On the Winds of Change
President’s Cockpit / By BG E.J. Sinclair, Ret.: I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It is amazing to think we are already in 2017. No doubt 2017 is going to be a year of changes in many ways. Celebrating the U.S. Army Aviation Soldier and Family at the Army Aviation Association of America display on the exhibit hall floor during the 2016 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Atlanta, GA. Join us in Nashville 26-28 Apr. 2017! We will have a new President and Administration by the time you read this. The Army’s end-strength drawdown...
Learn MoreThe Greatest Generation Remembers Pearl Harbor Day
Family Forum / By Judy Konitzer, CPT Heba Bullock and SGT Daniel K. Johnson: The 75th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor was an opportunity to honor our “Greatest Generation” as they endured incredible sacrifices on December 7, 1941, the “date which will live in infamy.” Thomas Pesto, a Pearl Harbor survivor, addresses Soldiers, veterans, civilians and family members at the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony at Wheeler Army Airfield Hangar 206 on December 5, 2016. The hangar was the first to come under attack on the “day that will live in infamy.” Soldiers from the...
Learn MoreExpeditionary Fight
601st Aviation Support Battalion BSA / By LTC Aaron M. McPeake, MAJ Jason Knapp, and CPT Mark A. Yore: Seldom does an aviation support battalion (ASB) have the opportunity to train at one of the Army’s combat training centers (CTC). Without the advantage of scheduled rotations to a CTC, training to achieve mission essential task (MET) proficiency in an expeditionary environment must be conducted at home station. The 601st ASB, Fort Riley, Kansas achieved that through nesting training with our supported battalion’s mission readiness training exercise (MRX). With nearly 30% of the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade’s (1CAB), 1st Infantry Division...
Learn MorePM JAMS: Production Challenges in Today’s Environment
Arming the Force / By COL David Warnick, LTC Phillip Rottenborn, Mr. Forrest Collier, and Mr. Timothy Kay: As part of the Army Aviation and Missile Materiel Enterprise, the Joint Attack Munition Systems (JAMS) Project Office develops, fields, and sustains versatile weapon systems for the U.S. Army, Joint, and Coalition War-fighters, providing decisive advantages. For more than 30 years, the JAMS Project Office (under many names) has delivered more than 80,000 HELLFIRE missiles and 4.5 million Hydra-70 rockets/motors to the U.S. Warfighters and coalition partners. Today, the JAMS Project Office consists of three product offices: the Aviation Rockets and Small...
Learn MoreArmy Aviation Enterprise Sustainment Strategy
Aviation Maintenance / By COL K. Todd Royar and Mr. Thomas J. Barthel:There is a famous quote from writer Lewis Carroll, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” The Army aviation enterprise exists in an environment of constant change and perpetual motion. The methodologies used in developing, acquiring, maintaining and sustaining increasingly more complex aviation systems and the requirements to support those systems are numerous and often duplicative. Who decides their overall accountability or adherence to a common aviation sustainment goal, with specific objectives that make the entire aviation enterprise more efficient and...
Learn MoreUnified Action – Enabling Readiness at the Point of Need
Aviation Maintenance / By Mr. William P. Marriott and Mr. David L. Ward: In February 2016, in an effort to better enable unity of command, and provide improved support for our Warfighters, the Army Materiel Command (AMC) directed a major reorganization initiative. Published as OPORDER 16-189, AMC aligned the research, development, and engineering centers (RDECs) and contracting centers under the operational control (OPCON) of their associated life cycle management commands (AMCOM, CECOM and TACOM). For AMCOM, this meant that the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) and the Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (ACC-R) fell under...
Learn MoreSustaining Army Aviation in the Future: Readiness in a Complex World
Aviation Maintenance / By COL Shawn T. Prickett and Mr. Tod L. Glidewell: Army Aviation is deployed world-wide with simultaneous missions on several continents in support of Joint Forces. To win, Army Aviation forces must provide the commander with multiple options, integrate the efforts of multiple partners, and operate across multiple domains to provide solutions while presenting our enemies and adversaries with multiple dilemmas. As we seek to comprehend the environment of the Army Operating Concept (AOC), we must remain cognizant of what our leaders have challenged us to accomplish. That is, “to focus on big questions and not focus...
Learn MoreTobacco Cessation
Ask the Flight Surgeon / By MAJ Sonya Horwell, M.D: Q: Doc, I want to stop smoking. What resources are available? Can I use any medications and still remain on flight status? FS: You are making the right choice. More than 400,000 deaths in the United States are attributed to cigarette smoking every year. Studies have shown associations between smoking and coronary heart disease, lung disease, peptic ulcer disease, impotence, and pregnancy complications. It also has been shown to increase your risk of developing certain cancers within the lungs, head, neck, esophagus, pancreas, and bladder. In addition, smoking accelerates skin...
Learn MoreRobbie Kimbrough Reflects about Life in the NASA Family
Family Forum / By Judy Konitzer: Seems like yesterday when Tom and I were in Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Then LTC Robert S. (Shane) Kimbrough had arranged to have COL Bill McArthur inducted into the Gold Honorable Order of St. Michael aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Robbie Kimbrough with her husband, Shane, in Kazakhstan on the grounds of the Russian space training facility./ KIMBROUGH FAMILY PHOTO We watched as COL Jeff Williams, who was replacing Bill on the ISS in April 2006 did the honors. Tom congratulated Bill and a video of...
Learn MoreThe Aviation Engineering Directorate
R&D/S&T / By Mr. Jeffrey L. Langhout: What have you done for me lately, and more importantly, what are you planning to do for me? A Chinook landing in white out conditions in Shah Joy, Afghanistan. / PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS JON RASMUSSEN Since becoming the AED Director in 2013, we have attempted to increase our focus on the customer. Our engineering capabilities have long been superior, thus upon arriving at AED, my focus was simply to take that engineering excellence and, through building relationships both with our customers and our original equipment manufacturers, develop trust and mutual...
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