Raptor Engagement
AAAA Family Forum / By Janelle L. Bradford, Ed.D.: The he sun rises and sets across the Mojave Desert, as UH-72 Lakotas, UH-60 Blackhawks and MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs dot the sky, completing missions across the majestic and wild expanse. Spouses from the 2916th Aviation Battalion gather for a January social. Raptor gatherings serve as a valuable opportunity to welcome new spouses to the unit and Fort Irwin community. /PHOTO BY JENNY SANTOS Fort Irwin, CA is home to approximate-ly 25,000 Soldiers, civilians, contractors and family members who support the mission of the National Training Center (NTC). NTC receives an...
Learn MoreAeromedical Considerations for Deployment to AFRICOM
Ask the Flight Surgeon / By CPT(P) Christopher Grace, M.D.: Q: I am a CH-47 flight engineer that will deploy as part of a medical relief mission to Africa. I have heard a lot about people getting sick when they travel to this region. What do I need to know before I leave? FS: Assignment to the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) poses a unique set of medical concerns for military members with aviators being no exception. All aviators should discuss the preventative medicine require-ments for travel to USAFRICOM and their aeromedical impact with their aeromedical provider. Requirements Operation United...
Learn MoreOne Team
Branch Chief’s Corner / By MG David J. Francis: It’s amazing is amazing what you can accomplish is if you do not care who gets the credit. – – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States UH-60 Black Hawks from 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment take off after dropping soldiers at the landing zone during exercise Arctic Anvil October 6th, 2019 at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center./ MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO BY SGT SHAWN KEETON I would like to start by thanking MG Todd Hunt for the spectacular job he has done in his tenure as the...
Learn MoreSupporting the Total Force
President’s Cockpit / MG Jeff Schloesser, U.S. Army Retired: Army Aviation is a Total Enterprise, as Army Aviation Center of Excellence commander and Aviation Branch Chief, MG Dave Francis makes clear in this issue’s lead off article. As he writes: “The Reserve and Guard (Compos 2 and 3) comprise 51% of Army Aviation’s fleet, and there is no operational or physical way that the Active Duty forces (Compo 1) could fight and win a Large Scale Combat Operation on their own.” SGT Johnathan Kessel, an aviation component repairer (right) and SPC James Chaffins, an aviation electrician both with the Kentucky Army National...
Learn MoreBuilding a Multi-Domain Operations Ready and Capable Force
PEO Aviation Update / By Mr. Patrick H. Mason: It is an absolute honor and privilege to serve as your Program Executive Officer for Army Aviation. Our sincere gratitude to MG Thomas and Tracy Todd for their tremendous leadership of the PEO over the last three years. Aviators from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, conduct final pre-mission checks for a night air assault mission during operational tests of the UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter. The UH–60V updates the UH-60L analog architecture with a new digital, glass cockpit to replace the current analog dial instrumentation. The upgrades improve the enduring aviation fleet’s interoperability...
Learn MoreMission Accomplished, More to Achieve
Rotary Wing / By COL Al M. Niles Jr.: In January 2020, Team Chinook will successfully pass another milestone: the U.S. Army will take delivery of its last Remanufactured CH-47F Block I Chinook helicopter. This is a culminating event of what is considered one of the Army’s most successful acquisition programs. The CH-47F traces its origins to the 1997 Improved Cargo Helicopter program, a service-life extension program for the CH-47D. The program achieved its First Unit Equipped (FUE) in July 2007 with fielding to the 7th Battalion, 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, KY. Over the...
Learn MoreNowhere to Go For the Army Unmanned Aircraft System Operator
Reserve Component Aviation / By CW2 Jonathan Olson: Winning matters, and people are my number one priority… We win through our people, and people will drive success in our readiness, modernization and reform priorities. We must take care of our people…” – General James McConville, 40th Army Chief of Staff It’s easy to see the evolution of military forces across the timeline of technological advancement. A conversation often sidelined by technology is the human element, the training, the chess match of keeping talent within an organization. SGT Mills, SGT Soule and PFC Brandsoy, unmanned aircraft crewmembers in Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 173rd...
Learn MoreMake 2020 Your Year For Employment Opportunities!
Family Forum / By Judy Konitzer: When I first started writing this column in 2006, I contacted Military One Source (MOS), a newly acquired DoD sponsored program, to see if it really offered what it promised. I was impressed when I talked at length to a live agent at 11 o’clock at night, and subsequently felt it worthwhile to publish their call line and website. Years later, on New Year’s Eve morning, I called the Help Line 1-800-342-9647 and still found no busy signal, prompts, or long waits, and had a discussion with a very informative and friendly agent. I...
Learn MoreSexually Transmitted Infections
Ask the Flight Surgeon / By MAJ (Dr.) Roger Williams & CPT (Dr.) Gurdeep Buttar: Q: Doc, I go to my flight surgeon every few months to get checked for sexually transmitted infections. I have been treated three times in the last year for these infections and I was wondering how this could affect my flight status. FS: From a military perspective, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), have a significant impact on the medical readiness of individual service members and degrades force health protection. According to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch, between 2010-2018, approximately 350,000 service members were diagnosed with an...
Learn MoreThe Future Fleet
Branch Chief / By MG David J. Francis: Success no longer goes to the country that develops a new fighting technology first, but rather to the one that better integrates it and adapts its way of fighting… – The National Defense Strategy (2018) Helicopters of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, stage on Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, Oct. 17, 2019 before deploying to more than 17 countries in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve./ U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY VISUAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST HENRI CAMBIER Once again we are at a defining moment for Army Aviation as we move ever closer...
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