Friday, March 23, 2001

Story and photos by Franklin Fisher
Taegu bureau chief

Second-graders from Taegu American School enjoy a friendly question-and-answer session with heliport commander Capt. Guy D. Bass on the sunlit flightline.

TAEGU, South Korea — Lean-‘n’-mean, hard-core and good-to-go, they dash aboard the Black Hawk at a word from their leader.

They climb into the troop seats in the cargo area; while in the cockpit, hands already are firmly on the controls.

A special operations platoon on a tactical exercise in South Korea?

How about a platoon of gung-ho second-graders from Taegu American School on a tour of Walker Army Heliport.

Thirty-nine exuberant 7- and 8-year-olds logged in a few laughter-filled hours on a sunny Wednesday morning at the heliport, poring over every nook and cranny of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

They also toured the control tower and watched the on-post firefighting unit show off their trucks and turn on their hoses.

The kids got to sit on the parking apron in front of a helicopter and ask questions of the Black Hawk pilots.

Boy, did they ask questions.

"Does these have guns?" one student asked.

"What’s that thing on top of the thingamajig?" asked Whitney Livingston, 7, pointing to a Black Hawk. It was a SATCOM antenna.

Amy Beard, 7, left, and Jeremy Woolley, 8, second-graders from Taegu American School, check out the interior of a Black Hawk helicopter, with help from heliport commander Capt. Guy D. Bass.

"What’s that thing?" one boy asked.

Veteran pilot Chief Warrant Officer Adam Hayes faced the task calmly.

"That thing," he said steadily, "is an I-R suppressor. What that would do is, if they were shooting infrared missiles at us, that would protect us."

"It’s like a force field," added the heliport commander, Capt. Guy D. Bass.

Before wrapping things up, Bass took time to encourage the kids to aim for good grades, be serious about math and English, do homework and listen to their teachers.

Teacher Laura Faraason said such a tour helps the kids in several ways.

"The hands-on action with the equipment. Getting to see the action in real-world experience. They learned a lot. And they got to meet the soldiers they see every day."

But the high point for Jeremy Woolley, 8, had been playing with the Black Hawk’s control stick.

Why the control stick, he was asked.

"Because you can, like, control it," he explained.

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