MC-12 Game Changer
From the Field / By LTC Candice E. Frost and CW5 Jerry D. Hollars: One of the primary concerns of ground commanders is executing missions while protecting forces and equipment. Soldiers providing security while capturing or killing the enemy becomes a manpower-intensive effort and minimizes the commander’s primary mission effectiveness. In an atmosphere of military downsizing, aviation and intelligence must provide better intelligence oversight directly to ground commanders freeing up more manpower and resources. This is done through the expansion and modernization of its Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A-ISR) capabilities. Army Chief of Staff, GEN Raymond Odierno, is briefed...
Learn MoreOperational Support Airlift Agency
Fixed Wing Aviation / By COL James W. Ring: Activated on October 2, 1995, the Operational Support Airlift Agency (OSAA) and its operational subordinate unit, the Operational Support Airlift Command (OSACOM), merged fixed wing assets and personnel of the Active Component and the Army National Guard to form one of the Army’s first multi-component operational commands. As an Army Field Operating Agency and a subordinate operational fixed wing command, OSAA and OSACOM are optimally structured to sustain fixed wing readiness in support of total Army fixed wing requirements. OSACOM aircrew with TF ODIN returning from a mission in Afghanistan./ U.S....
Learn MoreTaking Off
President’s Cockpit / By BG E.J. Sinclair, Ret.: I would like to start by first thanking you for the opportunity to be your new AAAA National President. Starting this part of my AAAA journey six years ago as Treasurer and then Secretary, and Senior VP two years ago, it has been a privilege to serve Aviation Soldiers and their Families and I have learned a lot about this great organization. Looking back I could hardly imagine when I first joined AAAA over 30 years ago that I would end up here. I am truly honored and humble to lead AAAA...
Learn MoreWarrant Officer Promotion Board – Fiscal Year 2015
Warrant Officer Promotion Board – Fiscal Year 2015: Chief Warrant Officer of the Branch / CW5 Allen R. “Randy” Godfrey On 9 January 2015, the U. S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) released MILPER Message 15-009 on the Fiscal Year 2015 Active Component Chief Warrant Officer Three, Four, and Five Promotion Board. This board returns to the standard of 12-month zones of consideration. In 27 January 2015, HRC released MILPER Messages 15-025 and 15-026 on the Fiscal Year 2015 Reserve Component Chief Warrant Officer Three, Four, and Five Promotion Board. Each MILPER message describes in detail the required items and deadlines...
Learn MoreOnce a Soldier, Always a Soldier… A Soldier for Life!
From the Field / By LTC Wenceslao G. Angulo: About 100,000 Soldiers will transition out of the Army each year over the next several years. In 2014, 8,666 Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers with an aviation military occupational specialty (MOS) retired or separated. To address this changing landscape of the American military, and to maintain trust among the Army Family during and after service, the U.S. Army established the Soldier for Life (SFL) program. This initiative is designed to enable Soldiers, Retired Soldiers, Veterans and Families to leave military service “career ready” and connected to an established network to find...
Learn MoreAAAA Presents the 2014 Functional Awards
AAAA, together with the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE), paid tribute to the 2014 National Functional Awards winners Feb. 5 during the annual Aviation Senior Leaders Conference at Fort Rucker, AL. AAAA’s President, BG (Ret.) Howard Yellen, and MG Michael D. Lundy, Aviation Branch chief and USAACE commanding general, were joined by CW5 A. Randy Godfrey, chief warrant officer of the branch; CSM Eric Thom, branch command sergeant major; and industry partners, association members and many of the branch’s senior commanders, chief warrant officers and non-commissioned officers to honor this year’s individual and unit winners. The Raytheon Company...
Learn MoreModernizing to Enable Our Future Fleet
Aviation Leadership Update / BG Robert L. Marion: After more than 13 years of war, we all thought and hoped that we would wind down in peace time. The reality however is that the world has changed and we are required to remain globally engaged while operating with a smaller budget and force structure. UH-60M Black Hawks from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, fly at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii. The Army is currently working on program development for the UH-60V (formerly known as UH-60L Digitization), which will upgrade the analog cockpits of the UH-60L with new digital...
Learn MoreInfluenza Vaccine
Ask the Flight Surgeon / Dr. (LTC) Joseph Puskar: Q: I got the flu vaccine yesterday. Do I have to get a down slip for the immunization? FS: You don’t need to get a down-slip and subsequent up-slip unless you develop a local or systemic reaction; then you would need clearance by the flight surgeon. Remember from the safety briefings on exogenous factors that the grounding period after a vaccine is twelve hours, or until any adverse effects have resolved. The most common influenza vaccine in use this year is a quadrivalent formulation that protects against two type A (generally a...
Learn MoreKeeping Up Standards
AMRDEC Tech Talk / Mr. David Cripps: Most of you will be familiar with the concept of “building code” when it comes to putting up a house, an office building, a bridge or some other structure. Years ago smart engineers and planners figured out, mostly through trial and error, that there are a minimum set of standards necessary to make a structure do what it is supposed to do for the intended life. Then they tacked a healthy safety margin onto the minimums in order to account for variations in the exposure of the structure to its environment. AMRDEC AED GRAPHICInsurance...
Learn More2-4th GSAB Black Hawk Crew Rescues Stranded Hikers
CW2 Benjamin Ingraham was flying a training mission in a Black Hawk helicopter the afternoon of February 18th when he and his crew from 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Carson, CO, saw a group of hikers stranded behind Cheyenne Mountain. Soldiers from 2-4th General Support Aviation Battalion rescue stranded hikers and their dogs on Feb. 18, 2015.“They were waving at us … it looked kind of strange and it looked like they were stuck,” Ingraham said. The two men, one woman and two dogs had been stranded since the night before when their vehicle got...
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