HAMILTON — Some of the military’s largest helicopters, CH-53E Super Stallions, touched down Tuesday in Hamilton. Their mission: train while assisting with project in the Bitterroot National Forest.
“What we're going to be doing here is moving people and stuff. That's our bread and butter,” said U.S. Marine Max Caggiano, a CH-53E pilot and executive officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron HMH 772.
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The helicopters came all the way from New Jersey to the Ravalli County Airport. For the next few weeks, the helicopters, their crews and other troops from across the country will be working with the U.S. Forest Service under the Innovative Readiness Training Program.
In two waves, they will assist across the forest, repairing roads and bridges, clearing trails, renovating historic cabins and more. The helicopters will be hauling up to 75,000 pounds of equipment to rebuild a bridge over the Selway.
“We get to go in places that other helicopters can’t,” Caggiano said. “It's a great opportunity for us, especially as a reserve unit. It allows our Marines to definitely do something out of the ordinary, and we get to be in a special part of the country, in Montana where there's a huge veteran population.”
While the troops help the forest, either from the air or on the ground, it will also help them fulfill training and duty requirements.
You might see them in the skies or on the trails around the Bitterroot in the next few weeks. To learn more, tune in later this week, as MTN follows along on one of the projects.
“It's a win-win, both for us to get really unique training flying in mountainous terrain carrying external loads, but also helping out the Forest Service in doing something that would take them a lot longer period of time and cost a lot more money,” Caggiano said. “And getting to work in a place like Bitterroot National Forest, it's very special.”
