10/04/2024
Mustang 22 Memorial Foundation and the Nevada Army National Guard. The install was completed over the summer. A dedication ceremony was held on the September 25th the 19-year anniversary that Mustang 22 was shot down. Pacific Steel donation was the base plate and bollards for mounting the aircraft to be a permanent dedication to the fallen soldiers and family. A little history on Mustang 22: Nevada Army Guard Chinook Helicopter-call sign: Mustang 22 was shot down in Afghanistan on September 25, 2005 at 0305z. The D Company, 113th Aviation CH-47 Chinook (Mustangs), assigned to Task Force Storm, was the lead aircraft on a deliberate assault team of 3 Chinooks, 2 Apaches and 2 Blackhawks. The flight departed before dawn to insert elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade on an assault mission against Taliban insurgents near Deh Chopan in Zabul Province. The crew had just completed inserting 30 combat troops when it suffered a catastrophic hit from a rocket propelled gr***de shortly after departing the landing zone. The aircraft was destroyed and we lost 5 of our valued soldiers: Pilot-in-Command CW3 John Flynn and Flight Engineer SGT Patrick Stewart from the Nevada Army Guard, Pilot WO1 Adrian Stump and Flight Engineer Tane Baum from the Oregon Army Guard and Door Gunner SGT Kenneth Ross from active duty. During the intense year of combat supporting Operation Enduring Freedom the Mustangs flew 6799 combat hours, completed 157 deliberate assaults, moved over 12 million pounds of cargo, transported 47000 combat soldiers, lost 2 CH-47’s and sustained battle damage to 18 of the formidable aircraft.
