Current Issue Articles
Intervertebral Disk Disease
Ask the Flight Surgeon / MAJ Theresa M. Long: Q: I am a senior UH-60 pilot who was recently permanently grounded for chronic lower back pain after having lumbar disc fusion. I still have some recurrent numbness, tingling and pain in my legs that requires treatment with a drug called Gabapentin. I currently have a P2 for no sit-ups and an alternate aerobic event. I have a friend in the Infantry who was sent to the medical evaluation board (MEB) and medically retired for almost the exact same thing. Why doesn’t my flight surgeon submit me for an MEB too?...
Learn MoreNot An Ordinary Fire Season
Reserve Component / By MAJ Sean Summerall: The California Army National Guard’s 40th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade (ECAB) (TF Phoenix) is no stranger to wildland firefighting. After a light season in 2019, all appeared well going into the 2020 season until COVID struck and hampered some of the normal preparation. CH-47F aircrews from the California Army National Guard conducting water bucket operations during recent wildfire support./ LOS ANGELES TIMES PHOTO BY MARCUS YAM – BY PERMISSION The California Military Department along with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), United States Forest Service (USFS) Region 5, and the...
Learn MoreDenied, Degraded, and Disrupted Space Operational Environment – D3SOE
Branch Chief’s Corner / By MG David J. Francis: Operating effectively in the space domain is a top Department of Defense (DOD) priority. Since Operation Desert Storm, the reliance on space-enabled equipment has expanded exponentially. Pilots from Company B, Task Force Lobos, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, conduct pre-flight checks from the cockpit of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter April 6. / U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SGT FELIX ACEVEDO, 1ST ACB, 1ST CAV. DIV. PUBLIC AFFAIRS This equipment not only enables detailed planning and preparation for a full range of operations from dispersed and remote locations, but it is...
Learn MoreOn Course to the Summit!
President’s Cockpit / MG Jeff Schloesser, U.S. Army Retired: It is hard to believe it’s already February! We at AAAA National Headquarters and your National Executive Group are hard at work to make our Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit this April a REALITY. A UH-60 Black Hawk belonging to 5th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, awaits take-off during Agile Combat Employment training at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, Dec. 18, 2020./ U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY SSGT. RYAN LACKEY As a reminder, it is 21-23 April at the Gaylord Opryland, in Nashville, TN. I wrote last month that we are taking every...
Learn MoreExercising the Gold Book in a Decisive Action Environment
From Field / By LTC Kevin J. Consedine: The 3-82nd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade recently supported the 2-101 Brigade Combat Team (BCT) “Strike,” 159th Infantry Brigade in the first Decisive Action (DA) Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotation since the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a four-month moratorium on collective training, Paratroopers of 3-82 GSAB were prepared for a rotation defined by COVID-19 protocols, atrophy of skill sets, and August temperatures in Louisiana. However, after a gun raid and two battalion-sized air assaults in the opening week of force-on-force, the narrative evolved into a viability assessment of...
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