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Setting her sights on military service |
By David Sale,
Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail David at
dsale@eaglenewspapers.com
|
When Jennifer Lentz
joined the Army National Guard she had her sights set on one thing:
helicopters. And with the aid of lessons from Newberg’s Precision
Helicopters, she’s about to become one Oregon National Guard unit’s
only female pilot.
“I signed up when I was 17 and specifically asked for hangar duty,”
the 27-year-old Dundee resident said. “I’ve always been interested
in helicopters — I think I got it from my dad, who was a Guardsman
and a Cobra (attack helicopter) mechanic. He’s really encouraged me
along.”
Originally
from New York state, Lentz entered the National Guard as a mechanic
and member of the ground crew for a Pennsylvania Guard unit that
flew dual-rotor Chinook cargo helicopters.
“I’d get my work done early so I could ride along on their training
flights,” she said.
She was later stationed with the National Guard reserves in Germany
and deployed to Kosovo during the breakup of Yugoslavia.
After the war in Iraq began, Lentz arrived at Camp Falcon in south
Baghdad — but as a civilian contractor for Kellogg, Brown and Root,
the corporation that provides on-base services for military bases.
“I was in logistics, ordering supplies for the troops there —
everything from artillery parts to shower stalls,” she said. “It was
really the same work as in the Guard, but for better pay. And every
time I went to a meeting, I got to ride in a chopper.”
But after a tour in Iraq, Lentz decided it was time to pursue her
dream of becoming a pilot. Settling in the Northwest, she said she
was surprised to discover a nationally-known flight school —
Precision — in the area.
She enrolled last September and received her private pilot’s
license in mid-May. Learning to fly a single-rotor helicopter after
her time in the larger Chinooks was a bit of an adjustment, she
added.
“It’s a very different environment. When I started at Precision I
had to relearn some of the techniques,” she said. “But I want to get
a commercial pilot’s license and there’s more work for single-rotor
pilots. I actually landed in my own backyard once, in order to
practice a confined-area touchdown.”
Lentz is now preparing to enter the 1042nd Air Ambulance Medical
Company, which flies Blackhawk helicopters and is stationed at
McNary Airport in Salem. Along with the transfer, Lentz said, she’ll
receive a promotion to the rank of warrant officer.
“They were really excited to have me — not just because I’m going
to be their only woman pilot, but because I already knew how to fly
a helicopter,” she said. “Normally the Guard has to pay for flight
school. I still have to take a couple tests, but it looks good.”
As for what the future holds, Lentz isn’t sure yet. She plans to
take advantage of the Guard’s tuition assistance program to return
to flight school and earn her commercial license — unless duty
calls.
“We’re designated as a medevac unit, but the Guard does a little of
everything,” she said. “I was told that the whole company doesn’t
get deployed very often, but it sends units to places like
Afghanistan or Colombia fairly regularly. I guess I’ll have to wait
and see.” |
|
From
June 2, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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