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Captain from Medford helps secure the sky He commands an aviation battalion that patrols above Washington, D.C. By MELISSA MARTIN When Blackhawk pilot Brad Bowman swooped down on the Pentagon Sept. 11 with a Department of Defense official in the passenger seat, he couldn't find the battalion's helipad. That's because the hijacked jetliner that crashed into the Pentagon and killed 189 people destroyed the Army helicopter landing pad. "We flew through a giant plume of smoke looking for a place to land," said Bowman, a 1991 graduate of South Medford High School. "We finally landed in a traffic circle on Highway 395." Life has been like a war zone for the U.S. Army captain who commands the 30-person Charlie Company 12th Aviation Battalion stationed at Fort Belvoir, Va. Until recently, the pilot's main job was transporting Department of Defense officials, members of Congress or foreign dignitaries around Washington, D.C., in the shiniest of the nine Blackhawks under Bowman's command. But after the terrorist attacks, Bowman's battalion has turned to war-zone duties - transporting the nation's key leaders to safe hiding places and policing Washington, D.C., skies. On the night of Sept. 11, he flew Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to the Pentagon. "When he stepped out of the helicopter, he gave me a thumbs up and walked into the gaping hole of the Pentagon," Bowman said. "That's one of the sights I'll never forget." The week of the attack - when all nonmilitary air traffic was grounded - Bowman and his battalion skimmed rooftops and trees over Washington, D.C., keeping a sharp eye out. "Normally we don't fly that low so we won't scare people out of their minds, but that week we were instructed to stay below 1,000 feet," Bowman said. "Everywhere we went, parking lots, streets and supermarkets were empty. In every house, we could see a light in the family room and everyone huddled together and gathered around the television with their families." During one mission, a fighter jet swooped down within three feet of the Blackhawk, before hitting its afterburner and speeding away. "That got our blood going," Bowman said. A 1995 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Bowman was chosen to fly the Blackhawk, the Army's most sophisticated helicopter. He honed his skills in Hawaii, leading a platoon that learned how to intercept and jam enemy radio communications. While his friends were sent off to Bosnia, Jordan or Kosovo, Bowman's next assignment was to a more peaceful mission - guarding the Pentagon. "It ended up being a war zone," he said. One of his battalion pilots watched the terrorist-controlled commercial jet hit the Pentagon. So did an operator from the helicopter control tower. Since the attacks, life has changed for Bowman and his wife, Toni, an accountant who graduated from Crater High School in Central Point in 1990. They have a 19-month-old daughter, Alexandra. His parents are Lauren and Ann Bowman of Medford. "I get the mail with a rubber glove on now," Bowman said. "The world has changed. But we have to find a balance between being cautious and being paranoid." The changes haven't stopped relatives from coming to visit. His uncle, Dale Meador, the pastor of Bear Creek Church in Medford, recently visited with his family. Neither have the changes stopped Bowman from planning for the future. He's been accepted into a military program that will send him to Harvard for a master's degree and then to a teaching post at West Point. Toni Bowman plans to also earn a master's degree and teach accounting at West Point. "When something like this happens, it makes us re-examine what's important," Bowman said. "We get involved in day-to-day life - duties, errands, jobs, chores. But a tragedy like this makes us want to spend time doing things that really matter." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.