Deployed Moody members unfold helicopters to save lives

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  Most high-value cargo is transported by air.

A HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter was placed in this category when it got to be a passenger in a C-17 Globemaster III from Afghanistan Aug. 12, 2010.

The 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's 64th Expeditionary Helicopter Maintenance Unit trades their helicopters here for helicopters requiring maintenance that cannot presently be done in Afghanistan.

Airmen from both the 723rd AMXS at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and the 763rd AMXS at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., are part of the team that works on this aircraft. The 763rd AMXS is a geographically-separated unit of the 23rd Wing at Moody AFB.

However, the helicopters that come to Joint Base Balad need to be folded and stuffed into the aircraft for the journey and then unfolded upon arrival. This process may take several hours to accomplish.

"The 64th EHMU Airmen do whatever it takes to make the mission happen," said 1st Lt. Brian Kim, 332 EAMXS 64th EHMU officer in charge, a native of Fullerton, Calif., deployed from Nellis AFB, Nev. "We maintain combat search and rescue capabilities around the clock."