Seattle man among four killed in Black Hawk crash

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The Army on Friday identified four members of an elite special operations unit killed in a helicopter training accident in Colorado. One of them, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Johnson, 41, was from Seattle.

Others killed in Wednesday's crash were Chief Warrant Officer 4 Terrance Geer, 40, of Casper, Wyo., and Staff Sgts. Paul Jackson, 33, of Lancaster, Md., and Chad Tucker, 28, of Titusville, Fla.

The soldiers were members of the Fort Campbell-based Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, created more than 20 years ago after a failed mission to rescue hostages in Iran.

Army Special Operations Command officials said their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed while conducting mountain and environmental training near Colorado's second-highest summit, Mount Massive.

Each of the highly decorated soldiers had extensive combat experience and had completed the Army's most rigorous schools and training programs.

Their elite aviation unit is home to some of the Army's best helicopter pilots, who focus on getting Special Forces soldiers, Army Rangers and Navy SEALS into some of the most dangerous areas of the world for covert operations.

Using the cover of nightfall and keeping low to the ground to avoid radar detection, the pilots often navigate through enemy territory and bad weather to safely deliver and retrieve soldiers.

Army special forces leaders recognized the need for a highly trained aviation unit after an operation failed to rescue hostages in Iran in 1980 and resulted in two helicopter crashes and eight deaths.

The new team was first called Task Force 160, and it began training its pilots to operate in low-light situations, including using night-vision equipment and infrared devices, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a defense analysis Web site. The soldiers' special capabilities earned them the name Night Stalkers.

In 1993, during fighting in Somalia, two helicopters piloted by Night Stalkers were shot down in Mogadishu. The subsequent rescue was made famous by the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."

The unit has had a large role in Iraq and Afghanistan and has suffered several casualties.

In 2005, eight members of the unit were killed along with eight Navy SEALs after their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade, making it the single deadliest attack on U.S. forces in the country at that time.

More recently, five Night Stalkers were among eight service members killed in February 2007 when a Chinook crashed in southern Afghanistan.

Currently the regiment has four battalions, one based at Fort Lewis, two at Fort Campbell and one at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

They use a variety of helicopters including Black Hawks, Chinooks and AH-6 Little Birds.

Tim Cash, president of the Night Stalkers Association, a nonprofit group that provides scholarships and other support for the unit's soldiers and their families, described its members as "quiet professionals" who wanted their privacy to mourn the fallen soldiers.

Maj. Brandon A. Bissell, a spokesman for the unit at Fort Campbell, said a memorial for the fallen soldiers is planned, but wouldn't discuss further details.