2008 Deployment to Iraq for Collins Aerospace; Support Anytime, Anywhere

In 2008 the US Army called then Rockwell Collins (now Collins Aerospace) for help. A special group out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia flying MC-12's was working in Iraq to support combat forces across the country. The group had a small fleet, really only a couple of aircraft, working on some new concepts but literally working to prove those concepts on the battlefield. The data these guys provided to the Commanders on the ground was critical to their daily success on the battlefield in helping preserve life. As any military pilot will tell you communication is key when executing your missions. That is where Rockwell Collins comes in.

At home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, headquarters for Rockwell Collins (Collins Aerospace), we take calls from teams across the globe, 24hrs a day. On one team we have a list of folks setup to support In Flight Emergency (IFE) Support to KC-135 refueling tankers around the world. 24 Hours a day, 7 Days a week, 365 days a year. That means that anytime an aircrew has an Avionics related issue, mission critical, they can call back to Collins Aerospace via SATCOM and get anyone of a number of people on the phone, real time, to help them solve their immediate problems while in the air. There are many teams like this on the different Military and Civilian platforms across the Collins Aerospace enterprise. In 2008, Task Force Odin called with a problem. The radios on the aircraft could not talk about to their TOC (Tactical Operations Center) reliably. To pilots and Mission Commanders, this is a significant problem. Passing real time information to and from the aircraft on mission poses a significant threat to the aircrew and mission completion. After a few phone calls, and many emails it was decided that they needed an engineer on the ground to solve their communications problems. The call goes out to the Collins Aerospace Field Service Team.

Iraq in 2008 is still a combat zone with a continuing IED threat, along with a host of other security related issues. Collins Aerospace could not tell anyone to go. Furthermore they could not promise the Army that anyone would volunteer. Sometime in October 2008 my boss called and asked if I would be willing to travel into Tikrit and Al Shahar AB to help fix some on aircraft coms issues for the US Army. After discussing the issues, and the timing, I said absolutely. Having previously served in the US Air Force with one deployment into Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1995, and a short tour to Korea I felt equipped any mostly prepared for what I would find when I arrived. I would be traveling alone with a new Gov Contractor ID, and a set of civilian orders that allowed me to fly into theater to support TF Odin. With my wife 4 months pregnant when I left, I arrived in Tikrit just before Thanksgiving in 2008.

The flight in on the C-130 was memorable. I flew in with a platoon from the 101st Airborne all loaded and equipped for combat ops. Anyone that has flow as a passenger on the C-130 in combat conditions will appreciate having a seat as close the aircraft center of gravity (CG) as possible because the farther away you get from aircraft CG the more bumpy the ride gets as one poor trooper found out as we descended into Al Sahara AB. Upon arrival, we stopped by midnight cow at a flight line, makeshift chow hall, and then on to my LSA (Life Support Area). Luckily I was given my own connex and did not have to share with any of the TF Odin team members.

With some rest, I set out to get to know the maintenance team, and we got to work on solving the communications issues the team was having. Over the period of 3 weeks, we managed to solve the communications problems both in the TOC on the PRC-117, and on the ARC-210's on the aircraft. Along the way, we managed to solve some nagging autopilot issues both aircraft had been experiencing as well. I know the aircrews appreciated having all of these issues resolved. Early in the deployment we celebrated Thanksgiving, and started seeing signs of the holiday season approaching. The technical challenges saw my stay at Al Sahara AB extend 7 days beyond my scheduled departure. In return for staying longer than originally contracted the one of the aircrews flew me down to Baghdad directly on one of the MC-12's I had helped fix, saving me a 2-3 day wait for a SPACE R flight back to Kuwait. From Baghdad, I was able to catch a brand new commercial charter flight (Gryphon Air) back to Kuwait and freedom!

When it was all over, like so many others, I was happy to do my part to help the troops in the field. I was proud of my company and the support we provide to the warfighters downrange. The memories, and the stories of this deployment into Iraq will live with me forever, however I am sure if we polled the entire Collins Aerospace Enterprise we would find many more stories like this over our 87 year history. Collins Aerospace today with numerous locations across the globe, and nearly 1,000 Field Engineers, the company stands ready to support our customers in person, in theater, world wide at a moments notice.

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