RWS 22 – Kiowa Warrior in Iraq with Robert Mills

Blackdeath 23 was Robert Mill’s callsign in an Air Cavalry Unit operating the Kiowa Warrior in Iraq. Robert has published his journal as a book of the same name covering his two tours in Iraq and the daily challenges of operating a scout helicopter in that environment. The Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a light …

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The post RWS 22 – Kiowa Warrior in Iraq with Robert Mills appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

CWO2 Robert Mills did two deployments to Iraq flying the Kiowa Warrior.

Blackdeath 23 was Robert Mill’s callsign in an Air Cavalry Unit operating the Kiowa Warrior in Iraq. Robert has published his journal as a book of the same name covering his two tours in Iraq and the daily challenges of operating a scout helicopter in that environment.

The Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a light scout helicopter operated by the US Army and based on the Bell 407 Jetranger – but with a heap of extras bolted on.

2 seats, 2 crew
4 bladed main rotor
rear cabin occupied by electronics and power boxes
rockets, hellfire missile, stinger air-to-air missile, 50Cal gun external load points
mast mounted sight

Robert deployed to Iraq the first time fresh out of flight school and learnt on-the-job. In the book you get an immersion into the routine of combat flying ops and what it was like for aircrew in this particular theatre.

In this episode we cover some of the background to the stories and incidents in the book from an aviation viewpoint. The interview also acts as introduction to the flying conditions you might encounter should you find yourself in Iraq one day.

[Tweet “Want a power management pilot? Get an OH58 guy. When you pick it up, you are in the yellow all the time.”]

At the time of recording the Kiowa is being retired from US service with the possibility of airframes being sold overseas. That will leave the US Army fleets as an all multi-engine fleet. The Kiowa’s role will be picked up by a mix of Apache and UAVs amid considerable commentary whether this is a good idea or not.

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In this week’s episode:

01:25 Professionalism quote

01:50 New CASA licence

02:30 World Helicopter Day – get involved

03:30 Flying Kiowa in Iraq with Robert Mills author of Blackdeath23

04:50 Joining up as a military pilot

06:40 Why choose Kiowa

08:20 Kiowa aircraft intro and walkaround

11:15 What’s in the rear cabin area?

12:25 Officers vs Warrant Officer pilot streams

14:10 85 flight hours on arrival into Iraq

17:30 Country brief for flying conditions – its hot… its cold

20:20 Best solution for drinking water in the cockpit – the sock method

22:40 Terrain and elevations

24:05 Retrans station resupply

25:31 Flying low over the built up areas

27:06 Kite hazard

28:10 Dust storms

29:48 Impact on the machines

31:30 Preparing aircraft for quarantine exit clearance

33:40 A typical daily routine in theatre

37:30 Equipment that would take in aircraft

39:40 M4 rifle on the glareshield and armour

44:35 Escalation of force and range training

46:42 Soccer balls and crayons

48:45 Night flying on the Syrian border

50:30 Dust landings in Kuwait

52:25 American Sniper movie/book

53:15 Returning after doing the ultimate mission – challenges

56:06 EMS flying – from taking lives to saving lives

57:20 Get the book

58:36 Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Links from this week’s episode:

Blackdeath23 Book Website – see more about the book

World Helicopter Day

A compilation of Kiowa Warrior videos

[leadplayer_vid id=”54E434970D610″]

[Tweet “Physical conditioning is important. 135deg, its hot. You go through a lot of water!”]

Robert in front of his daily ride

Urban flight ops in Iraq – watch out for the kites…

Look at all the stuff hanging off it! Not your standard Bell Jetranger.

[Tweet “Might find the kite string wrapped around your PCLs or swashplate”]

[Tweet “Completely dusted out. It’s in your cockpit, it’s in your nose, it’s everywhere. Like sandpaper in your eyes while keeping a/c stable.”]

Questions / comments? Be part of the conversation in the comments section below.

The post RWS 22 – Kiowa Warrior in Iraq with Robert Mills appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.