Current Issue Articles
Life at the Bunkers
Enlisted Green Platoon Combat Skills / By CPT Lucas G. Harris: It is a Friday afternoon, and more than 60 students training to be members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (SOAR(A)) are standing in formation in front of two bunkers that date back to the 1940s. On one bunker hangs four placards dedicated to each of the individuals on Aircraft #185, an MH-60L that crashed in Afghanistan in January 2003. Between the two bunkers stands the original Night Stalker Memorial, which was dedicated in January 1990 shortly after the unit returned from combat operations in Panama. It...
Learn MoreThe History
History Clank Stories History / By Dario Politella: The term “Grasshopper” is no longer used with pride and affection of World War II days. Army Aviation today also frowns on the term “light” plane because the adjective no longer applies. But some of the old timers of the…Read More… Operation: URGENT FURY Part II: Plan of Action . . . the marshal observes that the boldest and most extended plans are generally the wisest and most successful. When we are determined upon war, . . . we should carry it on vigorously and without trifling. Napoleon Bonaparte[1]…Read More… Lincoln & Lowe Historical...
Learn MoreLeadership: Commitment vs. Compliance
Branch Command Sergeant Major / By CSM Eric C. Thom: Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. – Jack Welch Soldiers with the 122nd Aviation Support Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, look over notes during the second annual Atlas Warrior Competition, Fort Bragg, NC, March 12, 2015. / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY CPT ADAN CAZAREZ, 82ND CBT. AVN. BDE. We all know that the Army’s definition of Leadership is “the process of influencing others by providing purpose, direction and motivation to accomplish the mission and...
Learn MoreType II Decompression Sickness
Ask the Flight Surgeon / By Dr. (LTC) Joseph Puskar: A recent case study of an air traffic controller who developed type II (neurologic) decompression sickness (DCS) after a series of four consecutive training SCUBA dives illustrates the dangers of DCS for military and civilian divers and aviators. Soldiers inside the hyperbaric chamber wearing oxygen masks.Aircraft designed and built specifically for military usage require lengthy schedules for design, manufacturing, and testing. A relatively small production quantity results in a high unit cost. When Army operational requirements can be satisfied by modifying a readily available COTS aircraft, the warfighter is provided...
Learn MoreThe Airworthiness Process
For Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Aircraft AMRDEC Tech Talk / By Dr. Robert Vaughan: The Army’s fleet of fixed wing aircraft is a testament to the Army’s ability to purchase Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type-certificated COTS aircraft, qualify extensive modifications under the Army’s Aviation Engineering Directorate (AED), and maintain these aircraft under unique and challenging operational requirements. Beech B-300 King Air / AMRDEC AED PHOTO Aircraft designed and built specifically for military usage require lengthy schedules for design, manufacturing, and testing. A relatively small production quantity results in a high unit cost. When Army operational requirements can be satisfied by modifying...
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