Attacking the drug trade with the Super Cobra

Flying a Super Cobra attack helicopter into combat zones to support his fellow U.S. Marines is Maj. Scott Benfield’s specialty.

Raised in Hudson and schooled in Hickory, Benfield has recently returned from Afghanistan where he was stationed during his most recent tour of duty.

Afghan insurgents use the proceeds from opium and heroin sales to fund their attacks on American and coalition troops. It’s a problem that Benfield worked to solve using a new set of tactics to catch the drug runners off guard.

He and some of his fellow officers came up with a new plan: fight drug trafficking with the best attack helicopters in the world.

The blades are nearly 3-feet wide and 48 feet in diameter. The fuselage is 3-feet wide.

“Afghans call it the mosquito – Somalis and Iraqis call it the skinny bird,” Benfield said.

When it was designed, the Cobra was built to destroy tanks. It’s fast, maneuverable and strong enough to carry a payload of eight missiles, 14 rockets and 400 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition.

It’s armored and can fire TOW or Hellfire missiles.

These days, the Cobra’s main job is act as air support to marines on the ground with air support, Benfield said. It’s well-suited to urban combat and city fighting.

“Ever since I was in college, I looked at the Cobra as something fun – it’s definitely the sports car of helicopters,” Benfield said.

Benfield and his fellow officers decided that the Cobra might give the good guys the advantage they’d been looking for.

The drug runners know the desert terrain and many have learned how to avoid the American and coalition troops that want to put a stop to their trade.

The drug runners use vehicles like 4runners, pickups and passenger cars that blend in with local traffic. Some of the vehicles can outrun a stock Humvee – though the Special Forces can run them down.

Pitting an elite attack helicopter against a civilian drug runner may not be a fair fight, but it’s effective.

Here’s how it works: through a combined intelligence operation with British soldiers, the American helicopter squads find out where the drugs are headed and when. They go out and take a look. If it looks like a drug run, they call in the Marines to intercept on the ground.

Benfield flew several of the missions. He said he’d find the drug vehicle, fly ahead of it then turn around and take it on face-to-face.

He’d dive right at the vehicle in a simulated rocket attack. When he drew close enough to see the vehicle’s occupants, he’d launch a barrage of flares in their direction.

“We just basically get their attention,” Benfield said. “When those flares go off, they’ll definitely look up.”

The vehicles stop and the heavy troop-carrying CH-53 helicopters bring in Marines who converge on the vehicle as the Cobra hovers. The troops search for drugs. If they find them, they can confiscate the drugs and the vehicles and load them into their CH-53 Super Stallions and fly them back to their base.

The drivers and staff would be detained for questioning, Benfield said.

Sometimes he’d stop groups of up to five vehicles.

“We got tons of opium doing this stuff,” Benfield said. “It definitely got in their heads a little bit. They thought they were safe out there in the desert then they see these Americans coming out of the sky.”

Once in a while the drug runners will try to flee and escape after the first helicopter charge, but a second charge always takes the fight right out of them, Benfield said.

Benfield was stationed at a massive military base in Afghanistan – the kind of place that requires long walks and dusty bus rides. In an effort to improve their lot, Benfield and his fellow pilots claimed one of the vehicles they’d seized. It became their driving-around-the-base car.

“It was a (Toyota) Corolla with reinforced leaf springs in the rear so it could carry more drugs,” Benfield said. “We drove that car for several months on the base, then the alternator gave out, so we gave it to some of our UK friends. They said they were going to fix it up.”

Drug interdiction, while fun, wasn’t Benfield’s main job in Afghanistan. As a Major, it was his job to plan resupply runs, troop extractions and handle day-to-day operations for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

His favorite missions came in 2003 when he flew combat missions in Iraq to support his fellow Marines.

“I got return fire on just about every mission,” he said.

Now that troops are being pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s unclear if he’ll be redeployed to a combat zone, Benfield said. It is likely that he’ll be stationed aboard a Navy ship with a Marine Expeditionary Unit. Persian Gulf-area deployments are likely, but nothing is currently scheduled.

Their job is simple: “We basically stomp out any fire that pops up,” Benfield said.

He’s been a Marine for 12 ½ years, and lives with his wife and daughters in Jacksonville at the Marine Corps Air Station New River. He plans to retire from the military once he gets his 20 years in.

Benfield was raised in Hudson and graduated from Hickory High School. While at Hickory High, he played wide receiver and was a captain of the football team in 1994. He also won the coaches’ Team Before Self award.

Following high school, Benfield went to UNC-Chapel Hill where he signed up for ROTC and majored in industrial relations. He was the top-rated Marine in his ROTC unit, said his father Dennis Benfield.

He got his wings and helicopter qualification in 2001. In June of 2002, he became a Cobra pilot.

During his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Benfield has seen his fellow Marines suffer from the tactics embraced by the insurgents including roadside bombs and sneak attack tactics.

“It’s a tough fight over there,” he said. “It’s tough to know how that country’s going to be.”