A heavy weight to carry: A look inside one of the most recognizable birds of the U.S. Army

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (KTUU) - There’s no arguing the CH-47 Chinook is a workhorse of the United States Army, as well as one of the most familiar helicopters in the military avian fleet.

The tandem rotor helicopter is as versatile as the Alaska Army National Guardsman who works on and operates them.

It’s daily practice on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Maddox, a standardization instructor with the Alaska Army National Guard’s Bravo Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion — and there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

“There’s a reason why I’ve been doing the same job for the last 16 years — I absolutely enjoy it,” Maddox said. “Up in the air ... that’s where I’m happy.”

With nearly 3,400 hours of flight time accrued in his career, Maddox has attached a variety of baggage to the Chinook’s sling load system.

Still, one mission in particular remains the most memorable after the Guard was tasked with lifting the iconic “Into the Wild” Bus 142 out of its resting place in the wilderness of Healy, Alaska, and transported to the University of Fairbanks.

“That bus was probably the most unique, weirdest sling load I had to do,” Maddox said, smiling while just thinking about it.

Located off the Stampede Trail, the bus had become a destination for explorers and a problem for rescue workers in the state. Over the years, several individuals have attempted to hike to its location that can only be accessed by crossing the unpredictable and dangerous Teklanika River.

Some had to be rescued by the National Guard.

“People were going out there and putting themselves in danger and even losing their lives,” Maddox said. “On top of that, they put us in a position to go put ourselves in the same risk to go pick these people up.”

The bus became a popular spot after author Jon Krakauer published the true story of Christopher McCandless — an American traveler who ventured out into the wilderness of Alaska in search of a more nomadic lifestyle and used the abandoned vehicle as shelter — in his book “Into The Wild” that was later made into a major motion picture.

Maddox was the one who came up with the rigging procedure and certified the bus for removal, a difficult task given the decades of decay that left the vehicle structurally compromised.

After the mission was complete, an homage to it was painted onto the Chinook that carried it out, with the words “Out of the Wild” next to the dotted illustration.

When not on an active sling load mission, the National Guard consistently takes to the skies on training missions to maintain their skills and certify new crew members.

In February, guardsmen hooked a Small Utility Support Vehicle (SUSV) with a tandem trailer, carrying it to an open area on JBER before unhooking it in its new location. The Chinook flew back to the hangar while other guardsmen drove the SUSV back.

While the SUSV is not necessarily a global sensation like the “Into the Wild” bus, Maddox considers any sling load training critical to the success of future missions.

The CH-47 is also capable of carrying a water bucket to assist firefighting crews with wildfires across the state.

“As soon as the waters start opening up, we’ll go out and start practicing, getting refresher training complete with water bucket training,” Maddox said. “So when the time does come, we’re ready and we’re certified — and we can go out and fight wildland fires.”

The Chinook helicopter has proven to be a powerhouse in the U.S. Army since it first entered service during the Vietnam War area, and continues to meet the needs of Alaska’s often wild demands with those that serve alongside it.

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