Warrant Officer Flight Training Program
By CW4 Becki Chambers: This reason is what motivated CW2 Elizabeth Kruchek to join. Elizabeth grew up in Laingsburg, MI, a small town just northwest of Lansing. During her sophomore year of high school, Elizabeth had the opportunity to participate in a German exchange program. She says the experience changed her life and opened her eyes to the world that existed outside of her tiny hometown. She became hooked on travel, and has since lived in many states, and not all because of the Army. Left to right: Madeline Heath, Elizabeth Kruchek, Tarrissa Vincent When Elizabeth was a teenager, her mother...
Learn MoreThe Avalex Cockpit Management Unit Family
By Daniel Eckiss: New concepts to enable multi-domain operations (MDO) are emerging from Government, industry and non-traditional sources at an ever-quickening pace. Likewise, innovative technology incubation and rapid acquisition contract vehicles implemented by the U.S. Army and Department of Defense are moving technology from concept to prototype faster than ever. Prototypes are great tools to gather user feedback and perfect concepts in a non-operational environment. However, the warfighter benefit of our nation’s investment in leap-ahead technology research and development is not realized until enabling technology is integrated, trained and fielded. It is critical that the requirements for both new...
Learn MoreSesame Street to Youth Sports – Concussion Awareness
Family Forum / By Judy Konitzer: Time really flies, but has it really been 50 years since the beloved Sesame Street began its flagship program with iconic and lovable characters aimed at reaching children in their early years? The creators relying on research realized that before the age of 5, a child’s brain grows faster than at any other time, laying the foundation for all learning, behavioral, physical, and mental health and decided to help young children reach their full potential through a variety of creative initiatives. I asked our “Magnificent 7” now ranging in age from 34 -50 who...
Learn MoreOperation Flying Heroes
From the Field / By Vicki Cody: Once a month for the past 10 years, at a small airfield in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a group of former and current Army aviators gathers in a hangar for Operation Flying Heroes (OFH). With Dick “Commander” Cody as the leader, this unlikely group of warriors spend the day giving back to some of this generation’s Wounded Warriors (WWs). This story really begins back in 1980 when then Captain Dick Cody and CW2 Ned Hubard were crewed together flying “little bird” helicopters out in the Arizona desert, part of the genesis of the 160th Special...
Learn MoreBack and Neck Pain
Ask the Flight Surgeon / By CPT Peter Petrillo, P.A.: Q: My neck and upper back have been bothering me for a while and now I’ve started to notice pins and needles in my hand. Are these related? PA: We live in a world that encourages sitting for long periods of time; at desks, in front of computer screens, at staff meetings, cramped cockpits, etc. Such conditions encourage poor postures with head forward, shoulders slumped and hands rotated in. This routine results in tightening of the muscles in the chest and front of the neck and weakens the opposing muscles...
Learn MoreMaking the Aviation War Fighters More Lethal to Win Wars
By MAJ Zachary F. De Groot and MSG Mark A. McKain: The 128th Aviation Brigade produces quality Aviation Maintainers for the operational force. The Brigade sets high standards for every member of its ranks because it is shaping the future of Army Aviation through the training of every Initial Entry Training (IET) Aviation Maintainer student. Aviation maintainers require proficiency in their military occupational skill (MOS)-specific tasks and must be fully prepared to endure the rigor of the increasingly lethal and expanded battlefield in Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). SSG Christopher Maxwell, 1-210th Aviation Regiment, trains AIT Soldiers on the proper method to request...
Learn MoreUAS Warriors
By CSM Brian N. Hauke: I hope this finds everyone having had a phenomenal summer with some well-deserved time off. If you were able to get away and work on that balance I discussed a couple issues ago, congratulations. If not, please take some time for yourself over the rapidly approaching holidays. Retroactive Award of Army Aviation Badge Update First, I wanted to thank SGM (Ret.) James Minor who served over 29 years in Army Aviation across four different MOSs 93H, 93J, 93C, and 93P with multiple combat tours for initially contacting both AAAA and the Branch asking for clarification...
Learn MoreEvolving UAS Integration Past, Present and Future
CWOB Update / By CW5 Frank Volpe: Prior to 9/11, the Army only had corps-level Hunter UAS. These ~two dozen aircraft were equipped with basic electro optical/ infra-red (EO/IR) capability and operated well above the coordinating altitude in restricted/combat airspace with little to no impact on rotary wing Aviation. VISUAL BY ANNE EWING Fast forward to today; UAS has grown to well over 8,000 aircraft of varying sizes comprised of both programs of record (PORs) and non-standard commercial off the shelf (COTS) systems. These UAS support maneuver units from 100ft Above Highest Obstacle (AHO) to 25,000 ft. MSL in both...
Learn MoreArmy Aviation – Survivable & Decisive
Branch Chief’s Corner / By MG David J. Francis: There is a reason the Army has selected six priority systems as the centerpiece of the Army modernization strategy. An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter with the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division hovers just over the tree line to mask itself against ground observation, as part of the culminating force on force exercise of Combined Resolve XII at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany Aug. 22, 2019. Combined Resolve is a biannual U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army Training Command-led exercise intended to...
Learn MoreThrottle Full Open!
President’s Cockpit / MG Jeff Schloesser, U.S. Army Retired: October was a busy month for us at AAAA, as we held our semiannual National Executive Board meeting on Sunday, 13 October, followed by an AAAA Past President’s reception. AAAA National President MG (Ret.) Jeff Schloesser welcomes members of the Army Aviation Congressional Caucus and Army Aviation senior leaders to the Congressional Caucus breakfast at the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, October 17, 2019. / AAPI PHOTO BY BILL HARRIS At the board meeting we featured for the first time a conference call-in capability, and we received very positive feedback...
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