SERVICE BEYOND MEASURE

Submitted by AFPAO on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 11:46

The Southern Stinger Flight, composed of two (2) UH-1D helicopters, were alerted at HTOG4, Camp Nakar, Lucena City, to support an ongoing mission in the Southern Luzon AOR. The flight was tasked to conduct immediate pick-up of one (1) confirmed critically wounded-in-action (WIA) personnel during the encounter between the government troops (PA and PNP) and an unidentified number of communist terrorists (CTs) in the mountainous areas of General Nakar, Quezon Province, on 30 July 2019. The mission aimed to support the ongoing operations (SOGO) of the 80th Infantry Battalion through the extrication of the wounded Army personnel from the encounter site and by transporting him to the nearest medical facility despite the gloomy skies, treacherous winds, high mountains, and, not to mention, the risk of enemy fire.

The mission was planned carefully. An intelligence briefing was conducted prior to the conduct of the mission, specifying the situation of the government troops in the area, to include the location of the CTs. Despite the inclement weather and strong wind gustiness, the flight still executed the mission and proceeded to the pick-up zone (PZ), which was situated between the formations of two deceitful mountains in order to save the life of the distressed comrade-in-arms.

The WIA had successfully boarded to the helicopter after the lead aircraft effectively surpassed all the obstacles in its landing approach, in an area enough for only one (1) helicopter to land. Afterwards, the flight immediately transported the WIA to LOGCOM Helipad, CGEA, Quezon City, where an ambulance was waiting to give the wounded PFC Mark Jordan C Dizon (Inf) PA immediate medical care and subsequently rushed the patient to V. Luna General Hospital.

The flight went back to H80IB to continue the SOGO of the government troops. Upon arrival, a great smile reflected on the face of the 80IB personnel, knowing that they received the good news that the Stinger Flight successfully evacuated and saved their brother-in-uniform from the perils of death. Similarly, the 80IB Battalion Commander has commended and expressed his sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the pilots and crew for the job well done. Afterwards, the flight proceeded back to HTOG4, landed, and shutdown engines at the TOWSOL Helipad before sunset.