Tail Gunners Have To Be Ready For Any Mission

Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, Task Force Storm’s senior enlisted leader, settles into the gunner seat of a UH-60 Black Hawk before heading out on a mission.

CAMP TAJI, Iraq
“Be Know Do” has been a part of the Army leadership doctrine for more than a decade, and many leaders have interpreted it in many different ways.
For two of Task Force XII’s most senior noncommissioned officers, this leadership mantra takes them miles away from the safety of their offices and into a more mobile work station. It’s an alternate work environment that puts them in some potentially dangerous situations.
But still, as they say, the view here is a whole lot cooler than any corner office on Camp Taji.
Task Force XII’s Command Sgt. Maj. H. Lee Kennedy, along with Task Force Storm’s Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, help shoulder the workload of UH-60 Black Hawk crew members by serving as crew chiefs and door gunners on missions each week. The task force’s senior officers, all of its pilots, are called on to take to the skies regularly.
The same is true for the senior enlisted leaders as well, who also don their flight gear and mount up for missions. Flying a helicopter as a pilot rarely means washing windows or loading a passenger’s bags for them.
The door gunners, however, regardless of their rank, have to be ready for any mission.

“I believe, as a leader, that I should lead from the front and that I should not ask my Soldiers to do something that I wouldn’t do myself,” said Cuomo, a native of Troy, N.Y.

“If we were doing ground convoys, I’d be in those too. There should be no difference in going outside of the wire. Whether it’s flying or driving, the leader should lead from the front.”

Their Soldiers appreciate their effort and their “can do” attitudes.

“I think it’s great that they get out here and help us with the mission,” said Sgt. Ian McDougal, a crew chief in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. “ Seeing higher ranking Soldiers doing the same job as us really means a lot to the younger Soldiers.”

Both Cuomo and Kennedy are crew chiefs by profession. Combined, the two leaders have more than 50 years of Army aviation experience.

“When a young 19- or 20-year-old Soldier sees a 50-yearold sergeant major wandering around, they say ‘that old man doesn’t know anything about the Army today … what he knew 20 or 30 years ago is obsolete;’ but it’s not,” said Kennedy, a native of Abingdon, Va. “We still use those same tactics and procedures from back then because all those things are standard.”

And like their officer counterparts, the command sergeants major don’t just fly once in a while to get flight-pay, Kennedy and Cuomo are incorporated into the flight schedule and act as replacements when an additional crew chief or door gunner is needed for a mission.

“If a Soldier gets medically grounded or can’t fly for whatever reason, they come to (us) to fill in for them; we do that on a regular basis,” said Cuomo.

“I normally try to fly at least once a week, depending on my meetings and work schedule, but I try to fly as much as time permits.”

Even though he outranks all the crew chiefs and door gunners he works with, Kennedy sais he doesn’t expect to be treated any differently when it comes to the mission.

“As leaders, we should follow the standard harder and set the example truer,” he said. “If I’m cut some slack on any section or piece of that mission, then the other Soldiers should be cut slack too; I must follow exactly what my Soldiers are tasked to do – to the letter.”

“When you’re part of an aircrew,” added Cuomo, “you all have the same level of responsibility; and if one member of the crew starts to slack, it puts everyone’s life at risk.”

The Soldiers also respect it when their leaders get out there and know how to follow the rules while flying and can conduct up-to-date aircraft maintenance, said Kennedy.

“No matter what the rank of the person seated across from me on the aircraft, I’m confident in their abilities to perform their duties because we all train to the same standard,” said McDougal, a native of Eugene, Ore.

Being such a “seasoned aviator” has its advantages and disadvantages, said Kennedy.

“I guess rumor has it that since I’m 51, I’m a little slower getting in and out of the window,” he said. “That may be true; but as far as (scanning my sector) and getting out there doing preflight checks and maintenance, I’m right up there with the 19 year-olds.”

Even though their “Be Know Do” leadership technique may take a little more effort than it used to, Kennedy and Cuomo said they hope to motivate Soldiers by helping shoulder the workload and letting them know the standards must be kept – regardless of the Soldier’s rank.

“I can perform at the same skill level as any other door gunner, and I think that it’s sometimes second nature to me because I’ve been doing it so long,” said Cuomo. “I hope that (my flying) shows the Soldiers that I care and I’m willing to do the same things they’re doing. I think they should be extremely proud of everything we’ve accomplished here in Iraq.”