Maj Lou Albano served attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and 26th MEU as a Ch53 pilot in Bagram and Kandahar, Afghanistan during 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). In the first of two January 2009 interviews, Maj Albano discusses the austere conditions at Bagram, the difficulties the weather posed for operation and maintenance of the aircraft, and the importance of the missions he was flying on this deployment. Maj Albano observes, "On the aviation side planning is everything. Everything you do on the tactical level -- the terrain, weather, weight, and power calculations -- were so meticulous and so necessary. A lot of those missions were really at the very limit of what the helicopter could do and planning was the difference between whether you did the mission or didn't do the mission. I think I gained a very great respect for the level of planning that was involved."

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