 Six dead in Army helicopter crash
Danger part of life in the armed forces
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Staff Writer
The soldiers killed last night were participating in a training exercise called Lightning Thrust Warrior, which involves more than 4,000 U.S. Army personnel pretending to fight a fictitious enemy on a fictitious island.
In last night’s maneuvers in the mountains above Kahuku, the Black Hawk helicopters were participating in an air assault operation, lifting and dropping soldiers into the fictitious enemy territory.
The annual exercise allows soldiers to hone their war-fighting skills and refine their combat edge, according to the Army.
Soldiers are trained in tasks including attacking outposts, defending terrain, fending off aerial attacks, targeting enemy strongholds, maintaining communications and conducting combat-service support operations. The exercise does not involve live ammunition.
The operation began Feb. 5 and was to run through Friday.
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