1st Sgt. Jason Dickerson, right, Company A, 4th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Aviation Regi-ment, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, discusses repairs to be made on a U.S. Army UH-1 Huey July 12, 2015, with Spc. Adam Johnson, left, and Pfc. Ricky Gutierrez, both aircraft structural repairers with the 404th Aviation Support Battalion, 4th CAB, during a restoration project at Founders Field. (Photo by Sgt. Jonathan C. Thibault)
By Sgt. Jonathan C. Thibault
4th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
An everyday drive to work and a nasty storm led an aviation first sergeant on a yearlong journey to restore a piece of history important to the lineage of the Fort Carson aviation community.
1st Sgt. Jason Dickerson, Company A, 4th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, and aircraft structural repairers from 404th Aviation Support Battalion, all with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, began work July 12, 2015, to restore the historical U.S. Army UH-1 “Huey” aircraft displayed at Fort Carson’s Founders Field.
Dickerson said he believes the Huey is a representation of 4th CAB to everyone who visits Fort Carson.
“After a really bad storm, I saw that the Huey was in really bad shape,” said Dickerson. “Founders Field shows a lot of history of 4th Infantry Division’s units, and the Huey is my unit’s representation. I just wanted to do as much as I could to give back to the aviation profession that I am very fond of, and this became a prime opportunity.”
Dickerson said only after obtaining permission from the 4th Inf. Div. historian and the help of the CAB’s Chief Warrant Officer 5 John Moseley, the brigade’s chief warrant officer, could they begin to restore a piece of the installation’s aviation history.
Dickerson said it was hard to get parts for an aircraft model that was used during the Vietnam era.
“Once we were given the green light to start the restoration, we started searching for parts everywhere,” said Dickerson. “I had to burn through about 18 years’ worth of favors and a year worth of searching to get all the parts before they get decommissioned in the next few years. It’s still going to take about two weeks’ worth of work spread out over time. Not to mention, the service manuals don’t really exist anymore.”
Sgt. Kelly Dunn, aviation structural repairer, 404th ASB, said she was motivated to volunteer to help restore the Huey because of nostalgic stories from an old mentor.
“I thought it would be interesting to work on a Huey,” said Dunn. “I had an old mentor who was a Huey mechanic that changed over to a Black Hawk mechanic. He used to tell me stories about them. So when this opportunity arose, I wanted to jump on board and be able (to) say that I’ve worked on a Huey.”
Dunn said of all the opportunities for a Soldier to take pride in their profession, the Huey restoration project was her opportunity.
“Years down the road, I might be visiting Founders Field with my Family and it would be nice to say ‘I fixed that at one point in time,’” said Dunn.