A Black Hawk in a Firefight

In this episode, Joe Roland joins to share a story from 2004. A UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, his aircraft and another were supporting an Army Special Forces team in search of a group of enemy combatants in Afghanistan. As soon as his helicopter landed to drop off a US soldier and two Afghans to take up an overwatch position, enemy fighters were identified approaching the position. Roland made a quick decision—to hover his aircraft between the enemy fighters and the friendly position. He shares the story of that decision and the fighting that quickly followed in this episode.