A Bird's Eye View Of War In Iraq

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
New York Daily News
April 14, 2008 N.Y. Guard unit trades wheels for wings in new tour
By Stephanie Gaskell, Daily News Staff Writer
FORT DRUM, N.Y. — When Sgt. Ryan Padilla was in Iraq four years ago, he manned a machine gun atop a Humvee patrolling the streets of Tikrit.
This summer, he’ll have a better view of the same war.
Padilla will be firing a machine gun from a Black Hawk helicopter as part of the New York National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment.
“The first time, I was on the ground,” said Padilla, 25, of Staten Island, who works internal security for MTA Bridges and Tunnels when he’s not in uniform. “This time I don’t have to worry about [roadside bombs] as much.”
Many of its soldiers have seen Iraq combat before in other units, but it’s the first time the Long Island-based battalion will serve in Iraq since the war began.
About 450 soldiers will head to Balad Air Base in July to help transport troops, supplies and VIPs around the country.
“It is safer being up in the air,” said Warrant Officer Michelle Grasso-Roxby, 30, of Staten Island, the only female pilot in the unit. “That said, if something goes wrong in the air, it’s usually worse.”
Chief Warrant Officer Ricky Gianotti, a Black Hawk pilot who also served in Tikrit in 2004, said it’s safer getting around in the air in a combat zone, but the risks are still there.
“Let’s face it, we’re the No. 1 target over there. They take us down and it’s a big win for them,” said Gianotti, 41, of Smithtown, who works as a helicopter pilot for the Suffolk County Police.
Staff Sgt. Robert Lant will be a crew chief, manning an M240 machine gun high above the mean streets of Iraq.
“It’s definitely a different perspective up there,” said the 35-year-old MTA bus driver from Staten Island.
The unit is based out of MacArthur Airport in Islip and Latham Airport in Albany. It is currently training at Fort Drum in Watertown, N.Y., and will head to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for more training before shipping out this summer.
While many members of the unit have been to Iraq before, for some it’s their first time.
“Most units are on their second, third, even fourth deployments,” said Warrant Officer Danny Edling, 30, a pilot who is also a Brooklyn cop. “I can’t walk around feeling like I haven’t pulled my weight. I’m excited to go.”
Fellow engine mechanic Pfc. Austin Levesque, 25, of Newport, N.Y., is “excited.”
“If you don’t live your life to the fullest, then what’s the point?” he said.
Still, not everyone was looking forward to putting their lives on the line.
Queens native Sgt. Juan Orozco, 47, who works as an engine mechanic, said he’s “apprehensive about going.”
“I don’t like the idea of leaving my family,” he said.
 
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