FORT CARSON, Colorado: Rugged cliffs with sudden spikes in elevation, shifting wind patterns, and thin air - those are the rough Rocky Mountain conditions that are ideal for preparing US helicopter pilots heading to similar terrain in Afghanistan.
Nearly 300 pilots and crew are undergoing a training session at Colorado's Fort Carson Army Base, preparing for deployment to a war in which US public support is rapidly dwindling.
Bitterly cold winds whip off the mountains that surround the Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado.
The climate and terrain there are a lot like Afghanistan.
Chief Warrant Officer Dwayne Williams, a Blackhawk pilot, said: "Flying at 12,000 feet in Colorado is much different than flying at 1,000 feet in Kansas. You're much more limited on power, and the weight you can have, in the mountains. So we come here to get that realistic training up in the mountains, to make us better pilots."
A total of 290 soldiers and 29 helicopters are there from Fort Riley, Kansas, preparing for deployment to Afghanistan in 2013.
Their usual base is at sea level, but Fort Carson is located at over 6,000-feet altitude, and the training missions take them up to 12,000 feet to simulate battlefield conditions.
Chief Warrant Officer Dwayne Williams added: "The altitudes that I'm told we could be flying at, we went above and beyond them here, and matched them…"
At the top of a mountain pilots face blowing snow, frigid temperatures and thin air - making helicopters hard to fly.
Many of the service personnel there could be deployed within the coming months, and the training they receive in Colorado's rugged Rocky Mountains could prove invaluable in combat zones like Afghanistan.
The training is as much for the machines as it is for the men.
Chief Warrant Officer Jereme Leason, a Kiowa pilot, said: "It's reduced power, reduced performance… It's a little bit easier to break an aircraft, just to put stresses on the engine and things like that - so we have to be very very careful."
The pilots say the Rocky Mountain training has been rough, but has given them critical experience as they rotate out to Afghanistan.
Chief Warrant Officer Jereme Leason added: "As we've become qualified, it's become exponentially easier to fly and manage our systems. I honestly feel much more confident."
About 67,000 US troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, alongside some 37,000 coalition forces.
In the US, public support is declining for the war that's now in its 12th year.
- CNA/de
US helicopter pilots train in Rocky Mountains before Afghan deployment
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US helicopter pilots train in Rocky Mountains before Afghan deployment
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US helicopter pilots train in Rocky Mountains before Afghan deployment
