On a wing and a prayer

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Stephen Linch
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  "On a wing and a prayer" took on a new meaning recently when an Army warrant officer deployed from Whiteman gave up his seat to a critically-wounded Soldier and rode to safety on the wing of an AH-64 Apache helicopter.

The scene: a battlefield in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, June 30. The men involved: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Allen Crist, deployed to Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment from the 1-135th Attack Battalion at Whiteman, and Spc. Jeffrey Jameleldine, severely wounded while searching for insurgents and weapons caches.

Mr. Crist was part of a team of four Apache helicopters that flew to the Ramadi area to support Coalition forces on the ground. While over the target area, Mr. Crist, the co-pilot and gunner, and pilot Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kevin Purtee, received a message that ground troops were pinned down by heavy fire.

The helicopter crew fired all the ammunition on board and left the area to refuel and rearm. While refueling, the crew learned the ground forces commander had coordinated a medical evacuation of wounded Soldiers, including one critically wounded.

When the team returned to the battlefield some 40 minutes later, he learned the MEDEVAC helicopter had not yet arrived.

That is when they decided to land and get the critically-wounded soldier out of the firefight and to a hospital.

When they started putting their plans into action the co-pilot's military training started taking over.

"I wasn't really thinking except about what I needed to do next," Mr. Crist said. "I started getting the cockpit ready for someone who has never been in one by folding my control stick and putting things away."

Racing against time, Mr. Purtee landed the aircraft near the wounded Soldiers.

"I was kind of pumping myself up in my head," Mr. Crist said. "I was thinking, 'Ok as soon as I hit the ground I need to be out of here.'

"As soon as the wheels touched I said, 'Hey Kevin, I'm out,' and I unplugged and jumped out," he added.

Mr. Crist got out and helped Specialist Jameleldine into the front seat of the Apache. Once he strapped the wounded Soldier in, Mr. Crist attached himself by harness to the steps of the aircraft and crouched on the wing for the flight to the Camp Ar Ramadi medical pad.

He continued to hold on until they reached the Camp Ar Ramadi medical pad where medical personnel helped to remove the patient and begin treatment.

Once they knew the Specialist Jameleldine was taken care of they headed back into action to help the troops still involved in the fight.

Army officials in Iraq could not recall an Apache every being used for a medical evacuation and certainly not with the co-pilot riding outside the cockpit.

"I didn't know what would come of this a-a pat on the back or a reprimand, but when we went to the hospital the next day and Jeff wrote thank you on a piece of paper- that was all I needed," Mr. Crist said.

"He was really brave that night as we loaded him into that big screaming beast of a machine that he had probably never seen that close before," he said. "He was a trooper."

When asked about his heroism, Mr. Crist said he was just doing his job.

"We were just doing what we were supposed to do - take care of the guys on the ground," said Mr. Crist. "Anybody in that battalion faced with those circumstances would have done the same."