Reducing NMCM to Increase the FMC Rate
AMCOM Command Sergeant Major Update / By CSM Mike Dove: What is Non Mission Capable Maintenance (NMCM) time? How is it calculated? Why is it important? How can we reduce the NMCM time? Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery are getting acquainted with the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters during sling load training./ U.S. ARMY PHOTO GEN Perna, the commander of the United States Army Materiel Command, has asked the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) to see what we can do to reduce our NMCM time in order to achieve a Fully Mission Capable (FMC)...
Learn MoreThree Yards and a Cloud of Dust
Aviation Branch Maintenance / By CW5 Michael D. Cavaco: Over the last three to four years the Aviation Enterprise has made some impressive strides in increasing unit readiness. This success is due to several efforts, most importantly is the aviation leader and maintainers planning and execution of maintenance actions. This is just the beginning; I’d assess we are on the twenty yard line… our own twenty yard line. We can and must continue to drive down the field. Soldiers assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment (Attack Reconnaissance) conduct 500 hours phase maintenance on an AH-64 Apache helicopter...
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AMCOM Commander Update / By MG K. Todd Royar: I want to start by saying that I am honored and humbled to have returned to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM). An aircrew with the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment of the Wisconsin National Guard at Madison operates a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at Fort McCoy, WI March 11, 2019. / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SCOTT T. STURKOL, PAO, FT. MCCOY, WI Having just come from one of our great Divisions, I understand the importance of both the readiness of our current fleet and the criticality of getting...
Learn MoreArmy Aviation – Lethal and Decisive
Aviation Branch Chief’s Corner / By MG David J. Francis: The discussion of the future of Army Aviation requires an understanding of where we’re going and how we’re getting there. Where We’re Going A tactical air control party from the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Carson, Colorado, prepares for helicopter / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY MSGT. BAUMGARTNER, USAF extraction by the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade. The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) highlighted Russia and China as our proximate and pacing threats. The requirement to change how we train and fight is the catalyst for the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)...
Learn MoreIt’s Time to Get After It!
President’s Cockpit / MG Jeff Schloesser, U.S. Army Retired: Army Aviation is moving out to achieve a lethal, decisive and sustainable Multi-Domain Operations maneuver and fires capability by 2028. MG (Ret.) Jeff Schloesser, AAAA President, with the Army Aviation Senior Leadership at the Army Aviation Congressional Caucus during an AAAA-sponsored breakfast in Washington, DC, May 16, 2019. / AAPI PHOTO BY BILL HARRIS From left, MG Dave Francis, U.S. Army Aviation Branch Chief; MG Thomas Todd, PEO Aviation; BG Allan Pepin, Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command; Mr. William Marriott, then-Executive Director, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command;...
Learn MoreThe Army Aviation Badge
Command Sergeant Major / By MSG Daniel Baeza: During World War II, the Army Air Forces began issuing its Aircrew Badge to Soldiers who conducted in-flight operations as crewmembers-gunners, bombardiers, navigators, etc.—or were on flying status. Even after 1947, when the Air Force splintered off from the Army and became its own service, the Army continued to issue the old Army Air Forces Aircrew Badge. Aircrew Badge, World War II Army Air Forces design On May 16th, 1962, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations approved a design change to the wings. The badge was renamed the “Aircraft Crewmember...
Learn MoreBack in the Saddle
Director of Army Aviation / By BG Michael C. McCurry II: Greetings from the Pentagon. As I arrived back in the building in June, things seemed much the same as in my previous Pentagon tours, but new challenges await around the corner. Army paratroopers exit from a CH-47 Chinook at Pocek Range in Postojna, Slovenia, March 25, 2019, during Eagle Sokol, a bilateral exercise with the Slovenian Armed Forces./ U.S. ARMY PHOTO I look forward to working closely with our new Branch Chief, MG Dave Francis, as the DAMO-AV team supports his vision for Army Aviation and synchronizes aviation actions...
Learn MoreKeeping Up With Army Aviation Branch Leaders
MG Jeff Schloesser, U.S. Army Retired: The annual Blue Book Issue has always been my favorite edition of Army Aviation Magazine. Then-Army Vice Chief of Staff, GEN James C. McConville, keynotes the second day of the annual Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Nashville, TN, April 16, 2019./ AAPI PHOTO BY RENE BIDEZ My career sometimes took me away from Army Aviation units, which I always felt was the life blood of our branch, and so the pictures and contact information helped me plug back into our branch and to seek out old friends and renew communications with them. Later,...
Learn MoreMobilization in the Army National Guard (ARNG) – Citizen Soldiers, at the Ready!
Reserve / By COL Joseph W. Bishop: Our National Guard Aviation formations are ready and eager to support our nation’s operational missions. Recently, the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade (TAB) was tasked with the tactical employment of aeromedical evacuation, attack helicopter, security, air movement, air assault, and reconnaissance support to coalition forces throughout Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkey. Patients being evacuated on-board a 449th Aviation Brigade Task Force MEDEVAC aircraft during a culminating training event (CTE). The CTE was an air assault utilizing all elements of the Brigade Task Force./ ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO The mission was to degrade and...
Learn MoreOne Army, One Team, One Mission!
By CW5 Clarence W. Shockley: The Army Senior Leadership from the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army down has embraced and is inculcating the “One Army!” Today we are faced with the challenge of supporting counter insurgency operations (COIN) while improving our skillsets necessary to conduct large scale combat operations (LSCO) to meet the “Mission” as outlined in the National Defense Strategy. The concept of LSCO is not new for many of us who were in the Army prior to 9/11, but it may be for many in our Branch who have joined since then....
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