Division infantrymen back to Kandahar Air Field from the Spin Boldak area, near the Pakistan border, on Friday, 7 February 2003. The 82nd troops were clearing caves that could be used by the Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists.

U.S. soldiers board a Chinook for a military operation in Bahgran Valley, southern Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, 19 February 2003. U.S. Special forces were consolidating their troops in the Baghran valley, where they are trying to flush out Taliban fugitives believed to be hiding there.

A U.S. Chinook lands in the Baghran Valley in the southern Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, 19 February 2003.

A door gunner on a Chinook looks out over Helmand province, Afghanistan on a return flight to Kandahar Air Base on Wednesday, 21 February 2003.

Still Hunting - Finding Little

Baghran Valley, Afghanistan, 22 February 2002 - Waves of U.S. Chinook helicopters carrying hordes of American troops touched down in southern Afghanistan this past week to hunt down Taliban leaders believed to be hiding there.

Initially at least, none were found.

Dubbed "Operation Viper," Wednesday's deployment in Helmand province constituted one of the largest concentrations of U.S. troops in the field in Afghanistan since last spring, military officials told pool reporters. Several hundred American troops took part.

Before touching down in the Baghran Valley after a voyage on a twin-rotor Chinook from a base in the southern city of Kandahar, 30 soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division's 405th Parachute Infantry Regiment were told to expect heavy fire.

None came - and the soldiers stepped out into a field already secured by American troops. The sky was gray, the air was cold.

At sunrise the following day, the soldiers searched several small villages in the area for weapons and remnants of the Taliban - but found little evidence of either. Approximately 29 AK-47 assault rifles were discovered after searching five villages.

A US Army Chinook CH-47D helicopter lands to pick-up soldiers and return them to Kandahar airfield after completing their mission in and around the central part of the Baghran river valley. The soldiers were searching for remnants of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces during the final stages of "Operation Viper" in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, 26 February 2003. Suspected enemy fighters were spotted taking ambush positions in the area a few weeks prior to the operation by US troops as they went on patrol as part of the ongoing war against terrorism.

A Flipper's Hook sitting on the flight line at Bagram Air Base.

A Charlie Company - "Flippers", 159th Aviation Regiment, CH-47D Chinook - from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, sits on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base at sunset sometime in February 2003.

A U.S. soldier, left, assists an Italian counterpart in carrying ammunition cases out of a Chinook helicopter before a ceremony where U.S. troops handed over control of Camp Salerno, near Khost, Afghanistan, to Italian troops on Saturday, 15 March 2003. The Italian troops could face combat with an enemy for the first time since World War II, their commander said.

87-00096 and crew in Afghanistan - March 2003.

In Afghanistan, some of the boys from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, pose in a home shot next to CH-47D Chinook 87-00096 for the folks back in the U.S. - March 2003.

Afghan detainee being escorted to a waiting CH-47D Chinook helicopter.

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Task Force members escort an Afghan detainee aboard a CH-47D Chinook helicopter as part of Operation Resolute Strike in Sangin, Afghanistan on Wednesday, 9 April 2003. Operation Resolute Strike, which concluded Wednesday, was conducted based on intelligence from an ambush that left two U.S. service members dead and one seriously injured on 29 March 2003.

U.S. soldiers of the 82nd Airborne ride in a Chinook helicopter on 2 June 2003 at the start of Operation Dragon Fury at Bagram, Afghanistan. The operation took place in the Showi Kowt mountains in eastern Afghanistan, in the same vicinity as Operation Anaconda, and was the largest since that March 2002 mission.

British Royal Marines watch Chinook helicopters dropping cargo at Bagram Air Base in June 2003.

Charlie Company Comes Home

Saturday, 23 August 2003

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky - When Captain Thomas Carlson saw his youngest daughter for the first time, she was 6 weeks old.

Carlson was one of five soldiers from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell who became fathers during a six-month deployment in Afghanistan.

The Charlie Company commander made it home in mid-July to meet Sophia six weeks after missing her birth. The rest of the 155 soldiers were welcomed home during a ceremony Friday morning.

"It was an adjustment for him to see her and for her to see him," said Carlson's wife, Mary, of Clarksville, Tennesee

During the deployment, the Chinook helicopter battalion provided support for Task Force Devil and the 82nd Airborne Division in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Charlie Company flew more than 2,300 flight hours without the loss of any soldiers. In addition, the battalion hauled millions of pounds of food, ammunition and life support equipment to soldiers in Afghanistan as well as those on the Pakistani border.

The homecoming won't last long for Staff Sgt. Travis Pequignot and Sgt. Kevin Purdy, who volunteered for duty in Iraq after hearing of a need for Chinook mechanics.

"They were asking for help, and we're giving it," Pequignot said.

"People don't seem to think there's still a war going on in Afghanistan," he said. "It's still a very dangerous place. There's still people shooting at us."

28 August 2003: A U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter, 85-24343, belonging to C Company - "Flippers", 159th Aviation Regiment, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and a sister-ship carrying a delegation of U.S. Senators comes in for landing at an Afghan Army training site in Policharki, Afghanistan. The American envoys recently visited troops in Afghanistan.

Soldiers quickly march to the ramp of 87-00097, a CH-47D Chinook helicopter belonging to the Army National Guard based in Connecticut, that will return them to Kandahar Army Air Field. The soldiers were searching for Taliban fighters and illegal weapons caches. The soldiers are assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division.

4 September 2003: Soldiers quickly march to the ramp of 87-00097, a CH-47D Chinook helicopter belonging to the Army National Guard based in Connecticut, that will return them to Kandahar Army Air Field. The soldiers were searching for Taliban fighters and illegal weapons caches. The soldiers are assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division.

A soldier pulls security as a CH-47D Chinook helicopter lands. The helicopter is transporting detainees apprehended during a raid on a suspected terrorist camp in southwest Iraq. The soldier is assigned to the 101st Pathfinder Company, 101st Airborne Division.

15 September 2003: A soldier pulls security as a CH-47D Chinook helicopter lands. The helicopter is transporting detainees apprehended during a raid on a suspected terrorist camp in southwest Iraq. The soldier is assigned to the 101st Pathfinder Company, 101st Airborne Division.

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