Blackhawks shine in Operation Unified Assistance.

Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15, homeported at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, maintains an expeditionary detachment forward deployed in Bahrain to support Fifth Fleet operations. On 8 January 2005 a Joint Chief of Staff order tasked the detachment to deploy four MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters to the Indian Ocean in support of Operation Unified Assistance (OUA) to deliver humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HA/DR) to areas affected by the 26 December 2004 tsunami. The detachment deployed its helicopters with the required personnel and support equipment to Northern Indonesia on board Essex (LHD 2) to assist with the HA/DR effort. This was the first time the squadron's forward deployed unit tested its ability to rapidly redeploy.

Within 48 hours of notification, HM-15 Det 2 initiated the deployment of its four aircraft, personnel, mission systems, and support equipment. Squadron personnel worked around the clock to stage more than 300,000 pounds of support equipment and prepare 93 personnel for immediate deployment.

On the evening of 18 January 2005, after a six-day transit from Bahrain, Essex arrived off the western coast of northern Indonesia, and the detachment was poised to conduct HA/DR missions the following morning. Pilots, aircrew members, and maintenance personnel "hit the ground running," and on the first day of tasking delivered over 85,000 pounds of supplies, flew over 1,500 miles, and transported 177 passengers to remote landing zones along a 300 mile stretch of significantly battered coastline. Pilots and aircrew members excelled in this dynamic and unfamiliar environment, landing in multiple landing zones of varying dimensions and terrain with little to no initial intelligence support.

During the first 15 days of the operation, Det 2 flew a schedule that operated from sunrise to sunset. Supply staging, loading, and delivery to preselected landing zones along the western coast was executed by a combination of Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel at Indonesia's Sabang Airport. Transporting the onload working party to and from the airport became part of the detachment's daily tasking. In addition to the role of delivering supplies to the Indonesians, the Sea Dragon's long range capabilities were utilized to transport aid workers from the northern tip of Indonesia to towns located over a hundred miles to the south.

In addition to daily HA/DR tasking, HM-15 Det 2 was utilized in a wide assortment of roles ranging from vertical replenishment to Marine troop transport. On 22 January, the detachment was tasked with facilitating the onload of the OUA command and control team and the Marines from the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force.

The maintenance department set its own milestone with 74 maintainers working endless hours to ensure the availability of all four aircraft at a moment's notice. The maintainers of HM-15 Det 2 achieved a mission capable rate of 76 percent and recorded over 5,500 maintenance hours in the month of January alone.

Operational tempo dramatically decreased during the last week of the operation and tasking consisted mainly of logistic support and VIP transport. The detachment was focused on meeting current flight requirements and preparing for a four aircraft flyoff scheduled for 26 February. On 10 February, the ship departed Indonesia and transited to Singapore for a port call prior to its return to the Fifth Fleet AOR.

Prior to departing the theater, HM-15 Det 2 provided backup logistic support for the visit of former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, who were in the region assessing the damage created by the tsunami.

The sailors of HM-15 Det 2 can be proud of their accomplishments during Operation Unified Assistance, The detachment flew 97 mishap-free sorties, and moved 1,892 troops and nearly 800,000 pounds of cargo while flying over 15,700 miles in an expeditionary shipboard environment.

By Ltjg. Jim Schwarze