“’Buzz’” Covington – When He Talks, G.I. Joe Listens”
By Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, East Sierra Branch
“Action!” called the director of the Paramount Pictures blockbuster GI. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but not before Chief Warrant Officer John R. Covington had seen plenty of it in his own right.
After graduating from Burroughs High School in 1986, Covington flew various electronic warfare aircraft (the EA-3B Sky Warrior, the EP-3 Aries, and the ES-3 Shadow) for eight years in the U.S. Navy where he put in over 5,000 hours serving with both VQ-1 and VQ-6. While serving with the VQ community, he flew in many major operations around the world to include Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Southern Watch, Deny Flight, and several more. Buzz then spent 17 years as both an Instructor Pilot and Tactical Operations Officer, piloting the AH-64A and D Apache Longbow in the U.S. Army. In 1999, he flew Apaches at the outset of U.S engagement in the Kosovo War (Operation Allied Force).
On Friday the 13th of June, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he and his copilot/gunner went down in flames in the middle of the Sunni Triangle. He landed somewhat safely, but his savaged Apache had nothing left to give. A security element and reinforcements arrived on the scene within the hour, and Buzz was back in the cockpit, flying combat missions the next day. It wouldn’t be until almost a year later that doctors would discover that the severe impact that day had torn the disks in the lower part of his vertebrae. After a lengthy surgery and recovery process, Buzz was able to return to flight status, and made yet another year-long combat deployment to Iraq.
If this sounds like a movie, it’s no wonder that Paramount signed up the indomitable “Buzz” five years later – then with the 21st Cavalry Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas – to lend his expertise to advise on creating realism in dialogue, equipment handling, behavior, and aerial maneuvering. He explained in an interview with the Armed Forces Press Service, “I was asked to look over the script, and the director was very receptive to all the changes I suggested to ensure a more authentic portrayal of an Apache combat flight.”
Consultation completed, he also aced a speaking role on camera.
However, he had to miss the film’s release. He’d shipped out to Iraq for his third tour.
After retiring in 2011, Covington went on to launch a new trajectory, as an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer. In the meanwhile, he enjoyed involvement as a team photographer for the U.S. Olympic Committee in London and Sochi, and with clients such as Reebok and the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team. He currently lives in the Washington DC area with his wife, Army Colonel Darcy Saint-Amant of Melrose, Massachusetts, and their son, Conrad.
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Facts in this article are drawn from “BHS grad flies Apache helo over Kosovo (News Review, May 12, 1999), “Local pilot helps bring G.I. Joe to life” (News Review, August 19, 2009), “The ‘Reel’ Army” (army.mil, November 24, 2009), The Royal Photographic Society Bio Sheet, and personal contact with and review by Buzz Covington.