Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember

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Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this wonderful story that im positive you will find very interesting. I really hope the author writes more books as I would really love to read more. I also want to thank her for her service to our country. NetGalley, Claire Lavin Does McConaghy have any words of wisdom for people thinking of following the same kind of career path? Xtended can also be found on Apple Podcasts, the Google Podcast app, Spotify and wherever else you normally listen to podcasts. Serving on MERT, she was tasked with recovering wounded soldiers and witnessed some of the most horrifying scenes of human suffering.

Liz was only 21 when she became the youngest Chinook crewmember to serve in Iraq, and then became the longest serving female member.

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If you would like to help veterans like me rebuild their lives after service, then please play the Veterans' Lottery. It really does make a difference.” At 19, Liz, now 40, left her home in Northern Ireland to join the RAF and three years later, aged just 21, she was named the youngest aircrew member to be deployed to Iraq. She was also the only female ‘crewman’ on the Chinook wing for four years and the longest serving as well.

Now hired as a popular motivational speaker, Liz McConaghy shares her heartfelt stories of battling mental health in the RAF. Emphasising the importance of looking after wellbeing and mental health, Liz encourages others to reach out for help when struggling. Turning adversity into positivity, Liz’s talks focus on finding hope and overcoming adversity, sharing anecdotes from the darkest times in her life and how she has emerged from the darkest of places. If you are looking for a military veteran with a truly inspirational story to tell who will provide audiences with the tools needed to build the path to a new life, look no further than Liz McConaghy. When I was reading about the simulated torture scenarios she had to get through, I was absolutely shivering inside. How anyone can get through that kind of thing for real, I just don't know. Man's inhumanity to man clearly knows no bounds. You do a six-month school called the UCF, which is where you work up to learn how to operate and then you get sent to your first squad, which for me was 27 and then you have to do what’s called a combat ready work up. So that is essentially learning how to operate the Chinook when you’re getting combat ready. You learn what rules you can bend when you’re at war; if you’re getting shot at, what you can and can’t get away with. After calmly writing a suicide note to her family and friends, she began to swallow 95 pills, one by one, before closing her eyes for one last time, “my brain finally at peace”. I requested this book because of my love of aircraft and in particular Chinooks. This was a great insight and a really interesting read. NetGalley, Karena FreemanIt all became very normal and was just another day at work, so I didn’t realise at the time the effect it was having on my mental health.” Waking in intensive care two days later, McConaghy's feelings had completely shifted; she realised she didn't want to die. With the support of the veterans' system, McConaghy began her recovery journey, recognising how crucial that support network was to her survival. We are joined by Liz McConaghy . Liz is from a small town in County Down and spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Force. Liz turned to writing both poetry and her autobiography following a tough battle with PTSD years after leaving the service, in the hope it may help others with their mental health. I wrote the book when I was going through my PTSD counselling, and it took me 3 weeks to write because I just had to brain dump everything and it [was] just stored on my laptop and I never thought about it. Then a friend of mine and I were out walking and I mentioned it and she was like you’ve got to send this off to a publisher, what happens if somebody wants to publish it? Then it got published. It was never written in any way to be read by anyone, never mind the whole world, but seemingly everyone has really enjoyed it.

Aerospace book choices for Christmas, the best of 2022's aviation books. Royal Aeronautical Society From 2007 McConaghy crewed the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), a high-octane M.A.S.H-style air ambulance service in which a Chinook was on constant readiness at Bastion to fly to the middle of the battlefield and rescue seriously wounded soldiers. On her busiest day of operations in 2008, she and her crew flew 14 separate sorties – including one where five British soldiers had been killed at a forward operating base.All you could hear above the deafening roar of the rotors was the 'ting ting ting' of bullets hitting the Chinook' International Express In 2001, Liz joined the Royal Air Force, deployed as a member of the Chinook Aircrew. Based at RAF Odiham, Liz became an Aircrew Instructor in 2010 and also served as a member of the Medical Emergency Response Team, saving hundreds of lives in the Helmand Province. Flying into war zones to rescue severely wounded soldiers, Liz flew the Boeing CH-47 Chinook – often referred to as the ‘flying ambulance’. Having witnessed horrific scenarios, Liz began to struggle with her mental health, attempting to take her own life in 2020. Waking up in Basingstoke Intensive Care, Liz made the decision to turn her life around. She survived and went into the Veterans Mental Health care system to help her deal with her demons and finally lay the images she had seen on the battlefield to rest.

Yes, I have,” she said. “Having had the book come out [all her mental health challenges are] now completely out in the world. And the more I’m talking about it, the more it is genuinely OK now. It's a powerful story, with a mix of Irish humour, strong news on the then RAF approach to personal issues raised by those in combat and a brutally honest finale. Go buy a copy today." Helicopter International - January-February 2023 Liz’s journey resonated deeply with us at Defence Discount Service. Her courage in the face of PTSD and mental health challenges serves as a powerful testament that others facing similar struggles do not define us, but rather constitute a part of our life from which invaluable lessons can be learned. Article featured: Liz McConaghy named 2023 Inspirational Women in Defence by the Defence Discount Service. RAF News - July 28, 2023Help for Heroes changed my life. They helped me find me again. They made me feel seen once again. And I’m really moving forward into a positive space in life.” Life changing With her hands tied together, McConaghy felt it “roll down my chest and all the way to my belly button. Still makes me cringe now thinking about it. But at least it distracted me from the screaming”. At the age of 21 Liz became the youngest aircrew to deploy to Iraq. She was also the only female member of the crew on the iconic Chinook helicopter team for four years.