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Many soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are in outposts not easily accessible by convoys.
Specialist Bryan Spradlin shows us how flying Pachyderms
bring them supplies and raise morale. [Spradlin] The Pachyderms go where others
simply can't. [male speaker] Many of the locations that
we end up doing our missions to are inaccessible by vehicle traffic.
Or what takes us 30 minutes to fly would take a ground convoy up to 5 to 6 hours
to traverse over the terrain. [Spradlin] The Pachyderms carry their supplies
in CH-47F helicopters or Chinooks. For soldiers at Forward Operating Base Lane,
the Chinook's ability to bring them mail for the first time in a month is more than enough.
[Sattazahn] The look on the soldiers' faces when they get mail
or when we bring them the cargo that they've been waiting for for a couple weeks,
it gives you job satisfaction and makes it worthwhile at the end of the day.
[Spradlin] That's key for the pachyderms--ensuring the needs of soldiers in the field
are taken care of.