SUNBURY — A local graduate took part in a September military operation to retrieve a downed Black Hawk helicopter and was able to see his brother — also in the military — while doing so.
Micah Hallman, a staff sergeant with the U.S. Air Force and 2004 graduate of Sunbury Christian Academy, is currently on a six-month deployment to Southeast Asia, said his wife, Tysha Hallman, a 2003 graduate of Sunbury Christian Academy. Micah Hallman is a joint inspector, dealing with cargo shipments.
In September, he was “forward deployed” to Afghanistan on a mission to rescue a Black Hawk helicopter which was damaged upon landing near a base in Chakhcharan, central Afghanistan.
“It touched down too hard and they wanted to make sure that it was able to be moved,” Tysha Hallman said. “The area wasn’t very secure so they didn’t want to leave it there.”
Deployed out of Pope Air Field in N.C., he was part of the team which safely orchestrated the transport of the Black Hawk to another base for repairs, according to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s website. his squadron, the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, is part of the 379th.
This was the first forward deployment for Micah in four six-month deployments, Tysha Hallman said. While any deployment is stressful, this particular mission was hard, she said.
“When he was gone there was no way for us to communicate,” she said. “It’s a very uneasy feeling not knowing what’s going on.”
One upside to the mission is that he was able to meet up with his brother, Army Staff Sgt. Nathan Hallman, a 1997 graduate of Sunbury Christian Academy, who has been deployed with the Army Corps of Engineers at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan since last December, Tysha Hallman said.
The two brothers hadn’t seen each other in about a year and were able to meet up when Micah Hallman traveled through Kandahar on his way through southern Afghanistan.
“The reward of not only getting our mission accomplished at Chakhcharan, but to spend time with my brother was worth the risk,” Micah Hallman said in an article posted on the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s website. “This was a great mission and I’m glad I was a part of it.”
Micah Hallman “loves his job” and finds great satisfaction in serving his country, Tysha Hallman said. The couple married in 2006 and have two sons, Cael, 4, and Chase, 6.
“He loves what he does,” she said. “He always wanted to join the military.”
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