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Members of the local German press visited Company C, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment Feb. 27 to learn more about the medevac unit’s mission of saving lives in both training and combat.
The visit was prompted in part by public concerns about helicopter noise in the area and served as a way to help ease tensions with the local community.
“Part of what we do is to be on standby for anyone who gets injured in training areas,” said Charlie Company commander Capt. Damien McGuigan, a native of Victoria Bridge in County Tyrone, Ireland.
In order for the pilots and crews to practice during the least high-visibility moments, the unit sometimes has to fly at night. The company follows the same flight rules as the German military, McGuigan said.
The summer night flying program, which allows the pilots and crews to fly past midnight on the longest days of the year, is specifically designed for training with night-vision devices, said Mark Heeter, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern public affairs officer.
“Sometimes in Germany, in the summer months, it is not dark enough to fly safely until close to midnight. Lives have to be saved. And unfortunately, sometimes lives have to be saved at night,” Heeter said, answering a German radio reporter. “The crews have to be able to fly in those conditions.”
Time adjustments are also sometimes needed to be made for adverse weather conditions, and because accidents occur at all hours of the day.
The unit has not been directly associated with Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a stone’s throw away on Wilson Barracks, since 2006, McGuigan explained.
“The training we do is vital for medical personnel and is what makes us special as helicopter pilots,” McGuigan said. “When you are able to pick someone up — whether a child, civilian, or a German or U.S. soldier — at the end of the day, you’re doing something good, and that’s what I like about this job.”
