By Gary Rice
NADEP NEWS Editor

An H-53 helicopter with a glorious past has returned to the Naval Aviation Depot (NADEP) Cherry Point for repairs. The helo, Bureau Number 162001, has flown in support of operations in Afghanistan, Somalia, Bosnia, and Puerto Rico, and is best known as the helicopter that rescued downed Air Force pilot Capt Scott O’Grady in 1995. It was last at the depot for scheduled maintenance in 1999.

The hero helo’s return has special significance for one NADEP Marine. GySgt Richard Strickland, Flight Test Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, served as a crewmember on “2001” and participated in some of its most historic moments.

“I first flew as a crew chief on 2001 during the Somalia operation in 1993,” Strickland, a 19-year veteran of the Marine Corps with eight months at NADEP, said. “We called her “Space Oddity” at that time. Two years later, during a Mediterranean Sea cruise on board USS Kearsage, I flew in her again. When we were informed that an Air Force pilot was shot down over Bosnia, the ship immediately headed into the Adriatic Sea. After six or seven days, we learned that they had located him, and we got the call to go get him.”

Strickland explained that there were three H-53 combat crews on that rescue operation, and though he participated in the mission, he was not on 2001 at the time. It was 2001 that picked O'Grady up and flew him back to the Kearsage.

“I was on 2001 again when we flew O’Grady from the Kearsage to Aviano Air Force Base in Italy,” Strickland said.

That was not the last time Strickland flew as a crew chief on 2001. During the protest demonstrations on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, in 2000, the helo was used in support of law enforcement agencies to remove demonstrators from the Navy bombing range there.

“We flew her to Vieques from Jacksonville, North Carolina,” Strickland said. “Our course took us over water for 700 miles, and we refueled two times in flight. We landed on Vieques and escorted demonstrators to the helicopter, checking everyone for weapons before they boarded. There were no problems, and the operation went very smoothly.”

The hero helo arrived at NADEP on Feb. 9 for repair of damage it sustained during a hard landing in Afghanistan, where it was being flown in support of a wide range of combat operations as part of the war on terror. Collapsed nose landing gear and other internal damage made it unflyable.

Depot artisans will work their usual magic, and 2001 will be returned once again to the fleet.

Photo Caption: On the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point flight line, Hero Helo #2001 waits its turn to be taken to the NADEP H-53 Hangar for repairs. (Photo by Larry Conley)