Operation Atlantic Resolve
Command Sergeant Major Update / By CSM Gregory M. Chambers: Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR) – the perfect operating environment (OE) for training in multiple settings across numerous countries and mission sets. 3-1 Attack Recon Battalion, flying out of Grafenwöhr, Germany, taking off for a live fire shoot on March 27th, 2017. / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY CSM GREGORY CHAMBERS The OAR mission offers units the venue to conduct decentralized operations, numerous training opportunities from individual to battalion level, to build partner nation capacity, and to work on expeditionary operations. Although the OAR mission offers a great opportunity for aviation units...
Learn MoreAMCOM Priority = Sustainment (Readiness)
Maintenance / By CW5 Michael D. Cavaco: Sustainment is our focus. To that end, a little over a decade ago the Aviation Enterprise invested in creating the “Aviation Branch Maintenance Officer” (ABMO) position. In the last ten plus years, the position has grown in both scope and responsibility as three CW5s have held the position and have been the entry point for all BAMOs/units into the aviation enterprise. As the mantle passes from CW5 Cardona to CW5 Cavaco, it is a great time to provide an update on the ABMO office. CW5 Leonte Cardona and family. Editor’s Note: We at...
Learn MoreAviation Readiness for Today and Tomorrow
AMCOM Commander Update / By MG Douglas M. Gabram: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command will recognize 20 years of maintenance and sustainment excellence in October 2017. Over the course of those years, AMCOM has evolved and adapted in order to ensure it is capable of responding to warfighter needs. National Guard Soldiers of the 449th Aviation Support Battalion, organized under the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, and the 1107th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group work together on the 500-hour phase maintenance cycle of the AH-64E Apache “Guardian” at Taji Military Complex, Iraq, July 6, 2017. / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SSG...
Learn MoreThrottle Wide Open!
President’s Cockpit / By BG Steve Mundt, Ret.: We need to take a minute and keep in our thoughts and prayers all those who are suffering from the effects of the recent hurricanes. I am proud to say we were able to reach out to the Chapters who were affected and provide our support and are continuing to do so. AAAA National President BG (Ret.) Steve Mundt (right) addresses attendees at the Interoperability/Standardization Conference in Slovakia the last week in September, 2017. This is the second year that AAAA was invited to participate. / AAPI PHOTO BY BILL HARRIS I...
Learn MoreProject Manager Aircraft Survivability Equipment Update
Aviation Survivaiblity / By COL Jong H. Lee: As I begin my 4th year as the Project Manager for Aircraft Survivability Equipment, I am sincerely thankful for the incredible opportunity to protect our Nation’s most valuable assets – the lives of American Soldiers. And along with that reflection, I also marvel at the technical skills, dedication, professionalism, and passion that the ASE enterprise displays to accomplish that mission. An AH-64D Apache releases flares over a valley during support of coalition special operations forces and Afghan soldiers during a firefight near Nawa Garay village in the Kajran district of Afghanistan’s Daykundi...
Learn MoreMulti-COMPO, Multi-Boss CAB
77th Combat Aviation Brigade / By COL Ryan T. Pace: In June 2016, National Guard units from 11 states and territories unknowingly embarked on one of the most challenging combat aviation brigade missions the U.S. Army has ever embraced. This multi-compo force (Active Duty, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve) would build the composition of the 77th Combat Aviation Brigade for their future accomplishments. The original deployment mission required the 77th CAB “Peacemakers” deploy only to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield (OSS). As the deployment drew closer to its conclusion, however, the picture was vastly different from the...
Learn MoreAlpha Team Update
Joint Readiness Training Center / By LTC Linn Desaulniers, MAJ Jeffrey Ferguson, and CPT Kevin Burns: Alpha Team – the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Operations Group Aviation Division at Fort Polk, LA – functions as a diverse team of observers, coaches, and trainers (OC/Ts) who interface with the ten U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)-directed aviation battalion task forces (ABTF) that deploy here each fiscal year. Our team, nested within the unique rotational designs developed by Operations Group, provides a challenging and demanding training scenario that incorporates all six warfighting functions (WfF) while generating maneuver and lethality options for the...
Learn MoreModernizing Army’s Vertical Lift Capability for the Next Decade
By COL Allan H. Lanceta and Brigitte Rox: The Corpus Christi Army Depot is the Army’s organic industrial base for helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul. We have been a driving force in defense as the Army’s premier in-house capability to sustain Army and similar defense rotary wing aircraft assets. U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY BRIGITTE ROX CCAD’s recapitalization, or recap, program is vital to the Army’s modernization effort as it updates and extends the life of existing UH-60 Black Hawks in the Army inventory. The Army has turned to us as their trusted solution of helicopter sustainment for 56 years. The...
Learn MoreCalifornia, Colorado, Wyoming Guard Fight Wildfires
From National Guard Bureau News Releases: With a 5,600-acre wildfire burning in Butte County, California National Guard members were mobilizing after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s declaration of an emergency July 10, 2017. A CH-47 Chinook crew from the Colorado Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, performs helicopter bucket operations, June 21, 2013. During the 2017 wildfire season, Guard members in Arizona, California, Colorado and Wyoming are assisting in fire operations. Nearly 85 National Guard members were involved in firefighting operations in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming, National Guard Bureau officials said. Because California...
Learn MoreEnlisted Aviation Soldier Spotlight
SSG Matthew A. DeckerCompany F, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation RegimentFort Knox, Kentucky 2016 Army Aviation DUSTOFF Flight Medic of the Year AwardSponsored by Air Methods Corporation On 5 January 2016, SSG Decker was acting as the lead flight medic in response to an urgent MEDEVAC in the Helmand province, Afghanistan. Enroute to the point-of-injury the ground forces reported taking fire to the north and Air Weapons Team advised landing zone might not be secure. The crew decided to land, but upon landing the aircraft struck a wall and performed an emergency engine shutdown. SSG Decker immediately began treating the urgent...
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