OperationHog
Many D.O.M. readers come from a military background. They worked as aircraft mechanics, avionics technicians and other aviation specialties in the military and used the technical knowledge they acquired, along with the leadership and teamwork skills they were taught, to build successful careers in aviation after they left the military. Many of the DOMs and maintenance managers we have profiled as cover stories have had military experience that they said was a valuable key to their career success.
Such is the case with Jet Aviation St. Louis. Many employees in the company’s 800-plus workforce honed their skills while serving in the military, and they work in hangars that proudly display huge American flags.
Jet Aviation St. Louis’ senior vice president and general manager Chuck Krugh is an Army veteran who proudly honors the service of all veterans of the armed forces. He had an idea — what if Jet Aviation St. Louis could do something spectacular to give back to a military veteran?
He conceived the idea of having a team of volunteers from the company use their aircraft maintenance skills to design and create a one of a kind custom motorcycle that the company could present to a military veteran. That was the start of what would be dubbed “Operation Hog.”
Before the team could begin work on the motorcycle, they needed to select who would be receiving the motorcycle so that could create customizations unique to the individual. Former U.S. Army Specialist Chad Hembree, decorated for his service during Operation Bulldog Bite, was chosen as the recipient of the custom motorcycle through a lengthy selection process involving Operation Homefront and the Wounded Warrior Project in cooperation with Jet Aviation St. Louis. He became the clear choice when he said riding such a motorcycle in the Patriot Guard would be an honor for him, especially if Jet Aviation could meet his request that the motorcycle primarily honor his comrades who died in action.
Chad Hembree’s Story - Hell came down on top of us.”
Chad Hembree, then 19 and a gun-team leader, had seen combat before Operation Bulldog Bite began on Nov. 12, 2010. But he and the other 39 men of the 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, had never seen anything like what they encountered as they swept Taliban fighters out of a series of small villages. Hembree’s description speaks volumes in a few words: “Hell came down on top of us.”
The operation was planned as a 24-to-72 hour mission with Hembree’s 40-man platoon as the “spear tip” of the operation, supported by another 60 soldiers from Combat Outpost Honaker-Miracle. It became five days of brutal fighting, often while ambushed, outnumbered and protected by little cover on the rocky mountainsides. Friends were killed in action or wounded. Hembree was knocked unconscious twice by rocket-propelled grenades that exploded almost on top of him. At one point, he resigned himself to the likelihood that he would not leave the mountain alive. As officers were wounded, Hembree found himself in command of more men than usual, a responsibility that left him sleepless and standing guard for several nights while the rest of 1st Platoon tried to get some rest.
Amid the fiercest fighting, Hembree’s unit took cover in a small hut where the men gathered around and wept as one of their comrades died slowly from a head wound. The fighting continued for hours. But as the sun rose the next day, Hembree’s guard duty was interrupted by the approach of a welcome sight – a unit of Army Rangers, Special Forces, Navy Seals and commandos from the Afghanistan Nation Security forces that had fought its way through the valley to rescue 1st Platoon and Alpha Company.
Seven American soldiers died in the fighting and 30 more were wounded. Of the 40 men in 1st Platoon, only Hembree and 12 others were able to walk off the mountain. Official estimates placed the Taliban casualties between 52 and 150 killed in what the Army considered a successful mission that “had broken the morale of the Taliban.”
Hembree received the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device for his bravery. He saw additional combat before he left Afghanistan in May 2011. He still carries physical and mental reminders of his combat experiences. Preparing to marry his longtime fiancé while in Las Vegas for the presentation, Hembree now focuses on building a good life for himself and his family.
For a detailed story of Chad Hembree and Operation Bulldog Bite including photos, visit DOMmagazine.com/chad_hembree.
Operation Hog
Jet Aviation St. Louis was supported by several vendors or sponsors who donated materials for the project – especially the owners of Gateway Harley-Davidson Motorcycles in St. Louis, who provided the bike and many accessories to Jet Aviation at special prices. The customization of the motorcycle brought together many of the aviation disciplines that help create remarkable aircraft for Jet Aviation’s customers at its large facility at St. Louis Downtown Airport. But Operation Hog quickly became something more than a new project. When Gateway Harley-Davidson first rolled the stock bike into Jet Aviation’s hangar, they were met by a roar of cheers and applause from the Jet Aviation St. Louis volunteers and supporters. Seeing the bike they were about to customize for the first time seemed to unite the team behind a truly worthy cause.
“Nothing was more important to this team than honoring Hembree’s service and the sacrifices of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan — and by members of the armed forces everywhere,” Krugh says. “Volunteering more hours and more effort than we could have imagined, this team has built something really remarkable by any standard. While we’re proud to be able to apply the abilities and talents we bring to Jet Aviation’s work every day, we’re especially proud to be able to apply them to honor Hembree, his comrades and all of the armed forces. That’s what this entire effort is all about.”
The Presentation
At 11 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 22 – an hour after the doors first opened for the 2013 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Las Vegas – the cover was pulled off the Harley-Davidson motorcycle that the Jet Aviation St. Louis team had custom built for Hembree. Unlike any other customized motorcycle those in attendance had ever seen, this one was a remarkable rolling account of the heroic service of a young soldier from Missouri during five days of fierce fighting on a mountainside in Afghanistan in November 2010.
Standing on the Jet Aviation stage at NBAA that morning, Hembree for the first time saw the motorcycle that the team of technicians at Jet Aviation St. Louis spent hundreds of hours creating to honor him and seven fellow soldiers who died in the rugged Pech Valley in Kunar Province in northwestern Afghanistan during Operation Bulldog Bite. Not a dry eye could be seen in the crowd as Hembrook’s story was told and he was presented with the motorcycle.
Hembree had known for months that he would receive the customized Harley-Davidson Street Bob to honor his service. But he had no idea what to expect from this effort that applied the most technical specialties at Jet Aviation St. Louis – engineering, metal working, painting, upholstery, avionics, mechanics, and electronics – to a motorcycle. What he found was a stunning bike that combines unique versions of military insignia, badges and patches with interpretations of the symbols of those five harrowing days as Hembree described them to Jet Aviation. Front and center, as Hembree requested as his first priority, were the names of his fallen comrades – in a haunting design on the tank.
The motorcycle and the presentation to Hembree were the centerpiece of the company’s booth at NBAA and the focus of a high-level client celebration. Dan Clare, president of the Jet Aviation Group, took the time to participate in the presentation.
On the large screen at the booth – behind the center-stage display of the motorcycle – a video told the story of how the designers, engineers and craftsmen transformed a stock Harley-Davidson into a one-of-a-kind homage to Hembree’s courage and service. An adjacent kiosk provided an account of Hembree’s experiences in words and photographs.
We asked some of the Operation Hog volunteers what it meant to them to be a part of this special project. Here Is their feedback:
Charlie Wittman (Senior Manager, C20 Program, Gulfstream, and Operation Hog Project Manager)
“This project meant so much to me because, as a veteran, I’ve seen so many veterans in the past not get the level of appreciation they deserve. Doing this project allowed me to personally contribute something special to our veterans’ community. Professionally, this project allowed us to demonstrate our special abilities to a segment of the population that doesn’t normally get to see the kind of detailed work we do, the attention to detail we do in our work on a daily basis.”
John Morales (Supervisor, Sheet Metal)
“Bringing everyone together to put their craftsmanship to work for something with such a special meaning behind it was a great experience. We make thousands of parts a year to produce really beautiful aircraft, but to be able do this was such a different experience. That’s our art. It’s what we love to do and this was something really special.”
Tommi Krell (Manager, Marketing)
“Being part of this project from the first idea to the presentation to our Wounded Warrior in Las Vegas has been an absolutely amazing experience. The way this team came together, from the guys on the floor to the leadership team, to make sure we built such a remarkable and meaningful motorcycle for Chad, has been a marvel to watch. And it’s been so rewarding for all of us, not just because of Chad’s reaction, but because of the way the motorcycle and the whole idea has resonated with our customers.”
Tom Braun (Sheet Metal Technician Senior)
“I loved the custom touches we did – the military coins we set into the frame, the Arch we custom-built for the sissy bar, the custom heat shields on the exhaust pipes. It was really out of the ordinary. But we treated the work like we do for everything else we build. We want it to be perfect for the customer. It was great to get all the different departments in the same room working together.”
Operation Hog Motorcycle Customizations
Front Wheel
• Custom right and left axle-nut covers with Army lapel pins
• Red Pinstripe on wheel
• Custom painted front fender:
– Ghost U.S. flag
– Army shield
• Custom Jet Aviation brake caliper placard
Front Fork
• Custom paint
• “All Gave Some, Some Gave All” slogan above and below headlight
• Installed Army lapel pins on top of left and right fork shafts
Handle Bars
• Custom, one-of-a-kind handle bar clamp
• Mold-poured, machined, polished, chromed and inlaid with Army rifleman insignia
• Custom perforated hand grips with Army lapel pin inserts
• Replaced OEM turn signals and mirrors with all-in-one mirror/turn signals
Forward Frame
• Relocated horn to lower frame under voltage regulator
• Installed forward controls
Fuel Tank
• Raised fuel tank 2 inches with custom-built tank extension
• Installed flush-mounted fuel cap and fuel gauge
• Custom carbon fiber gauge console
• Tank modification to reduce size of gauge console
• Custom paint:
– “Screaming Eagle” design on each side
– Ghost U.S. flag and dog tags of fallen brothers
Right Side of Engine
• Custom-built air breather with Army star design
• Custom points cover with Army unit challenge coin
• Installed Vance & Hines exhaust pipes
• Custom exhaust pipe guards
• Left Side of Engine
• Relocation of ignition coils to center of cylinders
• Relocation of ignition switch from tank console to left side of engine with engraving
• Custom shift linkage engraved with “Spc Hembree”
• Custom dedication placard on primary case
• Custom derby cover in POW/MIA design • Installed “eagle’s claw” kickstand
Right Hand Center Section
• Custom-upholstered and fitted leather driver and passenger seats
• Custom “Operation Bulldog Bite” battery cover with map of Afghanistan
• Installed left and right progressive shocks
Left Hand Center Section
• Custom electronics cover with photograph of Army unit after mission
Rear Wheel Area
• Custom Jet Aviation brake caliper placard
• Right and left custom axle-nut covers with Army lapel pins
• Red pinstripe on wheel
• Custom-built sissy bar in shape of Gateway Arch with lighted windows
• Custom-upholstered and fitted leather passenger seat with backrest in Arch shape fitted into sissy bar
• Installed passenger front pegs
• Custom-painted fender
• Ghost U.S. flag
• Ghost helmet/rifle/boots symbol
• Custom LED tail light in unit patch shape and custom sequential turn signals cut into fender
• Custom Jet Aviation license plate bracket
• Custom quick-disconnect saddle-bag hardware