As the Black Hawk helicopter flew closer to Warsaw Community High School Tuesday afternoon, the sound of its blades grew louder and louder.
Students and staff took photos and videos of the landing as the wind created by the whirling blades whipped up the air.
Members of the U.S. Army National Guard flew the Black Hawk to the Warsaw school as part of the WCHS Ranger Club’s last meeting of the school year. The co-pilot was 1997 WCHS graduate and Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arturo Garcia.
Principal Troy Akers said National Guard Sgt. Dan Murphy is one of many recruiters here in Warsaw. He and guidance counselor Pamela Rozelle formed the Ranger Club.
“It’s our first attempt to start a ROTC program at Warsaw Schools,” Akers said. Right now, however, all military branches have their ROTC programs on hold, but it is Warsaw’s intent to eventually have a ROTC program.
Rozelle said the Ranger Club is a club that she and Murphy started to bring a program to Warsaw that incorporates many of the military values, leadership, morale and physical training.
The club started about two months ago, she said. The Black Hawk was brought in so the students could see that the military was not just running and other physical activity, but a lot of different jobs and missions were available through the military. She said the program works a lot with the National Guard.
“We want to encourage them to be the best that they can be,” Rozelle said of the students.
Another awesome aspect of the Black Hawk being flown in, she said, is that it was co-piloted by a former WCHS student.
The Ranger Club is an open club with 35 to 40 members. While it does accept anyone, it does have rules that members must follow. Members must participate to their full ability, treat all other members as family and be formal when addressing someone, like “yes, Sir,” or “yes, Ma’am.”
The club meets at 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday. When they get together, Rozelle said, they do physical training, paintball, rockwall, drill instruction, combative training, learning military history and etiquette and will run a 5K together in June. Also upcoming, she said they plan to do the Marine Mud Run in Mishawaka in September, get CPR training and receive compass training.
One reason Rozelle wanted to create the Ranger Club was because she was active duty Air Force for five years.
“Since I was raised in the military and was in the military, I saw a significant need to bring a military program to the school. Sgt. Murphy stepped up and helped me with it. It’s amazing to see all the kids respond to the training, learn respect and these moral values,” Rozelle said. “We hope to see it grow and become part of the whole school, including respect, commitment, honor and loyalty. Values the military embraces. Everyone needs these values.”
Members in the Ranger Club are broken into squads of five to six individuals. Each squad has a designated squad leader who is in charge of his or her squad.
“We want to accept all people, and be like a disease that spreads, we want all people to incorporate these values, throughout the whole school,” Rozelle said.
Garcia spoke to students during the last period of the day, and then later to the Ranger Club after school.
Garcia told students the helicopter could transport personnel, equipment and medical supplies. The particular configuration of the Black Hawk at the high school Tuesday, he said, was used to transport men to battle. It can carry a total of 15 people.
He talked about all the testing, interviews and training it took to become a pilot of a Black Hawk. While Garcia has been in the military for 15 years, he’s only been flying for the past three. It’s only been the last 1-1/2 years that he’s flown the Black Hawk.
Garcia said he sees the value of having the Ranger Club at WCHS.
“If there had been a Ranger Club when I was in high school, I would have had a much earlier interest in the military and even gone to ROTC before the military,” Garcia said. “It opens you up to new training and experiences while in the military. I hope this display opens students up to new ideas and opportunities.”
Pilot and National Guard Captain Scott Oden said the helicopter was a UH-60 L Black Hawk, built by Sikorsky. It’s 60 feet long. A 1988 model, he said it costs $14 to $16 million. A full crew is four people, including two pilots and two in the back.
During the Ranger Club meeting, Murphy presented Rozelle with a flag for supporting the National Guard and the Ranger Club.
She said she was truly honored and didn’t feel “worthy” to receive a flag. She told the students she hoped they take the military values they learn in the club with them whether they go into the service, college or the job force.
