PHILADELPHIA (July 26, 2010) — The 100th F Model Chinook rolled out of the Boeing facility during a ceremony commemorating the milestone and the Army’s acceptance of the aircraft at the Boeing plant in Philadelphia, Pa., July 22.More than 2,500 Boeing employees gathered inside the flight deck hangar to join in the commemoration.

Lt. Gen. Williams Phillips, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology credited the Chinook for its reliability in air assault, transport and support operations.

“It has an incredible capability,” Phillips said, adding that the F model is not the Chinook he knew and flew before.

Phillips said the important reason behind the success of the CH-47F is the people, the employees who make it their career to provide the Army with the world’s best medium/heavy lift helicopter.

“There’s a heritage within this plant, which is extraordinary,” said Phillips. He remarked about the generations of workers who have passed their experience and expertise to new employees working on the CH-47F. Some workers have been working on Chinooks since its inception in the 1950s. He credited their hard work and dedication for the aircraft’s reliability in air assault, transportation and support operations.

Col. Bob Marion, project manager for cargo helicopters, said he was impressed with the working relationship he has seen in Team Chinook. About 350,000 parts make up the CH-47F Chinook, he said, “but they’re just parts until the people make it into a CH-47F.”

Brig. Gen. Tim Crosby, program executive officer for aviation, told the employees that they are the faceless heroes behind the success of Soldiers in combat. “They don’t know who you are, but they have the confidence to face hell,” said Crosby. “They love you, even though they don’t know you. Be proud of that.”

The CH-47F features a newly designed, modernized airframe; Common Avionics Architecture System, or CAAS cockpit; and Digital Automatic Flight Control System, called DAFCS. The CAAS greatly improves aircrew situational awareness, and DAFCS provides dramatically improved flight-control capabilities through the entire flight envelope, significantly improved performance, and safety in the harshest of environments.

The first CH-47F model with a Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System cockpit and a Digital Automatic Flight Control system, as well as a new airframe, was certified as combat-ready in 2007. CAAS also incorporates an advanced digital map display and a data-transfer system that allows storing of preflight and mission data. Improved survivability features include the Common Missile Warning and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser systems.

During his remarks, Phillips referred to the National Geographic Movie, “Restrepo”, named after Pfc. Juan Restrepo. The feature-length documentary chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, a place where some of the harshest fighting in Afghanistan took place, said Phillips. He said that within the documentary there are scenes where Chinook helicopters are bringing supplies such as food, water, and ammunition to COP Restrepo.

“The Chinook provides a lifeline to our Soldiers,” said Phillips. “There are Soldiers who are alive today because of the dedication of this team.”

Phillips added that of 2,600 missions, less than 2 percent have required a replacement craft to complete a mission. Readiness rates in theater exceed 80 percent, and mission-failure rates are almost zero. The current rotation has flown more than 20,400 flight hours and more than 2,600 missions.

Since the completion of the first CH-47F Chinook in August 2006, six U.S. Army units have been trained and equipped and the seventh unit is due early next year.

Five units have completed deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the helicopter logged nearly 50,000 flight hours and maintained an operational readiness rate over 80 percent conducting air assault, transport and support operations.

Plans are underway at Boeing to implement a $130-million renovation that will enable the Ridley Township factory to gradually increase production levels from the current four aircraft per month to a new rate of six aircraft per month in 2012.

Crosby said that it seemed like yesterday when he was then product manager, then project manager for the CH-47F when Team Chinook argued about wiring, diagrams and schedules. He commented about how far they have come since the idea days.

“Because of this team, the Army has a brand new airframe,” Crosby said. “Be proud of everything that you do for the Army.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (Army News Service) — The Army made a dent in the medal board at the 2010 U.S. National Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., July 17, placing three winners.U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program boxer Spc. Jeffrey Spencer won a gold medal and teammates Sgt. John Franklin and Spc. Carrie Barry struck bronze.

The Saturday night finals inside the ballroom of the Crown Plaza Hotel opened with a 10-count salute to the late George Steinbrenner for his support of the U.S. Olympic Committee and Team USA athletes. The mood quickly turned upbeat as Outkast’s “Hey Ya” blared through the speakers, signaling that America’s best amateur boxers were ready to rumble.

Four hours later, Army supporters from nearby Fort Carson had reason to celebrate.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a national champ so it’s a good feeling again, that’s for sure,” WCAP head boxing coach Basheer Abdullah said. “We should have placed one, two and three.”

Spencer, 28, dedicated his 10-9 victory over Robert Brant in the light-middleweight finale to his late grandfather, a former Marine Corps boxer and youth boxing coach who died of a sudden heart attack last New Year’s Day. Spencer was visiting his mother in Texas for the holidays when his grandfather dropped to the floor.

“My mother called 911 and I was trying to do CPR on him and revive him,” Spencer said. “My grandfather was the whole reason I started boxing. That was his dream, for me to become a champion. If he was here, he would say he’s proud of me - and keep my hands up.”

An avid basketball player, Spencer began boxing at age 18 when someone saw him win a brawl at the Atterbury Job Corps Center and suggested that he climb between the ropes.

“When I went back home to Gary, Indiana, I told my grandfather, ‘I want to box now.’ And he said, ‘Alright, we’re going to take you to the gym and we’ll see how you do,’” Spencer said. “When he saw what I could do, he said I had a natural talent for it, and I went from there. I’ve been boxing ever since. It was his dream for me to be a national champion and an Olympian, and I’m going for that. Anything that gets in my way, I’m barreling over it.”

After winning a couple of brawls in his first two bouts on Monday and Wednesday, Spencer relied on his “quick hands and slickness” for the rest of the tournament.

“My speed is my biggest gift,” he said. “Speed first and power second.”

Spencer was invited from Fort Hood, Texas, to join the Army’s elite boxers in the World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson. Andrew Maynard, a former Army boxer who won the light-heavyweight Olympic gold medal at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, climbed into the ring to hang the hardware around Spencer’s neck.

Franklin, 26, won the bronze medal when the referee stopped his lightweight contest against power puncher Adam Lopez of San Antonio. Franklin broke a 10-10 tie by dropping Lopez with a straight right hand in the third round.

“I thought I went up one [point] or maybe I tied it up,” Franklin said. “He caught me with a hook and I came back up and tried to go to the body with a straight right hand and ‘bam.’ All I know is he caught me first with a hook, and I was like, ‘Aw, he just got a point.’ So I just came back as hard as I could with the right hand and it connected right on the chin and put him down.”

True knockouts are rare in the 114-kilogram amateur ranks. Franklin can recall posting only seven KOs in his 108 bouts, 89 of which he won.

“You don’t see too many knockouts in that weight class unless it’s Rau’shee Warren,” Abdullah said of the four-time national champion who is attempting to become the first three-time Olympic boxer in U.S. history.

In the semifinals one day earlier, Franklin was leading by two points when he was stopped by a strong right overhand from Miguel Cartagena, the 2009 national light flyweight champion from Philadelphia. Franklin was floored by the punch and quickly bounced to his feet, but his legs were wobbly and the referee stopped the contest, much to the dismay of Franklin, Abdullah and an Army partisan crowd at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

“That was a heartbreaker,” Abdullah said.

“He didn’t hurt me the whole fight,” Franklin said. “I was dominating him. I didn’t even see the punch. He hit me on the top of the head, right above the headgear, and that was the only punch I felt from him all night.”

Franklin thought the referee should have stopped the fight when he staggered to his feet, if at all — but not after he jumped up and down and said he was ready to resume boxing.

“You’ve got to let the elite guys go with what they know,” Franklin said. “If this was the first day of the tournament, I could definitely understand, but we’re going for the gold medal — you’ve got to let it go sometimes.”

One day later, Franklin regrouped and fought for third place.

Barry, 29, holder of nine national crowns, had all but retired from the ring and was taking up the triathlon when it was announced that women’s boxing would debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. After taking a one-year hiatus from the ring, she returned in Colorado Springs and lost 16-9 to eventual national champ Queen Underwood of Seattle in the 132-kilogram semifinals.

“After a year off and having limited time to train for this competition, I was really happy with my performance this week,” Barry said. “All of the rounds I felt really good. She caught me with a nice clean shot in that first round and I was able to recover. I caught her with some good shots. In the end, she got me with more than I got her.”

Barry already has captained U.S. national teams in numerous international competitions. She joined the Army to pursue her Olympic dream.

“I was ready to start coaching,” she said. “Flip around and give back to the sport that’s given me so much. The moment I found out about the Olympics, the first person I called was coach Abdullah. … Coming into the military was a big choice. … Now I’ve just got that one last goal of being an Olympian.”