Blackhawk Pilot in Afghanistan Returns Home to Yorktown in Time for Thanksgiving

Movie scenes of soldiers fighting or agents performing top secret operations is what Blackhawk helicopter pilot , of Yorktown, who was deployed to Afghanistan in February, lives with in real life. 

The 2004 and 2008 West Point graduate came home this week just in time for Thanksgiving and will be in the area for two weeks before he returns to Afghanistan for another three months.

Patel, 25, was  and is serving in Operation Enduring Freedom XI-XII. He spent the first four months of his deployment in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, where he served as an executive officer for nearly 100 soldiers.

He was also the vice-mayor of Forward Operating Base Wolverine and led a team of Lithuanians, Romanians, and U.S. Navy Seals tasked with developing infrastructure for the Afghan National Army.

"When you go to the country, you'll see these guys live in mud huts," he said of the soldiers. "They don't have running water, it's kind of crazy. So we kind of give them the infrastructure to give them the training. They're so poor there that they don't have the idea of taking something and taking care of it. If you give them something, they'll basically break it, or they use it and abuse it to the point that it's worthless."

After that, he went on to serve in Kandahar as a UH-60M Blackhawk Helicopter Pilot in an assault flight company conducting battlefield circulation, emergency resupply, aerial reaction force, MEDEVAC, and air assault operations.

"I can't talk specifics about what kind of stuff we do, but it's pretty cool stuff," Patel said. "Almost out of the movies. It's kind of unreal. You don't think about it. You do day and night operations. I don't know how we made it through some of those things."

On May 6 he said they lost "six heroes" after a complex attack by insurgents on an operation they were doing.

"That was a bad day for us and those were guys we were working with basically every day," he said. 

As a platoon leader Patel said he not only has to motivate himself to keep going, but his soldiers as well. The soldiers who are fighting on the ground are risking their lives every day, as part of his job is to help them when they're injured or transport them from one place to the other during a mission.

He said they work 14 hours a day, seven days a week. But missions don't stop, and neither can they. 

"Every so often you get a day off, and just sit in a room, but sitting in a room is not even that fun," he said. "It smells terrible and there are missiles going off all the time, bombs going off all the time, so it's hard to sleep."

Patel said he doesn't get into politics and about why the troops are fighting out there, but he feels America is more secure because of that.  

"We're there because the American voters put leadership that want us there and it's in the country's best interest," he said. "No one really knew what we could accomplish but in my opinion I think America is safer. Some may not agree, I truly think we're safer because you actually go out there and you see guys trying to kill Americans every day. It makes you realize there are people out there who want us dead."

He said he is living history and has done operations he would read about two days later in the news. 

"I realize 'wow' that's not actually what happened, this is what happened, but it's kind of cool to actually be a part of history," he said. 

He credits the soldiers fighting on the ground for their hard work and said he was happy to help them in any way possible. 

"A lot of fast thinking, you have to make a lot of quick decisions," he said. "But you don't really think about it when it's going on. That was the nice thing about being back in America. You don't realize how much time you have to think and how quiet this place is. It's a nice break."

This Thanksgiving is a "big deal" Patel said because he was happy to have some time to relax and see family and friends. 

"You appreciate everything," he said. "You appreciate having a bathroom next to you, you appreciate not being hot all day or night, you appreciate good family and friends. Everything is just sweeter."

Patel said that although the job takes a big toll --- even when they come home for a year, they still go through intense training --- it is worth it.

"It's a pretty awesome job, I couldn't ask for a better thing to do," he said. "You're out there making a difference, helping these guys when they need help."

Patel said he sees the world with different eyes. 

"I'm still kind of young, I don't think I've seen the world, but I have seen the world in some aspects. It's kind of crazy being out there. You'll see some of the best things, the people being so selfless and you're seeing some of the most evil people out there."

Patel said he always wanted to serve, and had done community service as a kid both with the boy scouts and as a volunteer with the Somers Fire Department and the Yorktown Fire Department Ambulance Corps. He said he also followed in his sister's footsteps about going to West Point. 

Amy Patel-Dashel and her husband Michael Dashel, both West Point graduates -- did two tours one in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After serving in Afghanistan, Patel is scheduled to redeploy back to his base at Ft. Campbell, KY in February 2012.

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