We are certainly entering our prime season with the recently executed Luther Jones Depot Maintenance Forum in Corpus Christi, TX, now in the rear-view mirror, and on the horizon… our AAAA Annual Summit in Nashville, 14-16 May. You can see the full Luther Jones wrap up on page 36. We very much appreciated the tremendous coordination and integration with the Corpus Christi Army Depot Commander COL Kevin Considine and his team to plan, develop, and support the Forum. We had a solid two days of dynamic and impactful presentations and discussions on topics ranging from Supply Chain challenges in Large-Scale Combat Operations to Contested Logistics.

Especially effective were the panels that included our key Industry partners; there was a lot of spirited engagement with the audience in the Q&A sessions that were imbedded in those panel discussions. MG Lori Robinson, Aviation and Missile Command Commanding General, as always, did a terrific job of highlighting vital issues like Artificial Intelligence, block-chain potential, and the overall “data strategy”. Bottom line, if you missed our Luther Jones Depot Maintenance Forum this year, you missed a LOT!

At the completion of Luther Jones, we (Janis, Bill, Art, and I) diverted to Fort Campbell, KY to attend CW5 Adam Jarvis’ retirement ceremony conducted at the GEN Brian “Doug” Brown compound. Adam was the ‘Air Boss’ for years at the AAAA Annual Summit, is a bonified legend in the Special Operations MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator community, and an associate editor of Army Aviation Magazine.

It was a singular honor for me to represent our Association and induct Adam into the Gold Order of St. Michael in recognition of his incredible 35½ years of selfless and committed service to our Nation, the Army and Army Aviation, and the Night Stalkers.

The latest Army Aviation Caucus news is that we will be holding a kickoff Reception on the evening
of April 9, 2025 on Capitol Hill.
This is the first event of the re-organized Army Aviation Caucus for the 119th Congress that AAAA supports through sponsorship of their events throughout the year.

We look forward to sponsoring the subsequent ‘formal’ meetings between the Caucus and our Army Aviation leadership that enable visibility and understanding of Army Aviation priorities, challenges, and opportunities.

Finally, please make sure you are all registered for the events and housing at the 2025 AAAA Annual Summit, May 14-16, at the Gaylord Opryland. We have strong support setting new ‘bests’ again this year for registered attendance to date and Industry exhibit commitment, as we embrace the event’s theme, “Army Aviation: Ready to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges Today!”

We look forward to what will be a fantastic Summit….see you there!

MG Walt Davis, U.S. Army Retired
36th President, AAAA
walt.davis@quad-a.org

Looking Back, April 2025
By Mark Albertson

Operation: KIKUSUI

* * * * *

“We are 16 warriors manning the bombers.  May our death be as sudden as the shattering of glass, . . . from the letter of a Kamikaze pilot.”[2]

* * * * *

It was 80 years ago, April 1, 1945, that Operation:  ICEBERG commenced.  GIs and marines waded ashore to nary the expected opposition, unlike at Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Peleliu and a half a hundred other places.  The marines struck out for the northern half of the island, encountering light resistance; while the Army, moving south, too, faced light resistance.  Suddenly the Army ran up against a wall of fanatical Japanese who were well dug in.  Casualties mounted quickly.  Up north, the leathernecks reversed course and hurried south to assist their brother soldiers.  They, too, began to incur heavy losses on the Shuri Line.

Soon the battle of Okinawa, the final major battle of World War II would, in just eight weeks, become the third costliest battle in American history.[3]

Yet while the marines and soldiers ashore waged the bitter struggle against the seemingly impregnable Shuri Line, the Navy trying to command the seas around the embattled island will incur its worst losses of the war.  For the Japanese will unleash its most frightening weapon of the conflict, the Devine Wind or Kamikaze.  The origins of which are steeped in history.

“A hurricane swept the invasion fleet of Kublai Khan to disaster off the Japanese coast in 1281.  That ‘devine wind’ saved the Japanese people from foreign domination.  In the last years of World War II, with the tide of Imperial Japanese expansion beaten back, a similar intervention was needed to save Japan from subjection.”[4]

By well into 1943, when it was apparent the tide was turning in the Pacific Theater, the Japanese began to consider approaches other than those of the standard varieties of waging war in an attempt to halt the growing American juggernaut.  Ramming attacks (taiatari) were employed against American aircraft.  Origins here go back to the Bougainville campaign, November 1943, when ramming was used by frustrated Navy pilots.[5]

An example of the above was that of Lieutenant Naoshi Kanno, 306^th Fighter Squadron, 201st Air Group, 1944, based on Yap.  Kanno took on a B-24.  He made a head-on approach, only to find his guns were jammed.  He rapidly closed his quarry, only to sheer away at the last moment, nearly brushing the bomber, only to use his propeller to cut up one on the B-24’s vertical stabilizers.  The Liberator plunged into the sea.  Kanno, meanwhile, nursed his sputtering Zero back to Yap.[6]

But ramming enemy aircraft was hardly a war-winning tactic.  Besides, there was certainly the chance that to bring down an enemy aircraft by ramming could cost a Japanese aircraft and perhaps even the pilot.  Something, then, of greater impact was called for.  Something that could cause the enemy such grievous losses, while at the same time reverse Japanese fortunes.

* * * * *

One of the early supporters of suicide as a military tactic was Captain Eiichiro Jyo, commander of the light carrier Chiyoda.  In the wake of the American victory in the Philippine Sea, Captain Jyo observed, “No longer can we hope to sink the numerically superior enemy aircraft carriers through ordinary attack methods.  I urge the immediate organization of special attack units to carry out crash-dive tactics, and I ask to be placed in command of them.”[7]

Yet the Japanese were fully aware that the United States was going to invade the Philippines and, with the ever growing might of American naval power, extraordinary alternatives to successfully challenge said threat had to be considered.

October 17, 1944, Vice Admiral Takajiro Ohnishi arrived in Manila to take command of First Air Fleet.  He convened a meeting in Mabalacat, headquarters of the 201^st Air Group.  Addressing a small collection of air officers, he spoke of the upcoming naval battle for the Philippines and the Imperial Japanese Navy’s growing disparity against the material advantage enjoyed by its Occidental opponent.

“In my opinion,” he continued, “there is only one way of assuring that our meager strength will be effective to a maximum degree.  That is to organize suicide attack units composed of Zero fighters armed with 250 kilogram bombs, with each plane to crash-dive into enemy carriers, . . . what do you think?[8]

After a round of discussions as to how effective such a drastic action might be, Commander Assaichi Tamai was ordered to form, what would become the first squadron of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps.  The pilot assigned to lead the first attack was Lieutenant Yukio Seki.  Admiral Ohnishi will sign an announcement for the new Attack Corps on October 20, 1944.

“The 201^st Air Group will organize a special attack corps and will destroy or disable, if possible by 25 October, the enemy carrier forces in the waters east of the Philippines.

“The corps will be called the Shimpu Attack Unit.  It will consist of 26 fighter planes, of which half will be assigned to crash-diving missions, and the remainder to escort, and will be divided into four sections, designated as follows:  Shikishima, Yamato, Asahi and Yamazakura.”[9]

* * * * *

As the Kamikazes were readying themselves for devine self-immolation, history’s greatest naval battle, Leyte Gulf, had already commenced.  This was the last major attempt by the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet to change the momentum of the naval war and turn back the American threat to Japan’s inner defense ring.  The basic Japanese plan saw Southern Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Shojo Nishimura with 2 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser and 7 destroyers come up from the south of Leyte Gulf from the Mindanao Sea through the Surigau Strait to attack the American landing forces of light carriers, destroyers and support vessels; and then from the north, Vice Admiral Takao Kurita, with 5 battleships, 10 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 15 destroyers would slip through the San Bernadino Strait, round Samar, then attack the light American landing forces at Leyte from the north.  Japanese carriers north of the Philippines had successfully drew Admiral William Halsey’s covering force of carriers and battleships north, leaving the light amphibious forces off Leyte without protection.

Admiral Jessie Oldendorf’s task force of old battleships backed by cruisers devastated Nishimura’s southern force in the confined waters of the Surigao Strait, denying the Japanese their southern pincer in their attempt to wipe out the American landing forces.  However, Admiral Kurita did round Samar to keep his appointment.

The American naval response consisting of destroyers and destroyer escorts against the big boys of the IJN became one of the stirring acts of heroism of the entire war in the Pacific, sometimes referred to as their Death Ride; in addition to which the pilots of the beleaguered escort carriers attacked like angry hornets against battleships and cruisers, even to the dropping of depth charges in lieu of bombs.  Kurita will fail in his mission and eventually withdrawal.  This threat will subside; but it will give way to an even greater threat, the Devine Wind.

* * * * *

October 21, 1944, Lieutenant Seki led his flight from Mabalacat to search for the reported American escort carriers off the Philippine coast.  No trace was found and the flight returned to base.  Then more flights, October 22, 23, and 24, again resulted in no-shows.  On the 25^th, though, they struck pay dirt.

Nine Zeros, four of which were escorts, had flown 3 hours and 25 minutes before they found the American escort carriers off Samar.  They had made their approach as Admiral Ohnishi had suggested:  Low, wave-hopping, so as to approach below the Americans’ radar.  Then they climbed to their attack altitude so as to take their final plunge.

Shikishima flight of five suicide planes pushed over into attack.  Flight leader Yukio Seki dove for the St Lo.  Through a hail of anti-aircraft fire he plunged, undaunted.  As he closed the flattop, he released his 550-pound bomb.  It immediately pierced the flight deck, into the hanger deck and there exploded, cascading the elevator upwards and sending up a geyser of planes and parts; into which Seki’s Zero piled into the fiery carnage.   Eight explosions ensued, tearing the baby flattop apart.  An hour later St. Lo took the plunge.

Another suicide pilot closed the Kitkun Bay, strafing as he bore in.  His target was the bridge, missed, zoomed over, caught the catwalk then crashed into the sea.  His 550-pound bomb detonated, showering the Kitkun Bay with fragments, wounding and maiming bluejackets.

Then a pair of Kamikazes targeted Fanshaw Bay, only to be splashed by the carrier’s hot gunners.

Shikishima flight died to a man.  But this did not mark the end of the attacks, for 15 dive-bombers pushed over into their death-dives.  Fighters that had harried Kurita’s fleet now were vectored in to defend the carriers from this new threat.  The aforementioned Kitkun Bay threw up two more fighters as well.  The carrier had survived Kurita, but now came a new threat.

A Val dove for the flattop, aiming for the flight deck.  The carrier’s gunners threw up withering fire.  The wings of the plane came off, leaving the fuselage to pile into the sea, narrowly missing the carrier, showering her deck with fragments and plane parts.

Kalinin Bay was not so fortunate.  A Kamikaze, seemingly impervious to the flattop’s gunnery crashed into the flight deck, doing grievous damage here and causing many casualties.  But carrier’s plight continued as a second suicide pilot crashed into the after smokestack.  Kalinin Bay, though punch drunk, survived.[10]

The four escorting Zeros of Shikishima flight-losing one after tangling with American fighters—returned to base to report the results.  One American escort carrier sunk, with at least five others damaged.[11]  The Kamikaze had proven itself on the field of battle.  It was here to stay.

* * * * *

The Kamikaze was accepted as a tactic in response to a daunting reality:  The standard methods of naval air warfare such a dive-bombing and torpedo attacks were no longer successful.  This, owing in part, to the superiority of the newer American fighter planes such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair and the P-51 Mustang.  In addition to the fact of superior American production, with earlier losses in warships not only replaced, but providing the United States with an unchallengeable two-ocean navy.

In the face of the above, Japanese aircraft such as the Aichi D3 Val dive-bomber with its fixed landing gear, the B3N Kate torpedo bomber had seen better days and had lost their superiority to the American Helldiver and Avenger torpedo plane.  The famous Zero fighter, though still speedy and nimble, had lost its superiority to the new American fighter types.  Yet it was still regarded as that plane best able to breech American defenses and cause that carnage necessary to reverse Japan’s fortunes.

Dated March 1945, an 88-page manual had been prepared by the Shimoshizu Air Unit, Chiba Prefecture, not far from Tokyo.  Bearing the name of the unit commander, a Major Hayashino, it was a how-to for Kamikaze pilots.  Actual title, Basic Instruction to To-Go Flyers. (To-Go was the codename for Special Attack Corps.)[12]

“Where to Crash, the Enemy’s Fatal Spots”

“Where should you aim?  When diving and crashing onto a ship, aim for a point between the bridge tower and the smoke stack(s).  Entering the stack is also effective.  Avoid hitting the bridge tower or a gun turret.  In the case of an aircraft carrier, aim at the elevators.  Or if that is difficult, hit the flight deck at the ship’s stern.  For a low horizontal attack, aim at the middle of the vessel, slightly higher than the waterline.  If that is difficult, in the case of an aircraft carrier, aim at the entrance to the aircraft hangar or the bottom of the stack.  For all other vessels, aim close to the aft engine room.”[13]

“You Are Now 30 Meters From the Target.”

“You will sense that your speed will suddenly and abruptly increase.  You feel that the speed has increased by a few thousand fold.  It is the long shot movie suddenly turning into a close-up and the sense expands in your face.”

“The Moment of the Crash”

“You are two or three meters from the target.  You can see clearly the muzzles of the enemy’s guns.  You feel that you are suddenly floating in the air.  At that moment, you see your mother’s face.  She is not smiling or crying.  It is her usual face.”[14]

* * * * *

“The nature of the threat was self-evident, need for what was called ‘special’ measures of the highest degree of sacrifice was clear.  The Chief of Staff informed the Emperor about the provisions for Kamikaze operations, which had already begun in a preliminary way, against the American fleet engaged in the bombardment (at Okinawa).  The Emperor urged Admiral Koshiro Oikawa to ‘leave nothing to be desired’ in executing those plans ‘with a hard struggle by all our forces, since [they] will decide the fate of our Empire.’  Oikawa’s assurance that two thousand planes were available for suicide attacks left Hirohito clearly concerned.  ‘Was that all?’ he asked, in his reedy, high-pitched voice.  The admiral’s hasty reply that the Army would contribute an additional fifteen hundred aircraft did not dispel His Majesty’s puzzlement.  ‘But where is the Navy?’ he asked, his tone putting an edge to the question.  ‘Are there no more ships?  No surface forces?’”[15]  This exchange occurred in March 1945.

Thus far, since the Kamikazes had been employed, beginning with the actions off Samar to the attacks on the U.S. fleet in the Lingayen Gulf:  “Between October 25, 1944, when the Kamikaze pilots made their first successful attack, and January 25, 1945, we estimated that our suicide pilots inflicted from light to severe damage to at least fifty American vessels of all types.  These included six large aircraft carriers, four of which were identified as the Intrepid, Franklin, Essex and Lexington; the two small aircraft carriers Belleau Wood and Independence; and the escort carrier St. Lo.  It was impossible at the time, of course, to determine specifically the names of these carriers our planes had struck such as the Santee, Suwannee, etc., until corroboration could be received through American reports.  Confirmation by our escorting Zero fighters was at best a questionable affair, because of the speed of the attacks, the fierce fighter and anti-aircraft defenses, and the abort period over the target area.”[16]

January 18, 1945, the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War made official government policy of, Admiral Ohnishi’s Special Attack Corps.  “The Council decided to ‘concentrate on converting all armament production to special attack weapons of a few major types.’  The available weapons systems were reduced to a suicide arsenal that included special submarines of the Koryu and Kaiyu class, high-speed small boats of the Shinyo class which exploded upon contact with enemy ships, and the Kaiten human torpedo.  The army’s contribution was a human bomb:  a soldier wrapped in explosives who hurled himself against an enemy tank, blowing it and himself to bits.  A military psychology insensitive to human life, to the individual’s right to survive, conceived the Special Attack idea.  The same mentality underlay the policy of requiring Japanese soldiers taken prisoner, even if they managed to return to friendly lines, to commit suicide.”[17]

Okinawa

Special Attack Corps operations were unleashed against the 5^th Fleet supporting the marines and GIs ashore.  355 Kikusuis swarmed 5^th Fleet, in addition to conventional dive-bombing and torpedo attacks.  In two days, April 6 and 7, 19 ships were damaged.

Again the optimum targets were the carriers, especially with disabling same by crashing into the elevators.  A flattop unable to utilize its air complement was little better than a target.  Other targets of opportunity were support vessels, supply ships, troop transports, . . .  On April 1, a Kamikaze struck the transport Alpine, killing 16 and wounding 27.  Another transport, Achernar, was both bombed and crashed by a Kamikaze, leaving 8 killed and 41 wounded.[18]

Undamaged cargos were unloaded leaving both ships to retire from the scene for repairs.

On April 3, the escort carrier, Wake Island, faced off with five planes coming in from her starboard quarter.  Two diving for her missed, splashing near the flattop.  The second, though, exploded, tearing a hole 18 by 45 feet into Wake Island’s hull.  It was back to Guam for repairs.

To shield 5th Fleet from attack and act as an early warning system, destroyers were assigned, along the lines of Britain’s radar stations that acted as that early warning system for RAF squadrons during the battle of Britain.  Yet despite the mobility of the American system, these picket destroyers and the bluejackets who manned them must be remembered for their courage and heroism for their part in the Plight of the Pickets.

Plight of the Pickets

March 24, 1945, USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, began the campaign with the preliminary bombardments of Okinawa.  By April 12, DD-733 was on picket duty, Station No.  4, some 70 miles northwest of Okinawa.

At 1445 hours, a trio of dive-bombers popped out of the clouds.  Pilots pushed over into their death dives.  Ablele’s gunners threw up a cloud of A.A.  Two of the intruders were flamed.  The third, too, was hit, then plunged into the sea.

Then, three more, this time Zeros.  Two were quickly splashed.  The third Zeke, bracketed by 40 mm and 20 mm and the 5-inch main batteries, was soon hit.  Pieces flew back into the slipstream.  Flames and black smoke marked the pilot’s path to imperial heaven.

But the gunners could not prevent the Zero’s appointed rendezvous and it crashed into the starboard side, just aft of Abele’s no. 2 stack.  The Zero’s bomb pierced the main deck, exploded in the after engine room, rupturing the can’s keel, wrecking the propeller shaft, killing nine men.

Then, in quick succession, skimming the sea, sped a Baka Bomb. The piloted cigar tube was closing the can at upwards of 500 mph.  Gunners furiously targeted the missile, but to no avail, as it knifed into the forward fireroom, killing and wounding bluejackets, violently shaking the ship and breaking the keel yet again.

The stricken DD began to settle.  Commander A.E. Parker ordered the crew to the boats.  Eighty-two of his crew were dead, 32 more were wounded.  All together 336 were rescued.

The Abele broke in two, then disappeared beneath the waves.

* * * * *

April 16, 1945:  Radar Picket Station No. 1, off Okinawa

On duty here was USS Laffey (DD-724), another Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer.  Skipper was Commander Frederick J. Becton.  Laffey will go down in American history as one of the most damaged of warships, certainly of destroyers and, . . .  fortunately, Becton and many of his crew will live to tell the tale.

In concert with DD-724 was a pair of Landing Craft Support vessels, LCS-51 and LCS-116.  These “were adaptations of Landing Craft Infantry armed with .50-caliber, 20 mm and 40 mm guns.  Slow—a top speed of 16 knots—shallow-bottomed and squat—160 feet long, with a 23-foot beam—the ungainly LCS’s chief merit was versatility.

“Two high-capacity pumps enabled the gunboat to double as a fireboat.  Young LCS skippers like the 51’s Lieutenant Howell D. Chickering and the 116’s Lieutenant A.J. Wierzbicki had few illusions about their purpose.  After suicide attacks, they would be dousing fires, removing casualties, and recovering survivors.”[19]    

0827, the radar operator’s screen was aglow with fifty enemy aircraft, all approaching from the north.  The stage was now set for the next eighty minutes, the battle for survival began.

Laffey’s fire direction officer urged the area’s combat air patrol to steer clear of the can’s anti-aircraft fire.

On closing the Laffey, Kamikazes came in from every point on the compass.  The aim was to not only split the gunnery, but overwhelm it.  Indeed, officers aboard Laffey will note 22 attacks.

The battle began when four Aichi D3A Val dive-bombers targeted Laffey.  Two bore in from the starboard bow.

Captain Becton barked, “Hard left rudder!”  The DD, at flank speed, came round hard.

Gunners splashed the Vals coming in to starboard.  A third Val, wave-hopping, was hit by 20 mm fire.  Its fixed landing gear caught a wave, then pitched into the sea.  The fourth Val, off the port quarter, was hit and splashed by gunners from Laffey and LCS-51.

Four up, four down.  But the action continued.  A pair of speedier Yokosuka D4 Judy dive-bombers came in, one to port, the other to starboard.  Gunners blasted the threat to starboard.  The second Judy roared in from the port quarter, strafing, was hit by 40 mm and 20 mm fire, then crashed into the sea.  The bomb it was carrying detonated, spraying the port side with fragments, wounding several gunners and, knocked out the SG surface search/low-altitude aircraft and fire control radar antenna, as well as a radio antenna.[20]

Then in came another Val from the port beam.  Every 5-inch gun opened up, with lesser calibers joining in the symphony of gunfire.  The onrushing pilot brushed the 5-inch turret aft, killing one of the gun crew, then plunged into the sea.  Then came another Judy to starboard.  40 mm and 20 mm set the gas tank alight, turning the Yokosuka into a torch, then it crashed into the sea.

A ninth attacker, another Judy, from the port beam.  40 mm and 20 mm gunners hit the plane repeatedly, to no avail as the intruder struck the Laffey, taking out a whaleboat before piling into a pair of 20 mm gun mounts and starting a roaring fire abaft the second stack.  Two 40 mm mounts atop the deck house were now besieged by flames.  Ready rounds began to explode.  Sailors rushed to toss unexploded rounds overboard.  This attack severed communications with the forward engine room.

Two minutes later, another Val, skimming the sea from astern, raking the deck with machine gun fire, slammed into the DD and exploded.  A river of flaming gasoline spread across the fantail.  A second Val dropped its bomb, which hit abaft the after 5-inch gun turret, to which the plane struck the turret, killing six men inside.

Then another plane dropped a bomb which struck Laffey astern, severing the hydraulic lines to the steering gear, jamming her rudder to port, leaving DD-724 circling.

The tortured can by now had lost two 40 mm and five 20 mm mounts; a vulnerability compounded by the fires being fought by her crew.  And, there was still the air threat.

Two more attackers made a beeline for the stricken can.  Every gun that could opened up.  From the port quarter, the first plane, a Val, crashed into the after deckhouse, spilling gasoline and starting another fire; followed by a Judy which crashed into the same spot, killing four men.  The after deckhouse was now an inferno.

Then a fighter plane, an Oscar, came screaming in, aiming at the forecastle.  On its tail, pilot braving the ship’s A.A., was a Corsair, its guns chattering.  The intruder narrowly cleared the bridge, taking out the portside yardarm as he crashed into the sea.  The pursing Corsair collided with the air-search radar antenna, damaging the plane.  The pilot was able to gain altitude, then bailed out.  He was later picked up by LCS-51.[21]

Tom McCarthy, a signalman, seeing that the Oscar had taken out the yardarm, grabbed another battle ensign.  He affixed same to the mast.

A more detailed combat air patrol arrived.  Corsairs from Intrepid (CV-11) and Hellcats from the light carrier San Jacinto (CVL-30).  But the battle was over.

Laffey’s situation was extremely critical.  Flooded compartments aft left her low astern in the water.  Fires aft still raged and, her steering gear was jammed.  Air search and surface search radars were destroyed.  And with much of the electrical power having been knocked out, many of her guns were on manual.  Surprisingly though she was still afloat after taking six Kamikazes and four bombs.  Then again, maybe not so surprisingly.  For there was her valiant crew, who had leaped to their ship’s defense.

Laffey was accorded a Presidential Unit Citation.  Commander Frederick Julian Becton, a Navy Cross.  Lieutenant Howell D. Chickering, c.o. of LCS-51, a Navy Cross.  Ensign Robert Clarence Thomsen, a posthumous Navy Cross.  Other crewmen on the Laffey:  six Silver Stars, 18 Bronze Stars and a Navy Letter of Commendation.

And the Laffey?  She would be repaired and returned to the fleet.  She would later serve during the Korean War and, be accorded two more Battle Stars.

* * * * *

Postscript

In Volume XIV of his epic rendition of the naval war in World War II, Samuel Eliot Morison offered a pertinent analysis of the events at Okinawa:

“Thus, as the war against japan drew to its close, Okinawa became a giant air and naval base which was destined to play a major role in the Cold War that followed the war with Japan.  For it we paid a heavy price.  Thirty-two naval ships and craft had been sunk, mostly by Kamikaze attack and 368 ships and craft had been damaged.  The fleet lost 763 aircraft.  Over 4,900 sailors were killed or went missing in action, and an additional 4,824 were wounded.  This was by far the heaviest loss incurred in any naval campaign in the war.  Tenth Army also suffered heavy casualties:  7,613 killed or missing in cation, 31,807 wounded and more than 26,000 non-battle casualties.”[22]

The final word of the story belongs to Winston Churchill, who observed in a communication to President Harry Truman, June 12, 1945:  “The strength of willpower, devotion and technical resources applied by the United States to this task, joined with the death struggle of the enemy, . . . places this battle among the most intense and famous in military history. . . .  We make our salute to all your troops and their commanders engaged.”[23]

Endnotes

[1]  Kikusui or Floating Chrysanthemums was the name of an operation conducted by the Japanese against the U.S. fleet supporting the marines and GIs at Okinawa, April 6 to June 22, 1945.  See page 142, Chapter 16, “Homeland Special Attack Units, April 1945-June 1945,” The Devine Wind, by Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima, Former Imperial Japanese Navy with Roger Pineau.

[2]  See page VI, “Forward,” The Devine Wind, by Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima, Former Imperial Japanese Navy with Roger Pineau.

[3] Three costliest battles in American history:  The Meuse-Argonne, 1918; Battle of the Bulge, 1944 and Okinawa, 1945.

[4]  See page 1, “Under-Sea Kamikaze,” by Richard O’Neill, War Monthly, Issue No. 9,  December 1974.  See, too, pages 40 and 41, A History of Japan, by Richard Storry, who highlights 1274 and 1281.  With the prior attempt, “The armada began by attacking two islands, Tsushima and Ikim that lie between Kyushu and Korea.  The small garrisons on these islands fought to the death—a tradition observed in 1945 on other islands guarding the approaches to Japan.  The Mongols then made a landing in Kyushu and a stubborn battle took place.  However, a severe storm threatened the ships as they lay offshore; and the Mongol force embarked and withdrew.  The elements were to intervene even more effectively on the side of Japan in 1281.  On this occasion, after landing in Kyushu, the Mongols fought, in the small bridgehead they had seized, a campaign that lasted without interruption for fifty-three days.  Then on 14 August 1281 a typhoon descended upon the Mongol fleet and virtually wiped it out.  This typhoon the Japanese had every right to regard as providential.  In shrines and temples throughout the land prayers had been offered for deliverance from the invaders.  The typhoon, then, was called “The Devine Wind,” the Japanese name for which is Kamikaze.

Also, per Thomas Cutler, The Battle of Leyte Gulf, pages 265 and 266, offers the god of wind.  “Years of dissention and internal wars had weakened the Japanese and they were in no shape to repel the Mongol invaders.  Having resigned themselves to either death or slavery, the fortuitous appearances of the typhoons were hailed as an intervention by Ise, the wind god.  A legend was born that would carry over the centuries, strengthening the Japanese belief that they were a divinely protected people, convincing them that their destiny had been ordained by the gods and that they had been saved by what they called the “devine wind”—Kamikaze in Japanese.”     

[5]  See page 27, Chapter Two, “Organizing for Death,” The Kamikazes, by Edwin P. Hoyt.

[6]  See page 53, Edwin P. Hoyt.

[7]  See page 25, “Marianas Aftermath,” The Devine Wind, by Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima, Former Imperial Japanese Navy with Roger Pineau.

[8]  See pages 6 and 7, Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima, Former Imperial Japanese Navy with Roger Pineau.

[9]  See pages 11 and 12, Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima, Former Imperial Japanese Navy, with Roger Pineau.

Shikishima—Poetic name of Japan; Yamato—Ancient name of Japan; Asahi—Morning sun and, Yamazakura—Cherry blossoms.

[10]  See pages 78 and 79, Chapter Seven, “A-Operation Day,” The Kamikazes, by Edwin P. Hoyt.

[11]  The five damaged carriers were as followed:  Santee, Suwanee, Kitkun Bay, Kalinin Bay, and White Plains.  See pages 306 and 307, Chapter Nineteen, “The Lost Chance,” The Battle of Leyte Gulf, by Edwin P. Hoyt.

[12]  See page 77, Chapter 6, “The Suicide Manual,” Kamikaze:  Japan’s Suicide Gods, by Albert Axell and Hideaki Kase.

[13]  See pages 80 and 81, “Page 37:  Chapter 6, ‘Suicide Manual,’” Albert Axell and Hideaki Kase.

[14]  See page 81, “Page 39:  Chapter 6, ‘Suicide Manual,’” Albert Axell and Hideaki Kase.

[15]  See page 8, Chapter 1, “Operation Heaven Number One,” Tennozan, by George Feifer.

[16]  See page 250, Chapter 24, “The Kamikaze Suicidal Attacks,” ZERO!, by Masatake Okumiya and Jiro Horikashi with Martin Caiden.

[17]  See pages 183 and 184, Chapter 9, “The Horrors of War,” The Pacific War, by Saburo Ienaga.

[18]  The attention paid to transport vessels made perfect logistical sense.  No ability to resupply the landing forces means no successful campaign ashore.  Historical parallel here was the night of August 8-9, 1942, when Admiral Guichi Mikawa surprised and defeated the American naval support forces at Savo Island, sinking three American and one Australian heavy cruisers.  But Mikawa, concerned with being caught by American aircraft the following morning as he withdrew up the Solomon Islands chain, did not attack the American transports supporting the Marines ashore on Guadalcanal.

[19]  See page 7, “Battered Beyond Belief:  The Story of the Destroyer Laffey,” by David Sears, www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/06/07/…

[20]  See page 4, “H-045-1:  The Ship That Wouldn’t Die(2)—USS Laffey (DD-724) 16 April 1945,” www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/about…

[21]  The presence of an Oscar fighter, which is an Army plane, perhaps shows Army-Navy cooperation in this attack.

[22]  See page 282, Chapter XVIII, “Okinawa Secured, June-September 1945,” Victory in the Pacific, Volume XIV, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, by Samuel Eliot Morison.

[23]  See pace 282, Samuel Eliot Morison.  Quote originally published in the New Time Times, June 23, 1945.

Bibliography

Axell, Albert and Kase, Hideaki, Kamikaze:  Japan’s Suicide Gods, Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh and London, Great Britain, 2002.

Cutler, Thomas J., The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23-26 October 1944, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY., 1994.

Feifer, George, Tennozan:  The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb, Ticknor & Fields, New York, NY., 1992.

“H-045-1:  The Ship That Wouldn’t Die (2)—USS Laffey (DD-724), 16 April 1945,” www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/about …

Hoyt, Edwin P., Closing the Circle:  War in the Pacific, 1945, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, Inc., New York, NY., 1982.

Hoyt, Edwin P., The Battle of Leyte Gulf:  The Death Knell of the Japanese Fleet, Weybright and Talley, New York, NY, 1971.

Hoyt, Edwin P., The Kamikazes:  Suicide Squadrons of World War II, Burford Books, Inc., Short Hills, New Jersey, 1983.

Ienaga, Saburo, The Pacific War, Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, 1978.

Inoguchi, Captain Rikihei and Nakajima, Commander Tadashi, Former Imperial Japanese Navy with Roger Pineau, The Devine Wind, Bantam Books, Inc., New York, NY., 1978.  Originally published by the United States Naval Institute, 1958.

Ireland, Bernard, with Gerrard, Howard, Leyte Gulf 1944:  The World’s Greatest Sea Battle, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2006.

Mikesh, Robert C., ZERO, a Warbird History, Motorbooks International Books & Wholesalers, Osceola, Wisconsin, 1994.  Forward to this selection was written by legendary Zero ace, Saburo Sakai.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, Victory in the Pacific, Volume XIV, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey, 2001.  Originally published 1960.

Munson, Kenneth, Aircraft of World War II, Doubleday & Company, Inc., printed by Crampton & Sons, Ltd., Sawston, Cambridge, Great Britain, 1968.  Originally published by Ian Allen, 1962.

Okumiya, Masatake and Horikoshi, Jiro, with Caiden, Martin, ZERO!  The Story of Japan’s Air War in the Pacific:  1941-1945, Ballantine Books, Inc., New York, NY., 1956.

O’Neill, Richard, “Under-Sea kamikaze,” War Monthly, Issue No. 9, Marshall Cavandish, Ltd., London, England, December 1974.

Parkin, Robert Sinclair, Blood on the Sea:  American Destroyers Lost in World War II, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001.

Sears, David, World War II Magazine, “Battered Beyond Belief:  The Story of the destroyer Laffey,” Navy Times, June 7, 2019, www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/06/07/…

Storry, Richard, A History of Modern Japan, Penguin Books, Ltd., Middlesex, England, 1975.  Originally published, 1960.

Whitley, M.J., Destroyers of World War II:  An International Encyclopedia, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2000.  First published 1988, Arms & Armour Press, London.

Story by Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska —During the culminating training event of exercise Special Operation Forces Arctic Medic 2025, Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion landed a HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter on the platform of an Alaska Railroad rail car that was staged on a bridge above the Chena River, in the vicinity of Fairbanks, Alaska, Feb 20, 2025.

The two-wheel touchdown on a rail car had never been attempted by an AKARNG aviator and was a unique training experience for the entire crew. Dissimilar to runway landings or placing the entire aircraft down in an open space, the narrow rail car platform presented additional risk factors like loose debris and the need to precisely calculate the avenue of approach to hover on the rail car, while ground crews unloaded medical equipment and supplies.

The crew also lowered their critical care flight paramedic Staff Sgt. Steven Gildersleeve successfully onto the train to hoist a patient and medically evacuate them using a state-of-the-art hoist approved Patient Isolation Unit called the Operational Rescue Containment Apparatus, used exclusively by the U.S. Coast Guard. The hoist was executed right on target on the narrow landing strip of the rail car. Members of the USCG participated in the collaborative, medical exercise to field this innovative equipment and demonstrate its use cases.

“I am absolutely inspired by the Alaska National Guard team, their knowledge, professionalism, willingness to solve problems with minimal guidance to plan any given mission,” said Col. Manuel Menendez, Command Surgeon with Special Operations Command North and one of the lead planners for the exercise. “The flight crew that landed on the train was not just good, they were amazing and I’m looking forward to my next trip to Alaska to work with them again soon.”

The concept for a rail car operation was to evaluate how traumatically injured and chemically or biologically contaminated casualties could be moved, following decontamination and initial stabilization, via a hospital train.

Historically, the U.S. and NATO forces utilized hospital trains, and this exercise is an early effort to evaluate how this system of casualty movement could be applied to future large scale combat operations where there would be an overwhelming number of casualties coming back from combat. Recognizing that hospital trains would require enroute care, AKARNG flight surgeon, Maj. Titus Rund and Director of Experimentation worked with SOCNORTH to develop an augmented reality system that could be utilized on a mobile platform in austere locations.

This augmented reality system enabled a paramedic known as a “TeleDelgate” to work under the direction of a “TeleMentor” anesthesiologist, surgeon or other specialist to include documenting care. These “TeleMentors” were located at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio,Texas.

The AR system was able to transmit “TeleDelegate” and casualty vital signs in real-time while the subject matter experts as BAMC provided guidance and supervision for anesthesia and airway management, damage control surgical procedures and intensive care measures to patient aboard the moving train.

TeleMentor monitoring of remote vital signs could someday allow a “TeleMentor” to better guide the “TeleDelegate” and make sure that they are providing the best instruction and feedback in real time which would help ensure that a “TeleDelegate” is not overwhelmed during the assigned task(s) and future research efforts should be evaluated looking at this technology.

In this scenario, a train carrying a simulated casualty who was exposed to a potential biological or radiological agent underwent treatment from an isolated railcar. This necessitated “ambulance backhaul” of medical supplies, Low-Titer O whole Blood and chemical countermeasures be delivered by the helicopter to get to the treatment and containment areas.

The combined air and ground mission bolstered a joint effort between NORTHCOM executed through SOCNORTH, SOCOM, U.S Customs and Border Protection – BORSTAR, the FBI, the U.S. Army, USCG, U.S. Air Force Reserves, AKNG, Alaska Railroad Corporation and University of Alaska Fairbanks Drone Program for all air and ground assets involved. Exercise planners brought the respective branches and agencies’ best equipment and practices to the fight.

The aviators supported the exercise from Feb.18-21 and transported simulated casualties to collection points while providing hoist capabilities to exercise participants. SOFAM 2025 saw some of the nation’s most elite warriors and field surgeons converge on Yukon Training Area near Ft. Wainwright to train on extreme cold weather medical care.

The AKARNG crew included pilot in command Chief Warrant Officer 3 JD Miller, support pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Berg, crew chief Sgt..1st Class Brad Mckenzie, and flight medics Staff Sgt. Steven Gildersleeve and Staff Sgt. Michael Crane.

Miller, the company standardization pilot for the 2-211 GSAB worked with Rund as they prepared for successful mission execution. Berg, who is based out of Juneau, took this opportunity to fly this mission to enhance his core competencies and skills.

“I think a big part of what we brought to the fight here was our depth of experience working in these cold weather conditions and our ability to work with and coordinate with a multitude of different units to include active-duty troops, federal, state and local agencies,” said Berg. “We really want to push that we’re open for business in working with all of our training partners to hone our skillsets and relationships.”

Rund coordinated with the Alaska Railroad Corporation to provide the U.S. Army with railcars for the training event which included the Black Hawk landing, hoisting and enroute testing of the Augmented Reality TeleDelegated system on a moving train.

“We’re honored to be able to serve our communities and military,” said Tom Covington, Director of Safety for the ARRC. “We’ve been able to observe the military’s approach to utilizing these railcars over the course of this exercise and it’s given us insight into how we can improve our cold weather survival capabilities as an organization.”

This medical training and experimentation centered exercise enhanced casualty care and medical evacuation proficiencies with standard, nonstandard and experimental equipment from across the U.S. military and its NATO partner forces. Rund and his team coordinated with exercise leaders to get the AKARNG crew involved and to be part of the next era of warfighting in the Arctic as the SOCNORTH team work to establish medical requirements for operations in arctic or extreme cold environments.

“It’s fantastic being able to work with team leadership like Doc Rund and see the work that he’s put in and the people he’s surrounded himself with to accomplish this,” Berg said. “He talked about this training evolution and told us he sees us having an integral part in it. It’s the way of the future and a good test of expanding our horizons and opportunities for what we can achieve together.”

 

Story by Vanessa Schell

Efforts to increase U.S. Army warfighter capability and repair efficiency in theater were strengthened with the recent inception of an aviation engine repair shop.

Over a year ago, an aviation logistics officer with the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Codi Walker, brought forth a plan for an expeditionary engine shop in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

This plan was pitched to the 1st TSC commander, Maj. Gen. Eric Shirley, by the Aviation Field Maintenance Directorate at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The plan was approved and would proceed as a three-phase project.

Helming the project is the 1100th Theater Aviation Support Maintenance Group, a National Guard unit from Edgewood, Maryland, and the 1st TSC forward aviation pillar in theater.

The 1100th worked directly with Department of the Army civilians in Logistics Readiness Center-Alpha, Ainsley Vickers, LRC-A CENTCOM chief, and Valkeith Williams, logistics management specialist.

Col. Jeremy Chiglo, commander, 1100th TASMG, moved from Alabama to Maryland to serve as the Maryland State Aviation Officer, shortly before the unit deployed overseas. He brought with him three Soldiers from Alabama, who also deployed.

“The National Guard has five TASMGs that support both the U.S. Aviation Missile Command and the 1st TSC. The TASMGs rotate through theater every 9 months and all TASMGs share this responsibility,” said Chiglo.

In addition to the Maryland TASMG, there are four throughout the continental U.S.; the 1106th from California, the 1107th from Missouri, 1108th from Mississippi, and the 1109th from Connecticut.

“We’ve been here about four months,” continued Chiglo. “When we first arrived, the engine shop had been conceptualized, there was a plan passed down to us from our predecessors, the 1108th. LRC-A and Chief Walker had secured the budget, as well as the containers.”

The containers are military-owned expandable containers similar to a shipping container, were already present in theater and roughly placed before the 1100th TASMG took command. These containers were acquired and sent by AFMD and came equipped with basic tools for engine repair.

Chiglo shared that, within the force structure of the TASMG, the Soldiers focus on routine and unscheduled aviation maintenance, and the bulk of the engine repair is done by contractors with Amentum, an aviation maintenance company, who are overseen by the DA civilians in LRC-A.

The 1100th were tasked to stand up the shop in four or five months, and they were able to complete it in half the time. “My biggest worry were the technical experts,” said Chiglo. “Once LRC-A secured the Amentum contractors for us, we were able to get the containers lined up and get power to the shop. It took us about a month just to procure the necessary parts.”

The first phase of the project was finalized with the engine shop’s inaugural ribbon-cutting, October 31, 2024. The shop is currently housed in two adjacent SPAMS and services two helicopter engines, the T-701, which seamlessly fits both the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk, and a T-55, for the CH-47 Chinook.

The next two phases include moving to a larger hard structure and acquiring a Modernized Flexible Engine Diagnostic System, a large machine capable of fully testing and verifying engines.

Chiglo explained that although theoretically an engine could be tested and verified by hanging it back on the aircraft, the risk of compromising the safety and readiness of warfighters is too high.

“What we’re doing now is bridging the gap. The contractors will repair the engine, then, as a temporary measure, it will be routed to the Theater Aviation Sustainment Management – OCONUS (Outside Continental U.S.), for a final test run of the engine.”

An MFEDS is not always required to repair an engine back to full functionality, but Chiglo clarified that it could still save valuable time up front by diagnosing the problems. Without an MFEDS, technicians must dismantle an engine for diagnosis before they can begin the repairs, a process that is both timely and costly.

Since opening, the engine shop has already repaired a T-55, which did not require an MFEDS, and has returned it to its aviation unit. The shop is currently awaiting the final part for the cold section of a T-701, before the engine will be sent for testing on the TASM-O’s MFEDS.

“Our goal is to have everything we need here in theater – to fix engines, test them, and return them, while also being fiscally responsible,” concluded Chiglo.

The engine shop ultimately aims to expedite the repair and return of fully functional engines to the warfighter and aviation units, while saving the Department of Defense funds by reducing the expenditure of repair, maintenance, and new equipment.

As a new cornerstone of the Army’s aviation maintenance efforts, the shop plays a crucial role in ensuring readiness of Army aviation capabilities in theater.

Your AAAA National Executive Group, plus Executive Director, Mr. Bill Harris, have just returned from the annual Aviation Leaders Conference at Fort Novosel, AL.

Many thanks to our great Branch Chief, MG Clair Gill, for including the Aviation ‘Gray Beard’ cohort in this really impactful gathering of our Army Aviation leadership teams from all components and organizations. It truly is an invaluable opportunity to engage with our Army and Aviation leaders to understand the current state of the Branch, and importantly the vision for the future. AAAA exists to support the Army Aviation Soldier and family, and the broader Army Aviation community, and it is vital to understand the Branch’s activities, initiatives, and challenges so we can best shape your Association’s efforts, events, and advocacy on behalf of Army Aviation.

Another important feature of the Leaders Conference is the Annual Awards Dinner conducted at the Army Aviation Museum… a timely opportunity to present AAAA “Functional” awards to our outstanding and deserving Aviation Soldiers in the areas of Air Traffic Control, Medicine, Air Sea Rescue and Training, done in conjunction with the LTG Ellis D. Parker ‘Organizational’ awards presented by the Branch Chief. We featured the AAAA Functional award winners in the January issue and will feature the Parker awards in the March issue. It is always such an honor and pleasure to meet and visit with the awardees and their families the evening before the Annual Awards Dinner, at a private awardee dinner we host each year at AAAA Past President BG Rod Wolfe’s country club in Enterprise. There is no doubt that the strength of our Army and Army Aviation is embodied in those soldiers and their families!

Of note, the week prior to the Aviation Conference, our Executive Director and Deputy Director, Bill Harris and Art Agnew, hosted a joint dinner meeting for the boards of the Central Florida Chapter of Orlando (and thanks to our AAAA Vice President for Chapter Activities, Jan Drabczuk) and the Embry Riddle Chapter of Daytona Beach, FL. Bill and Art report out that it was a dynamic discussion ranging from the ROTC Cadets view of recruiting challenges among their peers to emphasis on the “Sacred Trust” between the Aviation Branch and the Troops on the ground. The meeting featured a diverse breadth of experience and perspectives – from combat veterans to ROTC Cadets, civilian industry executives representing aviation simulation and AI capabilities and even a couple of Marines thrown in for good measure. Many actions fell out of the meeting, and we look forward to using these two Chapters (that represent differing demographics) as a sounding board for AAAA initiatives going forward.

Finally, hopefully by now you have made your plans to join us at the AAAA Annual Summit May 14 -16, 2025 at the Gaylord Opryland, Nashville TN. Currently, registrations, exhibit sales, and all other metrics are at really strong levels. The agenda and program(s) are being finalized with our Aviation Branch leadership, and it is certainly shaping up to be another world-class Summit. See you there!

MG Walt Davis, U.S. Army Retired
36th President, AAAA
walt.davis@quad-a.org

Story by Kelly Morris

FORT NOVOSEL, Ala.–The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence announced the winners of the 2024 Lt. Gen. Ellis D. Parker Awards Jan. 29, 2025.

The multi-component Department of the Army level awards, which recognize excellence at the battalion level, were presented during the annual Aviation Senior Leader Forum here.

The award’s namesake is a former Army Aviation branch chief. A true Army Aviation pioneer, Parker provided the vision, the masterful leadership, and the commitment necessary to consolidate and modernize Army Aviation during its formative years.

Parker assumed command shortly after the branch’s formation, and skillfully led a fledgling branch into its rightful place within the Army. As commanding general, Parker consolidated and modernized Army Aviation hardware, doctrine, training and logistics, making possible the Army’s transition from the Cobra helicopter to the Apache.

For the award, Aviation battalions are nominated annually across four categories—Combat Support, Table of Distribution and Allowances, Combat Service Support, and Combat–and are initially boarded against category peers.

They undergo an evaluation against four primary criteria, including safety, leadership, training and maintenance. The winners then compete for the top aviation battalion of the year award.

The 2024 Lt. Gen. Ellis D. Parker Award winners are:
• The Combat Support category, and overall Top Aviation Battalion of the Year winner is 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment (GSAB),12th Combat Aviation Brigade, V Corps, United States Army Europe.
• The Table of Distribution and Allowances category winner is Special Operations Aviation Training Battalion, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
• The Combat Service Support category winner is 404th Aviation Support Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.
• The Combat category winner is 3rd battalion,160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, AVCOE and Fort Novosel commanding general, who serves as the U.S. Army Aviation branch chief, lauded the individuals and organizations who have excelled across the Army Aviation enterprise.

“These exemplars embody the culture of what we all emulate and champion to make our Army the decisive land force to defeat tyranny from oppressors,” Gill said.

“It’s on all of us to hone that warfighting culture in our branch. We owe it to our Soldiers to train them to be resilient, proficient, unrelenting and ready to fight on today’s battlefield.”

“I want to congratulate the award recipients and reaffirm that the actions that earned you this recognition are the mettle that enables Army Aviation to remain the decisive element of our combined arms team, ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges, today,” he said.

For more information about Lt. Gen. Ellis D. Parker and the awards process visit https://home.army.mil/novosel/usaace/edpaward .

Story by Kelly Morris

FORT NOVOSEL, Ala.–Aviation leaders across all Army components gathered at the home of Army Aviation at Fort Novosel, Ala., to focus on current and future operations, training and leader development Jan. 28-30.

With a theme of “Army Aviation–Ready to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges Today,” the event included a three-day lineup of guest speakers and breakout working group sessions.

Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, Army Aviation branch chief, said Army aviation must prepare to defeat an enemy that is evolving at the rapid pace of technology and also maintain the readiness to be able to “fight and win tonight.”

“We have to have a sense of urgency and purpose about our collective readiness,” Gill said. “We have to adapt to the challenges of the future, while we are tethered to the reality of the here and now.”

History repeats itself, and Gill said the branch has been here before:

“We’ve seen belligerent nations and non-state actors, we’ve weathered changing administrations and inconsistent funding, and we’ve pushed through recruiting challenges as the economy has ebbed and flowed,” he said.

“So we find ourselves in another interwar period again. Once again our Army is in transition–transformation, in fact. We have clear guidance from our leadership to enhance warfighting readiness, deliver combat ready formations, transform at scale/pace, and continue to foster our profession of arms” as the Army shifts its focus to Large Scale Combat Operations, he explained.

Key topics included the changing nature of modern warfare, including drones, human-machine integration, additive manufacturing, machine learning, autonomous systems, AI-enabled maintenance conditions, resilient networks, rotorcraft with an open architecture and modularity.

“Our ‘Big Five’ is rapidly being fielded across the entirety of our Army right now,” he said. “The Future Long Range Assault Aircraft is bringing a generational leap forward in range and speed we haven’t seen in our lifetime. Army Aviation is the proponent for integrating UAS at every echelon while also serving as the trail boss for synchronizing airspace management in a complex operating environment.”

Dependence on legacy systems cannot be neglected though.

“We will always fight with what we have,” he said.

This makes the Army’s partnership with industry even more vital.

“Not only must our industry partners provide the technology for the future, they also must ensure that our legacy systems are sustained and can keep pace to fight and win today,” he said.

He also said the leaders at the event shared the same passion “for how we leverage the talent that emulates from training right here on Fort Novosel, and graduates to our warfighting formations to create war-winning advantage for our Army and the Joint Force.”

In his update about the state of the branch, Gill covered topics including flight school, unit aircrew experience, aviation and transformation, unmanned aviation, airspace, safety trends, professional military discourse and aviation warfighter culture.

Gen. Gary M. Brito, who commands U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, greeted industry partners, legacy leaders, experts and Army aviation leaders, and spoke about TRADOC’s ongoing efforts to help brigade commanders in the field to build warfighting readiness as they continue to focus on transformation.

“Aviation has always been extremely relevant,” he said. “I sense it’s going to be even more relevant as we transition…and maintain overmatch in LSCO and MDO. Fires, sensor to shooter, support to casualty evacuation, deliver of our troops, long range fires, you name it. That’s no different than what we’ve done before, but it speaks to the relevance (as we transform) the types of aircraft and the way we train.”

This includes adapting Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, to ensure they are learning what they need in the future, which includes understanding what it means to be a member of a cohesive team and squad.

As to the speed of institutional transformation to accommodate commanders’ warfighting readiness, Brito said it’s not perfect but it will enable commanders to train their forces and meet the warfighting demands that the Chief of Staff of the Army has laid out in his Army priorities.

Participants heard from Army aviation branch senior leaders and experts, the director of Army Aviation, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7; Program Executive Office for Aviation; Army Futures Command including the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team; U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center; and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command.

The forum included multiple scheduled breakout working group sessions focused on a variety of topics including mission command, extending operational reach, combat aviation brigade as division reconnaissance, and aviation sustainment.

Gill said the feedback from the working group sessions will feed into how he envisions the future of the branch.

Looking Back, March 2025
By Mark Albertson

Putting the House in Order
Part V: TRENDS AIRPOWER

“Close Air Support:  Experience of three decades has changed the concept and practice of close air support.  In some advanced forces, including those of the U.S. aircraft are dedicated to the support of the maneuver arms in recognition of the fact that the battlefield will provide an abundance of targets that can be destroyed by close air support.

“US tactical aircraft are far more powerful than those of 1945.  The USAAF P-47 of WWII, for instance, could fly 100 miles to a target, stay for less than half an hour, deliver .50 caliber machine gun fire and two 250 pound bombs, and return to its base.  Today, the USAF A-10 carries 30 times as much ordnance—about 16,000 pounds of cannon ammunition, bombs and missiles.  The A-10 can also fly to a target 250 miles from home base, monitor the target areas for as much as two hours, deliver its ordnance, and return.  In addition, the ordnance itself is far more lethal.  The GAU-8 Gatling Gun in the A-10 for example fires a 1.5 pound projectile capable of destroying tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other armored targets.  The GAU-8 is 7 times more lethal than the conventional 20 mm gun and for the first time combines the accuracy and flexibility of a gun with the true tank-killing capability.

“Modern Air Force tactical aircraft carry a variety of ordnance including guided and unguided bombs and missiles.  Guided bombs, those with electronic steering, and guided missiles, such as the Maverick, can achieve high probability of hit and kill.  Operational tests clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the most modern fighters against tanks.  Moreover, both guided missiles and guided bombs provide standoff capabilities which combine their greatly increased accuracy with sharply reduced exposure of the attacker to opposing air defenses.

“Modern tactical aircraft with improved ordnance are now considered components of the Army/Air Force combined arms team.  In addition to close air support missions for the ground units, the aircraft today permits rapid development of destructive force beyond the immediate battlefield to deep-lying targets.”

* * * * *

“TRENDS:  ARMY AIRCRAFT”[2]

“Firepower:  The high-mobility and armor-killing capability of attack helicopters makes them unique to the battlefield.  Their weapons systems are capable of defeating the entire spectrum of battlefield targets.  Ongoing development of the advanced attack helicopter (AAH) incudes an advanced fire control system to provide extended range target acquisition and engagement and a laser HELLFIRE missile system which will have commonality with cannon-launched guided munitions and USAF/Navy missiles and bombs.  In addition, product improvement of the existing 2.75-inch aerial rocket and the introduction of the 30 mm cannon will further enhance the staying and killing capability of the attack helicopter.  These improvements will spell greater accuracy against point and area targets on the future battlefield.”

* * * * *

“AERIAL vs. GROUND RANGES”

“Attack helicopters can fire at extended ranges more often than their ground counterparts since they can rise above the mask to increase both target acquisition and firing range.  The difference of only 5 feet in elevation can convert an 800 meter shot on the ground to a 3,000 meter kill from the air.

“Mobility:  Firepower and mobility are inseparable.  By increasing the mobility of ground forces are of influence.  Examples of increased mobility include moving ground firing units and air assaulting maneuver forces.  When speed is essential, distances great, and terrain about the battlefield restrictive, air assault forces make a significant contribution toward winning the battle.

“Intelligence, Command and Control:  To win battles, awareness of enemy capabilities and intentions is a prerequisite.  Intelligence-gathering aircraft, to include air cavalry, provide a source for this essential information.  Observation helicopters can provide commanders an aerial look at terrain on which the battle may take place so that they may more rapidly evaluate and plan the effective use of the combined arms team and directly influence the flow of the battle.

“Combat Service Support:  Modern forces with their unprecedented mobility and complex equipment consume vast quantities of supplies.  Therefore, a highly responsive, yet flexible, system is necessary and is indispensable.  One medium lift helicopter, for example, can carry almost two times the load of a 5-ton truck, five times as fast.  Further, aerial resupply is not affected by road traffic ability or congestion.  Using external loads makes loading and unloading almost instantaneous at the point of need.  Responsive logistics lighten the basic combat loads of maneuver units and increase their mobility.”

* * * * *

Endgame Toward Branchhood

This work consisting of five installments merely scratched the surface in relating that decade of transformation, 1973-1983, as the Nation attempted to bounce back from an embarrassing, yet profound political defeat in Southeast Asia.  Damage control so as to maintain that coveted position as the globe’s ranking power must be pursued with intelligence and purpose.  British defeats at Saratoga in 1777 to an army hardly of world class standards and, again later, early 1942 with the fall of Fortress Singapore to the Japanese, stand as examples of the long-term decline of the British Empire.

In effort to prevent such a protracted decay from occurring, required the Army to shift its focus, from that of counterinsurgency to conventional war; and this necessitated acclimating the ground forces to the resulting political, economic, technological and strategic realities of the period in question.

Officers of the 1970s who sought to prepare the Army for the post-Vietnam War era are to be held in good stead.  To start with, they were not seeking to fight the next war like the last war.  In this they were following in the footsteps of such astute general officers as Lieutenant General Roy S. Geiger of the Marine Corps and Major General James M. Gavin of the United States Army.  They were among those who thoroughly understood the game-changing nature of atomic weaponry following Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Du Puy, Starry and Gorman, then, were among those revisiting the post-Korean War era, to not only maintain the Army’s stock-in-trade, conventional warfare, but in a nuclear environment and doing so with a reduced force; and this required an concerted reliance on the technological advantage that would provide the post-Vietnam army the ability to be mobile, but at the same time, effect grievous damage on any opponent encountered.

Such was the success of Genghis Khan and his Mongol Army:  Effective use of mobility—the Mongols’ stock-in-trade—which was second to none.  Superb generalship; and that talent to adapt to ever-changing situations and use of new or even unfamiliar technologies.  Indeed, this was the U.S. Army in 1973-1983.  For instance, the UH-1 Huey, which proved a workhorse in Southeast Asia, was viewed as lacking in the technologically oriented new Army and was going to be eventually replaced by the UH-60 Black Hawk.  The AH-1 Cobra, the Army’s frontline attack helicopter, would be eventually overtaken by a Cadillac known as the AH-64 Apache.  Weaponry would be updated while new types came off the drawing boards.  Such as the 2.75” rocket which was updated and improved and, the HELLFIRE missile which would provide attack helicopters with a lethal punch, are among the examples offered here.

Like the United States Army itself, Army Aviation had to be transformed for the post-Vietnam War era.  Provides a better understanding of the acceptance of Army Aviation; and this despite the persistence of the doubters and detractors.

But in the analysis, it was not merely an acceptance, but the willingness to utilize the advantages posed by the near limitless expanse of the Third Dimension for success on the battlefield for the infantry, armor, artillery, medical evacuation, observation, reconnaissance, intelligence collection. . .   Though, of course, differences of opinion would abound with regards to organization and control of Army Aviation and its assets, both human and material.

Same argument evolved during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  Those in the Army Air Corps and later the Army Air Forces who saw strategic bombing as that ticket to independence from the Army as opposed to the Army Ground Forces who wished to maintain control for that assurance of support for the foot soldier.  But airpower was becoming too sophisticated for the ground force officers.  Airpower was becoming a specialty that only those involved in its implementation could fully comprehend and control.  So, following World War II, National Security Act 1947 saw to the divorce of airpower from the Army which became the United States Air Force.

What happened in 1947 has an historical parallel in 1983.  Army Aviation became a separate entity within the United States Army’s masthead of branches.  A result any savvy individual could have made book on, when in viewing that seed planted by William Wallace Ford in 1942 known as the Air Observation Post.  For in forty-one years, Army Aviation developed within a progression both fascinating and innovative, and both in peacetime and in war.  From the L-4 Cub to the AH-64 Apache, from directing artillery fire to becoming the tactical air branch of the United States Army, such was the path to branchhood emblematic and required with the continuing technological evolution and sophistication in war.  And owing to Man’s penchant for conflict, the aforementioned progression was both certain and perpetual.

Endnotes

[1]  See pages 2-20 and 2-21, Operations, FM 100-5.

[2]  See pages 2-21 and 2-22, Operations, FM 100-5.

Bibliography

[1]  Army Aviation:  Cub to Comanche, Army Aviation Publications, Inc., Westport, Ct., 1992.

[2]  Duval, Geoff, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Described, Part I, Series I, No. 8, Technical Manual, Kookaburra Technical Publications, Dandenong, Victoria, Australia, 1969.

[3]  Munson, Kenneth, Aircraft of World War II, Doubleday & Company, Inc., and prited in Great Britain by Crampton & Sons, Ltd., Sawston, Cambridge, 1968.  First published by Ian Allen, 1962.

[4]  Operations, FM 100-5, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., 1 July 1976.

[5]  U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet Display, “A-10C Thunderbolt,” www.af,mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article…

Story by Christopher Hurd

WASHINGTON — Almost seven years into his Army aviation career and Capt. Phillip C. Fluke, AH-64 Apache pilot, was looking for a new assignment last year following his time with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade.

“I really wanted something different, intellectually challenging and stimulating,” he said.

He said his unit leadership at the 601st Aviation Support Battalion, thought he would be a good candidate to support the Harding Project, a chief of staff of the Army initiative started in 2023 to renew the service’s professional publications.

The opportunity, a Harding Fellowship, would allow Fluke to serve as an editor for Aviation Digest and make an impact by spreading Soldiers’ ideas in the aviation community.

“I think some people [in the Army] think they don’t have a way of making their voice heard about topics that impact them professionally,” he explained. The journals are a way of offering solutions and making others aware of new tactics and technologies that may make their jobs easier.

The Army selected Fluke and several other Soldiers as the first group of Harding Fellows. Each is assigned to a center of excellence, serving as editor on their respective branch journals for two years.

There are 17 different publications: Special Warfare, Army Sustainment, Military Police, Engineer, Chemical, Infantry, Air Defense Artillery, Armor, Field Artillery, Association of Army Dentistry, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Journal, Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, Applied Language Learning, The Army Lawyer, The Medical Journal, Army Communicator and Aviation Digest.

Shortly after arriving at the Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Novosel, Alabama, last summer, Fluke joined his fellow editors for a job training workshop in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The group worked on learning their new roles.

In the months that followed, the Soldiers routinely held group discussions with the Harding Project director and the deputy director of the Army University Press to get a better understanding of how to move the modernization project forward.

“For the first cohort, it’s been more of a learn-as-you-go,” Fluke said. “I enjoy the job; it’s a lot of problem-solving you wouldn’t normally encounter in the day-to-day force.”

Those problems include increasing readership of the journals and encouraging Soldiers, Army civilians, and contractors to contribute by writing and submitting their ideas for articles.

“Their thoughts, perspectives, and ideas don’t do a lot of good if no one has access to them,” he said. “By contributing, hopefully, we can move the knowledge base across the Army forward.”

To start that push, the Army moved each journal online to a centralized website called Line of Departure. Here, people from across the service have access to articles from every branch publication.

The Harding Project also started a noncommissioned officer journal in October called Muddy Boots and is working on podcasts and audio articles. These changes are part of the project’s modernization initiative to bring the journals into the future and create a tool for information sharing amongst Army personnel.

“I hope by the time I leave this assignment the Aviation Digest serves as the primary outlet for discussing important topics,” Fluke said. “I also want the community to weigh in, so we can figure out problems together and make the digest a vehicle for change in the Army aviation branch.”

Anyone wishing to submit an article can contact the editor for their respective branch journal. Their information is available on the journal’s Line of Departure website.

Last month, the Army announced the selection of the second group of Harding Fellows. They will be the first cohort to attend a year-long accelerated master’s degree program for journalism and mass communications at the University of Kansas before serving as editors-in-chief for their branch journals.

Story by Brooke Nevins

FORT CARSON, Colo. — In a recent exercise involving U.S. Army Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s 1st Space Brigade, 4th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Space Command demonstrated rapid deployment of personnel and tactical space systems to provide close space support on the battlefield.

Soldiers with 18th Space Control Company, 1st Space Battalion, conducted the joint air assault and medevac training at Fort Carson on Jan. 31 to validate expeditionary deployment and delivery methods of Army space forces and equipment. Capt. Anthony Portuesi, 18th Space Company officer-in-charge, organized and led the exercise.

The 18th Space Control Company supports Army and joint force commanders by deploying platoons and crews into positions of advantage to seize and retain key terrain in the electromagnetic spectrum. These platoons deploy on land to monitor friendly satellite communications and report on sources of electromagnetic interference.

More than two dozen Soldiers and two MARFORSPACE Marines practiced loading and unloading a CH-47 Chinook helicopter before being flown to a landing zone near compound buildings, where they received lessons on area reconnaissance. Following the transport of troops, a second Chinook carried a small form factor kit, the tactical vehicle used to move the kit, and its crew to the landing zone.

“As a space control company, we are exercising our proficiency to conduct rapid deployment into a theater with our space-enabled assets,” said Capt. Daniel McGee, 18th Space Control Company. “It’s important for our space operators to understand the bigger picture in how Army Space contributes to the maneuver force. We are not directly supporting maneuver battalions or brigades, but really several corps within a field Army or a larger element in the corps’ close and deep fight. This air assault mainly focused on our ability to conduct an area reconnaissance, electromagnetic reconnaissance and forward observation, and a site survey for follow-on space control operations.”

Though not the first time 18th Space Control Company has partnered with 4th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade – the two units conducted an air assault and medevac training using UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in May 2024 – it was the company’s first exercise in deploying its tactical vehicle and small form factor system via rotary-wing assets.

Such training is an example of efforts to further integrate space capabilities with more expeditionary special operations forces units, joint forces like MARFORSPACE, or adjacent aviation units within the 4th Infantry Division on Fort Carson to enhance those partnerships’ ability to enable movement and maneuver of the joint force and allow space Soldiers deeper physical access into austere operating environments.

“This was my first training mission at the company,” Spc. Ireshia Paige said. “It was interesting working with service members of different branches and mission sets in a tactical environment. I was tasked with calling in a nine line to retrieve an urgent casualty, which was made to feel accurate to a real-life scenario.”

Spc. Fernando Barroso said the hands-on training in safely boarding and exiting aircraft, securing a casualty in a stretcher to prepare for air evacuation and properly hoisting the casualty to the Black Hawk “instilled a strong sense of confidence” in his operational capabilities.

“Beyond enhancing my technical proficiency, this training underscored the vital importance of teamwork, precision, and decisive action in high-pressure environments,” Barroso said. “As a future sergeant, I will leverage these capabilities to train and mentor the next generation of Soldiers, ensuring they are well-prepared for air assault operations. By passing on these lessons, I will contribute to the effectiveness of individual Soldiers and strengthen the overall readiness of the unit. This training has not only enhanced my confidence but has also deepened my motivation to continue developing as a Soldier.”