Serving as the air boss aboard the amphibious transport ship U.S.S. Trenton - part of a three-ship amphibious ready group operating in 2002 off the Horn of Africa in the Arabian Sea - Lieutenant Commander Douglas Helton participated in extensive training exercises with the Marine Expeditionary Unit and with regional countries, including Djibouti and Oman. These exercises included practicing maritime and leadership interdiction operations, as well as amphibious landings, during which Helton ran the flight deck, oversaw the Trenton's CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter detachment, and in so doing, qualified as an officer of the deck. For his second deployment, this time in direct support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from September 2003 to April 2004, Helton was based in Bahrain and in charge of another Sea King detachment - nicknamed the Desert Delta - that provided logistics support to coalition ships in the Arabian Gulf. Other principal missions were to maintain security of oil platforms and be available 24/7 for any search and rescue missions that may have arisen.

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