The two Schofield Barracks pilots killed May 27 when their OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter crashed at Wheeler Army Airfield will be buried this week in their home states.

Services will be held tomorrow for Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Bryce Millward, 28, at the University LDS Stake Center in Pocatello, Idaho.

On Tuesday, a funeral with full military honors will be held for Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Blane Hepfner, 29, at Hubbard Union Cemetery in Ohio.

Both pilots were with the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.

A six-member team from the Army's Combat Readiness/Safety Center at Fort Rucker in Alabama is investigating the crash. The Army said the two soldiers were killed as a result of a "hard landing" during a general maintenance test flight.

The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade flies three helicopters here: the two-seat OH-58D Kiowa Warrior; the big, twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook; and UH-60 Black Hawks.

The Army's Safety Center provided statistics on helicopter accidents since fiscal 2002 showing just how dangerous flying military choppers can be.

The Army defines the most serious losses as Class A accidents, which result in $1 million or more in property damage, or an injury that results in a fatality or permanent total disability.

Since 2002:

• There have been 40 Class A OH-58 accidents, of which 18 were in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and four were in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

• There have been 51 Class A UH-60 accidents, of which 20 were in OIF and seven were in OEF.

• There have been 23 Class A CH-47 accidents, of which seven were in OIF and 12 were in OEF.

USS HAWAII BLOG

For folks who want to keep up with the goings-on aboard the Aloha State's namesake submarine, the USS Hawaii, as it makes its way to Pearl Harbor, the boat has a blog at http://usshawaiissn776.blogspot.com.

Hawaii, the first of at least three Virginia-class submarines expected to be homeported at Pearl Harbor, left Groton, Conn., on May 13. Here's a May 28 post by skipper Cmdr. Ed Herrington from a Florida stopover:

"We had some extra free time prior to mooring so we conducted a swim call with the crew. Everyone had a great time until a shark showed up. The crew got out of the water, a little slow for my taste, but everyone including the shark seemed to enjoy the swim."

Herrington said over the following few weeks the sub would be "working hard on our tactics and techniques for several different mission areas including anti-submarine warfare, missile strike, and mine field penetration."