The United States Army’s 8th Battalion was performing training at the Manitowoc County Airport this week.
This takes place every year, and this year, Manitowoc was selected for training related to the refueling of Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters.
As part of the training, the Army had multiple fuel tankers at the airport ready for both types of helicopters that arrived in need of fuel.
On Friday alone, three helicopters from Michigan—two Blackhawks and one Chinook — touched down at the airport in need of fuel.
These training missions see helicopters land, fuel up, and depart again for their next destination in a matter of minutes.
Army members greet the pilots with their fueling rigs ready, attempting to complete their objectives as fast as possible.
The blades of the helicopters remain on while over 1,000 gallons of fuel is pumped from truck to chopper.
Most of the members of the Army stationed in Manitowoc came from Fort McCoy in Sparta Wisconsin to take part in this training, however, many out of state Army members also made their way to Manitowoc to be trained as well.
Support jobs, including the maintaining and refueling of helicopters, make up the vast majority of work done by those in the Army but often get overlooked by the general public.
