Female pilot shares stories

PERRYSBURG – Lt. Col. Sarah Deal has stories to tell.
The Eastwood graduate and first female pilot in the U.S. Marines came to the Schaller Memorial Building
Tuesday night to relate her experiences while serving in Afghanistan in 2009.
Deal, a reservist, served with her unit, the Marine Heavy Helicopter (HMH) Squadron 772, from May 1
through Thanksgiving of 2009 as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. Piloting CH-53E
Super Stallion heavy lift helicopters, they were part of the Marine Corps’ assault support mission in
the country.
"We were south of the mountains and north is where the heavy, scary stuff was," she explained.
Their base was situated west of Kandahar province and 25 miles north of Marjah, a district in Helmand
province, in the southern part of the country.
"Basically, we carried everything," she said during her Powerpoint presentation, including
soldiers, cargo – food, water, and the mail – Afghan dignitaries, prisoners and soldiers, and even
edibles from Outback Steakhouse . In some instances they would take 60 marines out of an area and bring
in another 60 in the same day. Their vehicles additionally carried bridges and humvees externally. Her
unit was the first to deliver a Howitzer 777 cannon.
"But you name it, we carried it."
They also assisted in tactical recovery of aircraft and troops on two missions, in one case bringing in
soldiers to secure a downed aircraft and in another they were called to a crash where only two people
had survived.
Deal noted that camels and goats were popular livestock among the Afghani people.
"It’s amazing how remote they live," she said, explaining that the people live without
television, lights, or windows in their houses, and may have a bicycle or perhaps a truck in terms of
mechanical transportation.
However, she did not have much opportunity to interact with locals – her squadron was not to leave the
base. However, she said when they did interact, it fell into one of two categories: either the Afghanis
gave them the thumbs-up, or threw rocks.
The temperatures in the region could top 122 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that they were unable to fill
the fuel tanks of their choppers all of the way. There is no air conditioning in the cockpit of those
aircraft, she said, and a thermometer there burned out at 130 degrees. Pilots must wear long sleeves and
gloves even in those conditions because of the danger of fire.
When asked about the war in Afghanistan itself, Deal offered her opinion that marines are concerned about
why they are still in the country; traditionally the force is supposed to be the first one into an area,
and then Army personnel take over.
She opined that at her level, she herself doesn’t understand why forces are still there, as there is
difficulty in getting at top-level Al-Qaida leaders.
Deal feels that little will happen in the country because of the poverty and lack of education there.
Al-Qaida pays the populace better to fight U.S. forces than the U.S. pays them to be farmers.
"TVs and radios need to get to those remote areas" to help show the people a different way, she
said.
"Nothing’s going to happen in there overnight."
A 1987 graduate of Eastwood High School, Deal joined the Marines in 1992 while on break from Kent State
University. According to a biography on the Marine Corps website, Deal graduated from the university
with both a degree in aerospace flight technology and a pilot’s license.
She was interested in being a pilot after finishing Officer Candidates School, but with no female pilot
roles at the time, however, she specialized in Air Traffic Control instead. In 1993, women were allowed
to serve as pilots, and she was awarded her wings in 1995 after training at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

Deal currently lives in St. Joseph, Mich., with her husband and three children.