The Nevada Army Guard marked Earth Day 2017 by removing some long-standing eyesores adjacent to its Army Aviation Support Facility.
Using two CH-47 Chinook helicopters, Army Guard aviators moved 22 condemned storage containers to a location where they can easily be moved for future disposition via ground transportation.
Until the cleanup, the 5,000-pound containers were essentially landlocked by the soft desert terrain on the northeast side of the facility and unreachable by ground vehicles.
Many of the storage containers had carried aviation equipment back-and-forth to Afghanistan on many of the deployment missions conducted by 1/189th General Support Aviation Battalion and 1/168th Aviation (MEDEVAC) in the 16 years since 9/11.
“The containers have traveled the world but now they are just junk attracting mice,” said Army Aviation Support Facility manager Maj. Andrew Wagner. “We want to be good stewards of our training area and the environment.”
The 22 containers had taken up about one-half acre of space. That space will now be used for additional helicopter parking.
Moving the containers also provided an excellent opportunity for sling-load training in advance of fire season, Wagner said. Most of the containers were moved using short, 20-foot-long slings, but some were moved using long-line slings.
Long-line slings are used to carry water buckets for fire suppression.
The event took place in Stead, Nevada on April 21-22.
Erick Studenicka is a Sgt. 1st Class with the Nevada National Guard