JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS Va. –
The 128th Aviation Brigade recently gained a piece of aviation history as a part of their training at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
The brigade is now home to the Super 62 "Black Widow," a Blackhawk helicopter that was used during a mission in Operation Gothic Serpent, Oct. 3, 1993. The helicopter was transformed into a Blackhawk Electrical Trainer intended for teaching Blackhawk repair Advanced Individual Training students..
Operation Gothic Serpent was conducted by special operations forces with the mission of capturing a fraction leader. The operation occurred in Somalia. During the mission, the Super 62 helicopter was shot down, injuring members inside and thoroughly damaging the aircraft.
The helicopter, which was one of the aircraft portrayed in the movie "Blackhawk Down," was transformed from its damaged state into a trainer for future Blackhawk helicopter maintainers and electricians to train on.
U.S. Army Maj. Joy Young, S3 operations officer, said capturing the more-than-20-year-history of the helicopter, is important for the Soldiers and lets them know that if they take care of their airframe in the field it could have a longer life expectancy.
"This will be here for decades," said Bruce Bulger, S3 Operations senior training specialist. "Over those decades, thousands of students will get the opportunity to learn on it and from it."