Current Issue Articles
Aircraft Survivability Trends
AMRDEC Tech Talk / By Mr. Frank McIngvale: Aircraft combat survivability relies on many factors such as threat avoidance, defensive measures, hardening of aircraft structures and components, redundant systems and repairable systems. Put simply, the goal is avoid the threats that you can avoid (tactics, situational awareness), defeat the threats you cannot avoid (countermeasures), and survive the threats you cannot defeat (hardening, redundancy, reparability). Aircraft survivability has been a formal design discipline since the 1970s, but has gained increased attention in the past decade with the emergence of more advanced threats to our aircraft. UH-60 Black Hawk dispensing countermeasures. /...
Learn MoreAdvanced Composite Training
128th Aviation Brigade / By CPT Tad Lefler and Mr. Glenn Johnson: The use of composites began early in aviation history when the Wright Brothers used muslin, a sturdy woven cotton cloth, and sealant to fabricate flight control surfaces. Composites are still used in aviation today, though they are a bit more advanced. 15G students applying heat and vacuum to an advanced composite repair. / 128th AVN BDE COURTESY PHOTOS The term Advanced Composites is considered by the industry as fabric with fibers of higher strength than that of fiberglass, such as carbon and Kevlar®. These fibers, combined with high...
Learn MoreBehind the Curtain…
Reserve Component Aviation / By COL J. Ray Davis: Greetings again from your Army National Guard (ARNG). It’s been a few months since I last wrote; I hope your summer was safe, enjoyable, and productive. 37 Black Hawk helicopters from 12th Cbt. Avn. Bde. arrive at Port Charleston, South Carolina, from Germany on Jul. 16, 2015./ U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PHOTOS We’re all familiar with the exciting, high-profile, deployments and training events that dominate our calendars. But sometimes what goes on “behind the curtain” is just as impressive, if a bit less heart-pounding. Such an event recently occurred in Charleston,...
Learn MoreGot HART? Increasing Readiness While Reducing Risk in Domestic Operations
By CW5 (Ret.) Ronald C. Moring and CW4 David P. Peveto: When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, it pummeled Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. More than 34,000 people were rescued by the Coast Guard alone, and more than 15,000 refugees entered the Superdome in New Orleans to evade the storm surge. The after-math of the super storm which killed nearly 2,000 people and damaged over 90,000 square miles of our homeland, invigorated multi-agencies to prepare, plan and work together for future disasters. SFC Frank Palfrey of 1st Bn., 224th Avn. Regt., PAARNG, conducts rescue hoist operations in a...
Learn MoreFWAATS: Army Aviation’s Present and Future Home for High Quality, Low Cost Fixed Wing Training
By LTC James Rae: Located in scenic Bridgeport, West Virginia, the Fixed Wing Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (FWAATS) is the only Army National Guard (ARNG) training site that provides Army aviator (Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard) fixed wing training instruction. Since its inception as the Eastern Fixed Wing Training Site (later renamed FWAATS) in 1992, FWAATS has trained more than 2,500 Soldiers across all three Army components in the operation of Army standard and non-standard fixed wing aircraft. Accredited through The Army School System (TASS), FWAATS has on three occasions been certified as a “Learning Institution of...
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