Hello and welcome to my personal page dedicated to the U.S. Army's OV-1D Mohawk, and my experiences as a Mohawk T.O. (Technical Observer).
Visitors since 5/97:
By: Thomas D. Hart
The OV-1D Mohawk is a tactical surveillance aircraft. Recently (1996) retired from service by the US Army, it was used in various configurations for varied missions. Used primarily in it's later years as a platform for the AN-APS 94F Side-Looking Airborne Radar System, it could also be configured as a Photo Surveillance platform, and a look down infra-red surveillance platform.
With the Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR)The Mohawk performed offset radar mapping and provided moving target indications (MTI) of objects on the ground. The Photo system consisted of one forward and one down looking panoramic camera, as well as one selectable focal length camera that could be slewed oblique left and right as well as straight down. The infra-red platform is as it's name suggests, a look down variant of other IR platforms that are used in the Forward-Looking Mode (FLIR). The IR system of the Mohawk, by the time I started flying in it in 1985 was fairly obsolete, and as such, I only flew a few missions using this system and then only in training. The operation of all of these sytems was the responsibility of the T.O.
I always said that the job of Mohawk T.O. (96H) was the best job an enlisted man in the Army could have. It was a lot of fun (provided no one was shooting at you). We were a pretty tight knit community of approximately 120 persons - Armywide (when I got out). Usually comprised of one company in a Military Intelligence (Aerial Exploitation) Battalion, we all got along pretty well.
I enlisted in the late summer of 1984, just after the Olympic Games here in Los Angeles. I went to basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC. After completing BT, I was sent to Ft. Rucker, AL for ejection seat and Altitude chamber (with rapid decompression) training. After about 2 weeks there, I was sent for the actual aircraft systems training at Ft. Huachuca in southern AZ. There, we went through the inertial navigation system, then photo, then SLAR, then IR systems before being sent to our duty stations. In my case, Hunter Army Airfield, in Savannah GA (part of Ft. Stewart) and the 224th MI Bn (AE). After going TDY (temporary duty) to Honduras a few times, I was sent for three months to the 3rd MI Bn (AE) at Camp Humphreys in Korea, to participate in the annual team spirit excercises. While there, I was advised by my unit in GA that I had rec'd orders for Korea and that I shoud return to outprocess and then go back to Korea. I finished my Army service in Korea and arrived back in Sunny Southern California in the early summer of 1987.
You'll find some links here for other sites related to Mohawks if you want to know more about this fabulous airplane, follow the links...There is more there than you'll ever want to know!
Click on the Images for the fullsize version....
Me...About to embark on an RV-1 (zzzzzz) mission.
Mohawk with War Gear..Before the AF made us Hide it ;-) (Vietnam Era)
The cockpit in flight..
The T.O.'s 1987...This airplane now sits on a pedestal at Camp Humphreys. I am in the foreground left (Camouflage)