Howitzers fly over Fort Pickett during sling load operations - April 11, 2015

Virginia National Guard Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conduct sling load operations with their M119 howitzers April 11, 2015, at Fort Pickett, Va., with aviation crews of 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment. The event took months of planning and practice for the field artillerymen. For each iteration, the field artillerymen loaded onto the Uh-60 Black Hawk helicopter before ground crews linked the howitzer to the helicopter. After that, they flew across Fort Pickett, unlinked the howitzer and unloaded the gun crews who conducted crew drills once back on the ground.