Day: September 14, 2024

(NewsNation) — The U.S. Army is reviewing and updating how it trains its helicopter pilots after a sharp increase in fatalities in the past year. But another report points to a big shortfall in flight hours as a contributing factor.

Ten soldiers have died in 14 Class A aviation mishaps since October of 2023, well above the average of six fatalities a year since 2011.  A class A mishap is an incident in which someone is killed, or the cost of damaged equipment exceeds $2.5 million.

The Army says its aircrews flew an average of 198 hours last year, a drop of nearly one-third from the average of 302 hours flown in 2011 when the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were winding down.

The Congressional Budget Office says the number of manned aircraft in the Army has declined by 20% in the past 23 years. In 2000, the Army had nearly 5,000 manned aircraft. But last year, the number was about 3,900.

According to The Army Times, changes to pilot training will likely include a look at the types of helicopters soldiers are training with, simulator time and effectiveness and equipment upgrades in some helicopters warrant officers sticking to their technical tasks for longer in their careers.

Warrant officer is a class of rank between enlisted personnel and officers. It is reserved for those who possess highly technical skills, such as helicopter pilots.

The Army aircraft fleet includes four types of helicopters: the Black Hawk, Apache, Chinook and Lakota. The Huron, for passenger transport, is the Army’s lone fixed-wing aircraft.

(NewsNation) — A former New York City police detective who says she worked at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks is now fighting cancer and struggling to prove her service at the site to secure her pension benefits.

Detective Sarah Salerno, speaking exclusively to NewsNation, revealed she is battling triple-negative breast cancer that has affected her lymph nodes.

She still vividly recalls working at Ground Zero more than two decades ago.

“The smell, I can’t explain it,” said Salerno. “The smell that was in the air. We were all going, ‘That’s death.’”

Salerno says she’s been denied her 3/4 disability retirement pension by the NYPD Pension Fund Board of Trustees, which claims there isn’t enough evidence of her service during the critical days following 9/11.

“I’ve been doing this for what, 14 years, proving my existence,” Salerno said, describing her efforts to validate her presence at Ground Zero. She has submitted photographs she took at the site, along with corroborating accounts from colleagues and supervisors.

Salerno was originally found to have vocal cord problems linked to World Trade Center exposure, which qualified her as disabled.

She has filed multiple legal challenges, with courts consistently ruling she hasn’t met the burden of proof for the statutory minimum presence at the site.

“Why do I have to go and prove something that we all know happened? We were there, and we’re all getting sick. Diagnoses are coming,” said Salerno. “What’s going to happen in the next 10 years and all of these other people will start developing other things? What’s going to happen to them, my fellow brothers and sisters? That’s what bothers me.”

Salerno is not alone in her struggle. A lawyer for Officer Kim DiMartini tells NewsNation she’s been denied benefits despite submitting photos, negatives, and even a helmet signed by former President Bill Clinton as proof of her service.

DiMartini was found disabled by the NYPD Pension Fund with PTSD. Her evidence also includes overtime slips, witness affidavits, and a WTC exposure report.

Despite this documentation, DiMartini’s application was denied. Her appeal to the Appellate Division is currently scheduled for the court’s November term.

“What is it going to take for them to wake up and see that we were there and the proof is there?” Salerno questioned.

The NYPD’s apparent loss of its own roll call records from that period has complicated efforts by officers to prove their presence. “The documents that show where people were have disappeared,” Salerno explained.

The denial of benefits has significant financial implications for Salerno, who has had to mortgage her house twice to cover expenses. “Cancer is very expensive,” she said.

Salerno expressed frustration and sadness over the situation, particularly concerning the future of her two children. “I don’t want to leave them with my burdens,” she said.

Despite her struggles, Salerno maintains her commitment to service. “There are so many cops that would just drop everything and do it all over again. And I would do it in a heartbeat,” she said.

NewsNation reached out to the NYPD and the head of the medical division for the NYPD police pension fund Board of Trustees for comment but had not received a response at the time of reporting.

(NewsNation) — It started in a prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua nearly a decade ago. Now, the gang known as “Tren de Aragua” (TDA) has expanded into what the Justice Department calls a “transnational criminal organization” with branches in most of the Western Hemisphere.

TDA figures in more than 100 police investigations around the U.S., including Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin. And, according to reports, its leaders have given members the green light to open fire on U.S. law enforcement.

“This TDA is a very special threat,” said former New York State Homeland Security adviser Michael Balboni. “They’ve created a transnational drug pipeline,” he told NewsNation.

The gang has also been called “MS-13 on steroids,” invoking the name of the notorious gang formed by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

A growing list of TDA-linked crimes

Among its crimes in the U.S. are armed robbery, looting high-end stores and violent clashes with police, including January’s brutal attack on New York City police officers. At least one of the 14 suspects in that attack has ties to TDA.

Another shocking incident that made national headlines was the murder of University of Georgia student Laken Riley. Authorities believe the suspects, two brothers identified as Diego and Jose Ibarra, have ties to TDA.

In Aurora, Colorado gang members have been linked to violent incidents at several apartment complexes. Surveillance video at those dwellings shows some alleged gang members carrying assault rifles. Local police have responded to numerous cases where residents were victims of armed robberies and home invasions.

In El Paso, Texas, authorities uncovered a human smuggling operation where victims were held against their will. The gang is reportedly using hotels as temporary holding centers for victims before moving them across state lines.

“They want to intimidate anybody who works with law enforcement, especially in their own communities. That’s where they prey first because they know that many of them (victims) might not want to go, because of their immigration status, to the police,” Balboni said.

Law enforcement responds

Homeland Security Investigations revealed that TDA members are young men, aged 18 to 25, often wearing high-end streetwear like Chicago Bulls jerseys and Michael Jordan sneakers. They also have distinct tattoos featuring Venezuelan flags or gang symbols, making them easier to spot.

Law enforcement is stepping up its efforts to dismantle the gang. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the group in July, freezing assets and blocking transactions in the U.S.

The State Department has offered a reward of up to $12 million for information leading to the capture of three key leaders who are believed to be orchestrating many of the gang’s operations from Venezuela and elsewhere.