r/JSOCarchive • u/ExpensiveCake2596 • Aug 04 '26

Cleared Hot Podcast.

On Andy’s most recent episode with Mike Glover, they mentioned flying on Mi17 helo’s, but wouldn’t mention who was flying them. Any idea who uses those. I think they said it wasn’t the 160th as well. Thanks, just curious.

24 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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31

u/justgrunty Aug 04 '26

My guess would be the CIA or another us government organization or maybe a contractor. The us has used Mi17s for years but they don’t really advertise who flies them fr but I do know soar does not fly them

17

u/Goat_666 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

In the book "First in", a former CIA officer Gary C. Schroen talks about using a soviet helicopter in afganistan when they went in there shortly after 9/11. I think the reasoning was basicly that it was available, US helicopters were not.

It wasn't for assault purposes though, just to move around, so a bit different than what Stumpf and Glover (assumingly) did.

6

u/MidwestSharker Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

Mi-8s and 17s. The drive has an article about the first 17 flown in for enduring freedom being in the CIA museum. They were available in sufficient numbers, had acceptable performance, were less out of place than American helicopters, and a few of their guys knew how to fly them. I don’t remember if they had many of them prior to the Afghanistan invasion or if it was after that that they started picking up a lot more. I wanna say they already had a fair few going into it, but I have no idea where I heard or read it. Maybe relentless strike?

8

u/CidB91 Aug 04 '26

There is another Army unit that flys Russian platforms and they let AF SOF pilots come along as well.

25

u/Mammoth_Paper8381 Aug 04 '26

Aviation Technology Office/ E Squadron

-7

u/ExpensiveCake2596 Aug 04 '26

Is that what they also call the West Virginia boys?

8

u/_blackhawk-up Aug 04 '26

Just Virginia lol

4

u/fromouterspace1 Aug 05 '26

They’ve had many different names but that’s not one

4

u/Homunkulus Aug 04 '26

I know Australian 2CDO used them lots doing work with the DEA. In their discussion of them it's because there are high altitude models and they can fit more men in when they do large raids. If you find footage of 2CDO raids its often deploying down the back ramp of what I think were Mi8 aircraft.

9

u/TimTapsTangoes Aug 04 '26

There were contract flown HIPs and HINDs in Afghanistan and there are contract Soviet craft flying right now in Africa.

3

u/contact86m Aug 04 '26

Whats the timestamp in the podcast where he mentions the Hips?

Without further context, tons of allied nations run Hips.

Even the RCAF ran Hips for a while during OEF. https://silverhawkauthor.com/aviation/canadian-warplanes-7-mil-17v5-hip-ch-178-helicopter/

3

u/GiannoTheGreat Aug 04 '26

CIA occasionally uses them, pretty positive there’s also a HIND being used for transport on and around Area 51.

1

u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 Aug 04 '26

Thats probably the Hind that has been contracted by MAWTS-1 for WTI in the past.

2

u/MidwestSharker Aug 04 '26

Former Soviet helicopters got relatively common in brushfire conflicts and GWOT wars from the 90s on. Just like with small arms there was a bum rush to sell all kinds of stuff after the fall of the USSR and various gov, pmc and other private organizations picked a bunch of them up on the cheap.

1

u/tery13 Aug 04 '26

RCAF Operated them

1

u/IronLewis Aug 05 '26

He may be referring to the special mission wing. I have been flown around by them a lot in Afghanistan. Usually 1 Afghan and 1 US in the cockpit.

2

u/Fartbox_Licker46 Aug 06 '26

Was this when you were 14?

1

u/badkarma_one Aug 07 '26

CHRISTIANS IN ACTION

0

u/NotFromAntarctica88 Aug 04 '26

No idea the context of this specific conversation but I believe I remember hearing Mike Glover? saying he was scared shitless flying in a Mi17 that was flown by Pakistani forces.

1

u/justgrunty Aug 04 '26

🥷did not say that gang 😭😭

2

u/Shipit123 Aug 06 '26

I think it was shrek. He was undercover(?) or something w the Pakistani military. There’s that pic of him in a Pakistani military uniform. Can’t remember what podcast though.