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The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of 30 servicemembers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 6 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed. The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed: Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La., Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif., Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark., Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare...

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, secure the area after existing a Chinoonk helicopter, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in this Sunday, June 18, 2006 file photo. Insurgents apparently shot down a U.S. military helicopter Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 similar to this one shown during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite Navy SEALs unit that killed Usama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said. An Afghan official says there is fighting in the area where a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter was apparently...

The storybook romance of Colorado gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper and President Barack Obama. And why it matters...

link This guy is the definition of a Hero. The Chinook took multiple hits severing a hydraulic line and raking the fuselage and windscreens with rounds. The Sun reporter does well to keep his composure during the report, faced with the very real possibility of a crash and death.

Voters deserve to know how much of John Hickenlooper's charity has been to political groups like the Chinook Fund. The protest group Re-create 68 was one of the biggest annoyances in the long run-up to Denver's hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention. And now we find out that a non-profit the mayor of Denver helped establish years ago actually funded Re-create 68 as it tried to disrupt the mayor's greatest challengepulling off the DNC. The 2010 gubernatorial race just keeps getting stranger. Re-create 68 caused Denver officials months of headaches, and the group's over-the-top comments contributed to fears that cost...

A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

With the Indian Air Force embarking on modernisation, the skies over different parts of the country will witness yet another high-profile test with evaluations of attack helicopters due to start this summer. Seeking to get off the mark, Boeing is fielding the AH-64D Apache helicopter for the trials, Dean Millsap, regional director, Asia Pacific International Business Development, told a group of visiting Indian journalists here. Mr. Millisap said an IAF team was due to arrive in the United States and thereafter dates for the trials in different weather conditions would be finalised. Boeing is among the international companies that responded...

The effectiveness of a countermeasure system for the U.S. Army Chinook helicopter to defeat guided missiles was proven in battle, BAE Systems said. BAE said its Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures system has proved its worth in defeating infrared-guided missiles on the battlefield. ATIRCM uses lasers to protect the Chinook from missile attacks. A common missile warning system tells the system to emit a high-energy laser beam to defeat the infrared system on the incoming missile. Jim Crouch, general manager for protection solutions at BAE Systems, said ATIRCM is the best countermeasure system available for combat helicopters . "ATIRCM was put...

The deadliest force known to man—The Law of Unintended Consequences—has struck again. This time it has led to the deliberate slaughter of sea lions by armed agents of the U.S. Government. What happened was this: A dam was built in Bonneville, east of Portland, Oregon. As dams will, it created a barrier for both water and anything else that would otherwise traverse the river. This “anything else” included fish, like salmon. And not just any salmon, chinook salmon. See, chinook salmon are one of the lucky few species protected by a law meant to preserve their breed: The Endangered Species...

A HERO Chinook pilot was shot between the eyes by a Taliban bullet - but flew on and saved all 20 aboard. Flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune, 28, had flown in to pick up casualties as a firefight raged between American and Afghan forces and heavily-armed rebels near Garmsir in Helmand Province.... Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2879290/Pilot-was-shot-between-the-eyes-and-still-flew-to-safety.html#ixzz0hIc59J3E

Doctors fighting to save the life of the world's heaviest man are considering calling in an RAF Chinook to move him 150 miles to a specialist centre that will treat him. Paul Mason, who weighs 70 stone, needs the help of weight-loss doctors and possible surgery to lose tens of stones. But the treatment will have to take place in Chichester, West Sussex, a considerable distance from his home in Ipswich. The Health Service has introduced a number of the specialist ambulances designed to transport massively overweight patients but it is not clear if one can be made available to...

Thursday night, 06 August 2009 Afghanistan I made this photo last night in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. This Landing Zone is very dangerous. A few weeks ago, another helicopter was coming into this LZ and was shot down at the last minute, killing all passengers and crew. Two children on the ground also were killed. The sparks coming off the rotors occur when the helicopters land in hot, dusty conditions. The landing itself occurs in a dangerous "brownout." Brownout danger is compounded by the sparks which light up the dust and can confuse pilots who are wearing extremely sensitive nightvision goggles.

UMM QASR, Iraq, March 25, 2009 – USS Chinook departed here today marking the first overnight port visit to Iraq by a U.S. ship. Navy Lt. Allen Maxwell, USS Chinook’s commanding officer, talks with senior Iraqi officers during a port visit to Umm Qasr, Iraq. Chinook departed Umm Qasr March 25, 2009, marking the first overnight port visit to Iraq by a U.S. Navy ship. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Owen Morrissey   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The U.S. Navy has operated in the region for more than 60 years, and Chinook’s visit marks the first time...

CONCORD, N.H. - Abby didn't make for much of a witness at a New Hampshire Senate hearing. She just let out a quiet whimper, as lawmakers considered making Abby's breed the New Hampshire state dog. Abby is a Chinook. It's a cross between a husky and a farm dog, dating back to the 1920s. State Senators also heard from a group of seventh graders backing the measure. Thirteen-year-old Emma Benson told lawmakers the Chinook reflects a unique aspect of the state's history. The senators agree. The committee voted unanimously in the Chinook's favor.

08/01/2008 Ex-Boeing employee is charged in vandalism case By: Timothy Logue , tlogue@delcotimes.com A former Boeing Co. aircraft mechanic is facing up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines and restitution for severing a bundle of wires on a Chinook helicopter. Advertisement Matthew Kevin Montgomery of Trevose was formally charged Thursday with a felony count of willfully damaging property under contract to the federal government. Montgomery, 33, severed a "two-inch bundle of over 150 electrical wires running between the cockpit and body" of the $23.8 million helicopter, according to a federal charging document. Some of the wires were...

The salmon looked like shadows gliding silently beneath the surface of a pool between the foaming rapids of rugged Butte Creek. Suddenly, with a splash, a big glittering fish leaped out of the water, then another and another. The spring-run chinook were jumping this past week in the remote, forested gorge outside Chico. "This is the last best run of wild salmon in California," said Allen Harthorn, 56, the executive director of Friends of Butte Creek, who has been fighting for more than a decade to save the historic - and once sacred - spring run of chinook in this...

RIDLEY PARK, Pa.—Two military helicopters were vandalized on the production line at a Boeing factory near Philadelphia, the Defense Department said Thursday as it offered a reward in the case. Federal officials were handing out fliers to workers at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems plant listing a $5,000 reward in the damaging of the two H-47 Chinook helicopters. "We have determined that this was a deliberate act and not an accident," said Ken Maupin, resident agent in charge of the Philadelphia area office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, at a news conference outside the plant.

The head of the RAF has 'erupted' with rage over revelations Prince William landed a £10million RAF helicopter in girlfriend Kate Middleton's backyard during a military exercise. Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy is said to have been furious at the 'sheer stupidity' of the situation and demanded a 'line-by-line' explanation from subordinates. Details of the angry reaction emerged as the young royal came under fire for using a RAF Chinook for a second time to fit in a personal visit.

Weapons export arrest made in New York By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer July 19, 2007 NEW YORK — A Pakistani national was arrested Thursday on allegations he illegally shipped weapons to Malaysia, including fighter jet parts likely to end up in Iran. Jilani Humayun, 59, was charged with 11 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges carry up to 150 years in prison upon conviction. In court papers, federal authorities said Humayun formed a company, Vash International Inc., in...

A class of Afghan boys with Polish Army escorts boards a CH-47 Chinook helicopter look out the tail end of the aircraft at their country from nearly 10,000 feet during a field trip July 25. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Aubree Rundle Afghan Children Start Field Trip on Chinook Helicopter Youth trip helps build Polish-Afghan relations. U.S. Army Spc. Aubree Rundle Task Force Pegasus Public Affairs FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, July 31, 2007 — A class of nearly 20 young Afghan boys and their instructors took an unusual route for their class trip July 25. Escorted by members...

ENTIAT -- For the first time in decades, the adult spring Chinook salmon now returning to the Entiat National Fish Hatchery will not be spawned and reared as the next generation of Entiat River hatchery fish. Instead, the 575 salmon that returned to the hatchery by Monday were caught in nets, clubbed and given to American Indian tribes on the Colville and Spokane reservations to be used in ceremonies or as food for tribal members. Dozens more spring chinook are likely to return to the hatchery in the next week, and will also be given to the tribes, said Julie...

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - A Chinook military helicopter has crashed in southern Afghanistan, a NATO official said on Wednesday, but he had no word on casualties. "I can confirm that," he said when asked about reports of a crash. "There are few details. It's a Chinook and it was in the south." The official at NATO headquarters in Brussels could not confirm whether the aircraft belonged to NATO or the U.S.-led coalition operating in Afghanistan.

Boeing Co. is negotiating the sale of 12 Chinook CH-47 military transport helicopters to India's air force, a senior company official said Friday. The cost of the aircraft plus support and training programs totals about US$600 million, said Dean Millsap, the Asia Pacific director of Boeing Integrated Business Development, a division of Chicago-based Boeing. "We have held unofficial meetings with the Indian Air Force officials, but haven't got anything in writing," Millsap said told reporters in Bangalore, according to Dow Jones newswires. Millsap, speaking on the sidelines of an air show in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, said the...

Excerpt - BAGHDAD, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday it was checking reports that a Chinook transport helicopter might have come down near Baghdad. Two witnesses in the area, just north of Baghdad, told Reuters they saw a Chinook helicopter come down amid gunfire from the ground. They said it was unclear if the helicopter had crashed or made an emergency landing. ~ snip ~

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Four Army special operations soldiers killed when their helicopter crashed in a rural Georgia field during a training flight were experienced and combat-tested aviators. They shared 31 years of combined service in the Army, as well as 22 deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the two pilots on board, Chief Warrant Officer Michael L. Wright, had earned two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal for Valor. The Army released the soldiers’ identities Saturday, two days after they died when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed and broke apart after clipping a wire on a...

One survivor after helicopter clips tower Lori Glenn DOERUN — Four Army soldiers died in a helicopter crash after it clipped a television transmitting tower early Thursday morning. Amazingly, a fifth crew member walked away from the wreckage. Just after 8 a.m., the MH-47 Chinook helicopter en route from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah to Ft. Rucker, Ala., hit the WFXL tower just off Ga. Highway 270 east of Doerun during a routine training flight. The military has yet to confirm the cause of the accident. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center from Fort Rucker is investigating. All on board...

A U.S.-led coalition military transport helicopter crashed while conducting combat operations in eastern Afghanistan, killing all 10 soldiers on board, a U.S. military spokeswoman said Saturday. The CH-47 Chinook crashed late Friday while on a mission in support of Operation Mountain Lion, an offensive to root out Taliban and al-Qaida militants near the mountainous border with Pakistan. The crash was not the result of enemy fire, said Lt. Tamara D. Lawrence, a coalition spokeswoman. "The remains of all the 10 soldiers have been found and there are no survivors," she told The Associated Press. "There is no indication that the...

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter with nine coalition personnel aboard crashed late Friday during combat operations in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, a military spokeswoman said.

Looking for a picture of the Sen. Edward Kennedy (DUMass.)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2005 – Initial reports indicate that hostile fire caused two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to make hard landings Dec. 4 in southern Afghanistan, officials reported today. Officials initially reported Dec. 4 that one heavily damaged helicopter made a hard landing north of Kandahar, wounding five American soldiers. The other Chinook made a hard landing at a forward operating base south of Tarin Kowt, in Uruzgan province, wounding an Afghan National Army soldier, officials noted. The Afghan soldier is in stable condition at a nearby U.S. military treatment facility. The five U.S. soldiers are also reported in stable condition...

“Be ready to see something you’ve never seen before in your life.” Kenneth Ortolano, a volunteer with the Plaquemines Parish Emergency Operations office, pointed out the windshield of a Michigan Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Below and coming up quick, the crew could see what was left of Venice, Louisiana. After hurricane Katrina, it wasn’t much. “Look at all the boats on the backside of the levee. That was a marina with a bunch of condos. See where the white truck is? That’s the end of the road. The barge is right over there.” The Chinook crew and New...

U.S. military copter crash kills 5 in Afghanistan Chinook does not appear to have been shot down, officials say - A U.S. Chinook helicopter crashed Sunday in remote mountains of southern Afghanistan, killing all five crew members on board, the U.S. military said. It did not appear to have been shot down. The CH-47 chopper was supporting military operations when it went down near Daychopan district in southern Zabul province, a military statement said. U.S. ground forces had reached the crash scene and were providing security for recovery operations Gulab Shah, a spokesman for Zabul’s governor, said there had been...

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. military says a U.S. military Chinook helicopter has crashed in Afghanistan, killing all on board.

The last radio contact was an urgent appeal for help. Night was falling, a rainstorm threatening, and four U.S. Navy SEAL commandos were surrounded by about a dozen militants in rugged, wooded mountains. They needed reinforcements. That hurried call set in motion a chain of events that would lead to the U.S. military's deadliest blow in Afghanistan, and the greatest loss of life ever for the elite force of SEALs. Nine days after the ambush and subsequent downing of a U.S. special forces helicopter with 16 troops aboard, U.S military officials in Kabul and Washington are starting to draw...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 3 - One member of a four-man Navy Seal reconnaissance team has been rescued after his group were reported missing in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan last week, a senior Defense Department official said today.

<p>A U.S. CH-47 Chinook (search) military transport helicopter crashed in Afghanistan Tuesday, FOX News has learned.</p> <p>The chopper went down west of Asadabad (search), the capital of Konar (search) province, while bringing reinforcements into an area where U.S. forces have been fighting Taliban rebels.</p>

Boeing to Highlight 787 Dreamliner, 777-200LR Worldliner and KC-767A Tanker Transport Aircraft at Paris Air Show 2005 CHICAGO, June 3, 2005 – The world’s longest-range passenger jet, the most advanced and capable tanker aircraft, and the aviation industry’s best-selling new airplane will be among the products featured by The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] at this year’s Paris Air Show, beginning June 13 at Le Bourget airfield outside Paris. “Boeing is entering the air show with tremendous momentum,” said Tod Hullin, Boeing senior vice president, Communications. “This is a company that’s on the move. Our financial performance has been strong, and...

RIDLEY PARK, Pa. (Army News Service, May 11, 2004) — Army special operations forces received their first MH-47G Chinook helicopter during a rollout ceremony at aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s compound in Ridley Park, May 6. The military’s newest rotary-wing airframe, updated and better equipped than its Chinook predecessors, will be flown exclusively by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), headquartered at Fort Campbell, Ky. To kick off the event, an older MH-47D model flew directly over the thousands of Boeing employees who had gathered to watch the ceremony. Landing nearby, the Chinook discharged its cargo of three special operations Soldiers...

Sunday, March 28, 2004 Squadron conquers Afghan weather, terrain By Jason Chudy, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, March 28, 2004 Courtesy of U.S. Army A CH-47D Chinook flown by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Murphy rests its rear wheels on a house during Operation Mountain Resolve in Nuristan Province, Nov. 10, as they re-supply troops. The rest of the Chinook crew was Chief Warrant Officer 4 Paul Barnes, Sgt. 1st Class Jim Duggan, Sgt. Brian Kilburn and Spc. Margaret Haydeck. Many of the areas where the Chinooks fly don't have traditional helicopter landing pads. Jason Chudy / S&S Staff Sgt....

CJTF-7 Public AffairsBAGHDAD, IraqRelease #040110bThe mighty, mighty sling load operation itselfMOSUL, Iraq – On a remote mountaintop in northern Iraq, 10 miles east of the town of Tall Afar, soldiers are getting ready to leave their outpost and join fellow soldiers in Mosul. They’re doing it the way soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) have been doing it for years – by air. Soldiers from Bravo Company and Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 501st Signal Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) set up a retransmission site eight months ago on a mountain close to Highway One to boost...

Editor's note: Reporter Hal Bernton and photographer Thomas James Hurst are spending a month in Iraq, reporting on the U.S. military campaign as well as the lives of Iraqi civilians. Today's dispatch is from an air base north of Baghdad. BALAD, Iraq — Rushing across central Iraq in a low-flying Chinook helicopter, Sgt. Rachel Green perches at the edge of an open tail ramp, a finger near the trigger of her M-60 machine gun. Her 150-pound frame is clad in some 50 pounds of gear — helmet, flight jacket and ballistic vest beefed up with ceramic plates. Like some exotic...

<p>The Army’s top civilian official has called for an urgent plan to equip Army helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan with the most advanced defensive systems available, according to a memo obtained by a senator. Five days after a surface-to-air missile brought down a CH-47D Chinook transport and left 16 dead, the Army’s acting secretary, Les Brownlee wrote, “Like other force protection measures, this is URGENT!”</p>

CHIPPEWA TWP. - Not even a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace" could drown out the guttural sobs of Dawn Marie DeFelice on Saturday as she sat in front of the caskets bearing her brother and her mother. In a funeral service filled with tears and a touch of laughter, family and friends said their farewells to Mary Ellen Bucklew, 57, of Darlington Township and her only son, Ernie, who was killed in Iraq on Nov. 2 while trying to return home to mourn his mother. "This is not a hopeless end, but an endless hope," said the Rev. Jay Hurley of...

Attack Highlights a Constant Threat Faced by Aircraft in Iraq By ERIC SCHMITTPublished: November 3, 2003  ASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — It is not yet known at what altitude or speed the Chinook hit on Sunday in Iraq was flying, but guerrillas are known to have launched missiles at American planes two or three times a week, and ground fire at helicopters even more often.Until Sunday, when 16 American soldiers were killed and even more were wounded in the downed helicopter, defensive tactics and devices had helped United States aircraft largely escape disaster.But the scope of the threat facing American...

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - An Army sergeant killed in a missile attack as he was returning home for his mother's funeral was buried along with her Saturday. More than 200 family members and friends gathered at a school auditorium about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for a double funeral for Sgt. Ernest Bucklew and his mother. Mary Ellen Bucklew, 57, of Darlington Township, died Oct. 31 of an aneurism as she drove home from work. Her 33-year-old son was on emergency leave two days later when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down near Fallujah, Iraq. Sixteen...

<p>LANDSTUHL, Germany — Sgt. Christopher Nelson admitted feeling a little edgy as the CH-47 Chinook (search) lifted off toward the Baghdad airport and home leave. Then, he heard "a loud boom," closed his eyes and prayed.</p> <p>The next thing he knew, Nelson, 27, of Orange, Texas, was lying on the ground, surrounded by pieces of the U.S. helicopter.</p>

(Landstuhl, Germany-AP, Nov. 5, 2003 9:46 AM) _ Recovering from wounds suffered when their helicopter was shot down in Iraq, two U.S. soldiers said Wednesday they expect to be needed on the front line again. Army sergeants Christopher Nelson of Orange, Texas, and Raymond Littlefield of Ephrata, Wash. were among 26 soldiers treated in Germany after their Chinook chopper was shot down Sunday, apparently with anti-aircraft missiles. Fifteen others died. The soldiers, both 27, said they were on edge as the giant helicopter carried them toward Baghdad airport and home leave, but could remember little of the attack. Witnesses said...

DENNIS CONRAD Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is trying to figure out whether the helicopter shot down in Iraq was equipped with anti-missile defenses required by the Army, officials said Wednesday. Sen. Dick Durbin complained that some National Guard helicopters in Iraq have been operating without it and questioned whether the Chinook shot down over the weekend was properly protected. Durbin wrote a letter urging Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to investigate whether the helicopter had a fully operational system to divert missiles and asked him to ensure that all helicopters in Iraq have the equipment. Durbin, an Illinois...

By DENNIS CONRAD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP)--The Army National Guard helicopter that was shot down in Iraq by shoulder-fired missiles was equipped with a standard package of defensive systems, including a missile alert system and flares designed to decoy a missile, a U.S. officer said Wednesday. Army Col. William Darley, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said in an e-mail exchange from Baghdad that the CH-47D Chinook helicopter had the ALQ-156 defensive system, including a flare dispenser, that is standard equipment on all Chinooks--whether active duty or National Guard. Pentagon officials had said Tuesday that they were looking into...

<p>The news has not been good from Iraq of late. The recent Ramadan bombings and Sunday's tragic downing of a Chinook helicopter is further evidence that remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and Islamist radicals are still an effective guerilla force. Yet we mustn't let the steady drip, drip, drip of bad news from Iraq keep us from fulfilling the obligations we have assumed there.</p>