Photo by U.S. Army Spc. Amanda Brown
PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Four Soldiers take a quick break from their 40 hour maintenance task for a group photo in front of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in which they are doing repairs. Spec. Daniel Jayne, a native of Santa Ynez, C.A., and Spec. James Kelley, a native of Newton, I.L., are shown to the left. Spec. Andrew Coghlan, a native of Augusta, G.A., and Spec. Brandon Carney, who is from West Carthage, N.Y. stand to the right in the photo. These Soldiers are all Black Hawk mechanics in D Company, Task Force Phoenix. They are all combat veterans.
Telling the TF Phoenix story has been very rewarding. While it is out of my Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) it is not out of my realm of knowledge. I am an English Literature major who has been writing and submitting pieces for publication for as long as I can remember. I took part in the school newspaper first as a photographer, then to a reporter/photographer, and finally to an editor in less than a year.
This job is a fantastic learning experience and has allowed me to get my writing into the post newspaper - which has been a dream come true in many aspects. My first publication happened on the day of my birthday this year. It was the best present ever! Photography is also one of my great passions as well. Ever since I could hold a camera I was taking photographs. I started with a Mickey Mouse 110 film format camera (don't laugh!) and ran around everywhere capturing life on film. It was liberating at the age of 5 to 6 to have such power at my fingertips!!! Over the years I upgraded, finally getting my first Single Lens Reflex (SLR - i.e. maual) camera when I was in sixth grade. Then, I started playing with a Minolta rangefinder 35mm camera. As the years went on, I continued upgrading until I got into the latest and greatest digital Canon SLR with all the bells and whistles I could have ever dreamed for in a camera. Put a camera in my hand and it feels like it has always been a part of me....