CH-47 IN ACTION 2008-2009

[Pappy2]

Hello everyone, while searching through my archives I found photos of my stay in Afghanistan in the Kapisa valley in 2008 - 2009.
With these photos I pay tribute to the ground personnel and the CHINOOK crews who participated in the operations alongside us.
May they be blessed for their dedication and professionalism.

CH-47F Chinook of Company B - "Varsity", 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne Division

CH-47F Chinook of Company B - "Pachyderms", 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

and others that I have not identified......

Photos on board....

And various missions....

 

oups !

after an eventful flight the panel left its place without authorization !

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2024 by Pappy2

[sirrah]

Awesome pictures!

Thanks for sharing 

[beegood]

Superbes photos 

[Hawk 09]

Great photos

What is the reason for the different painting colours? Some are light green, others nearly as dark as the 160th´s helos.

[Pappy2]

I hope I'm not wrong:

In 2010 all CH-47Fs were painted in the new "tan" paint.
The official name of the paint is Desert Sage Green. This is a CARC paint.
CARC stands for Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. This paint also has properties that prevent corrosion of any kind.
It contains additives that prevent chemical agents (like those used in chemical warfare) from penetrating the paint and permanently contaminating the object. It makes it easy to decontaminate the plane or vehicle.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.20538

Other older CH-47s are CARC Helo Drab Green.

 

Edited July 20, 2024 by Pappy2

[Snap]

Wonderful images, thanks for sharing them.

[LuseKofte]

25 minutes ago, Snap said:

Wonderful images, thanks for sharing them.

I like to agree with this statement

[Cyborg71]

Very generous of you to share your memories so freely.

Many thanks.

[ChrisUK27]

On 7/20/2024 at 5:13 PM, Pappy2 said:

Hello everyone, while searching through my archives I found photos of my stay in Afghanistan in the Kapisa valley in 2008 - 2009.
With these photos I pay tribute to the ground personnel and the CHINOOK crews who participated in the operations alongside us.
May they be blessed for their dedication and professionalism.

CH-47F Chinook of Company B - "Varsity", 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne Division

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CH-47F Chinook of Company B - "Pachyderms", 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and others that I have not identified......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos on board....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And various missions....

 

 

 

 

 

 

oups !

after an eventful flight the panel left its place without authorization !

 

 

 

 

Great photos. What happened to the aft work platform?

[Migparts]

Thank you Sir for the photos. I appreciate the opportunity to admire the real machine and the situations in Afghanistan from a person who’s been there and done that. 

[Pappy2]

Thanks for your comments guys,

"ChrisUK27" I never found out what happened to the visit sign, It was there on departure and absent on return!

[Jethro11]

Great pictures, thanks for posting.   Glad you made it back safe.

[Pappy2]

It wasn't my time,

Unfortunately, during my stay this was not the case for all my US, Afghan or Regiment friends.

 

Edited July 28, 2024 by Pappy2

[Melv428]

Hi  

very cool pictures you have. I was also 2009 in Afghanistan (Kunduz RC North) in the German Army. I want to share two pictures i made during my time there :

 

 

don´t know which unit this was but it was used by US Special Forces ODA during my time.  (edited but hey its funny, i spy this "varsity7" unit logo with #354 on my picture of the CH47!!  )

same number as yours chinook. complete crazy if its the same chinook. Picture was taken on 12.09.2009

 

and this on the blackhawk :

 

we used the CH53 mainly. We were very impressed to enjoy the blackhawk and chinook. very exiting day i will ever remember.

Edited July 31, 2024 by Melv428

[Pappy2]

Hello "melv",
glad to know that you were also on operation in Afghanistan and I hope that everything went well for you and your friends during your stay.
Our "task Force Tiger" mandate in the Kapisa Valley (North-East Kabul) with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), ended in June 2009 when I returned to France after seven months of deployment.
Concerning the CH-53s of the "varsity7" they were based at Bagram AFB, so it is quite possible that their crews were assigned for different missions in support of different units in the North-East of Afghanistan.
Very good work and very good CH-53 crews indeed.

The same "Blackhawk" with us too...

My photos here:

Have a good flight and take care of yourself.

Edited August 5, 2024 by Pappy2

[Melv428]

Hello Pappy,

yes thank you i made it safe home but 2009 was very difficult time in the area of kunduz, so we had many operations outside the camp and near police station chahar dareh. But as difficult it was i dont want to miss this time in my life, im glad to made that experience. I was 24 in my time there, now almost 40  time flies. I was shortly after you over there, jul - nov. 

i look forward to the northern region of the dcs afghanistan map would be cool to create some missions in the kunduz area which i experienced myself  the tools are already there Marder Tank, TPZ, US Forces etc. 

Man thats something very cool for me that you also have a picture of the Black Hawk!!! Haha im speechless Thank you very much! In 2009 my camera was not so high resolution, your pictures are far better. But man thats cool situation that we both made 2009 pictures of same chinook and blackhawk :))) 

I hope you are doing well!

Melvyn

 

[Pappy2]

Hello "Melv"
My camera at the time was a pocket Panasonic with a zoom of X6 and 10 million pixels! (A far cry from today's mobile phones...) 
There was so much dust there that despite my precautions at the end of the stay grains of sand had ended up getting in and sometimes blocked the mechanism.
But now it still works. 

Indeed it's cool to have been in contact with the same Chinook and Black Hawk crews in two periods that followed one another.

For us French our mandates varied from 6 to 7 months without returning home, I think that for the American soldiers it was 1 year with a possible return home once.

Take care of yourself

[Melv428]

Am 6.8.2024 um 17:50 schrieb Pappy2:

Hello "Melv"
My camera at the time was a pocket Panasonic with a zoom of X6 and 10 million pixels! (A far cry from today's mobile phones...) 
There was so much dust there that despite my precautions at the end of the stay grains of sand had ended up getting in and sometimes blocked the mechanism.
But now it still works. 

Indeed it's cool to have been in contact with the same Chinook and Black Hawk crews in two periods that followed one another.

For us French our mandates varied from 6 to 7 months without returning home, I think that for the American soldiers it was 1 year with a possible return home once.

Take care of yourself

Yes the sand/dust is pretty fine like pouder sugar, its everywhere. Still today its on my combat boots from back in the day  breathing was also very nice with all that <profanity> in the air  

our contingents were 4-6 month. but yes US Forces are different level. 1 year, imagine doing service in kandahar or helmand... big respect.

wish you all the best

Melvyn

[Pappy2]

So souvenir photos of an evening with your compatriots  

 

Here our base "NIJRAB" with the AFGHANIA valley
We can clearly see the helicopter landing area. at the bottom right of the base.

Aero fuel refueling, departure on a mission.

 

Edited August 9, 2024 by Pappy2

[Melv428]

ah nice thank you, you saw many places i just were in the main kunduz area with long/short trips to Taloqan, Khanabad, Baglan, Ehmam Saib 

spend many time around police headquarter Chahar Dareh

didn´t had contact with french forces but with belgian EOD pretty much all the time during IED sweeps

[Pappy2]

Well with the EOD the work was certainly not easy.

And no in seven months I have certainly seen fewer places than you.
Several round trips by road or helicopter between Kabul, Nijrab, Tagab, Bagram and the airport of Dushanbe in Tajikistan through which we transited by plane to arrive and leave Afghanistan.

 

 

 

[RossC]

Incredible photos. Thanks for letting us have a brief insight into what it was like for you guys. 

[Pappy2]

Looking back, it was a great experience.

[Pappy2]

Thank you so much, "Ghost 1-1."

It's a wonderful tribute you've just paid to the crews who flew this Chinook during this period.

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3344132/

[Melv428]

oh wow cool thank you i will test this tomorrow