NORTHERN IRAQ -- Staff Sgt. Darryl "Gunny" Joseph leaps into the night of northern Iraq as the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter touches down, the dust from the rotary wash clouding his vision. His mission is simple: set up the landing zone and guide in the aircraft carrying the M777 artillery pieces to the raid site. The process of setting up a landing zone, or sling load area, is not new to him. Back at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Joseph and the Soldiers from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, "Task Force Strike," practiced sling load operations many times before.

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