Current Issue Articles
Throttle Wide Open!
President’s Cockpit / By BG Steve Mundt, Ret.: We need to take a minute and keep in our thoughts and prayers all those who are suffering from the effects of the recent hurricanes. I am proud to say we were able to reach out to the Chapters who were affected and provide our support and are continuing to do so. AAAA National President BG (Ret.) Steve Mundt (right) addresses attendees at the Interoperability/Standardization Conference in Slovakia the last week in September, 2017. This is the second year that AAAA was invited to participate. / AAPI PHOTO BY BILL HARRIS I...
Learn MoreProject Manager Aircraft Survivability Equipment Update
Aviation Survivaiblity / By COL Jong H. Lee: As I begin my 4th year as the Project Manager for Aircraft Survivability Equipment, I am sincerely thankful for the incredible opportunity to protect our Nation’s most valuable assets – the lives of American Soldiers. And along with that reflection, I also marvel at the technical skills, dedication, professionalism, and passion that the ASE enterprise displays to accomplish that mission. An AH-64D Apache releases flares over a valley during support of coalition special operations forces and Afghan soldiers during a firefight near Nawa Garay village in the Kajran district of Afghanistan’s Daykundi...
Learn MoreMulti-COMPO, Multi-Boss CAB
77th Combat Aviation Brigade / By COL Ryan T. Pace: In June 2016, National Guard units from 11 states and territories unknowingly embarked on one of the most challenging combat aviation brigade missions the U.S. Army has ever embraced. This multi-compo force (Active Duty, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve) would build the composition of the 77th Combat Aviation Brigade for their future accomplishments. The original deployment mission required the 77th CAB “Peacemakers” deploy only to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield (OSS). As the deployment drew closer to its conclusion, however, the picture was vastly different from the...
Learn MoreAlpha Team Update
Joint Readiness Training Center / By LTC Linn Desaulniers, MAJ Jeffrey Ferguson, and CPT Kevin Burns: Alpha Team – the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Operations Group Aviation Division at Fort Polk, LA – functions as a diverse team of observers, coaches, and trainers (OC/Ts) who interface with the ten U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)-directed aviation battalion task forces (ABTF) that deploy here each fiscal year. Our team, nested within the unique rotational designs developed by Operations Group, provides a challenging and demanding training scenario that incorporates all six warfighting functions (WfF) while generating maneuver and lethality options for the...
Learn MoreModernizing Army’s Vertical Lift Capability for the Next Decade
By COL Allan H. Lanceta and Brigitte Rox: The Corpus Christi Army Depot is the Army’s organic industrial base for helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul. We have been a driving force in defense as the Army’s premier in-house capability to sustain Army and similar defense rotary wing aircraft assets. U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY BRIGITTE ROX CCAD’s recapitalization, or recap, program is vital to the Army’s modernization effort as it updates and extends the life of existing UH-60 Black Hawks in the Army inventory. The Army has turned to us as their trusted solution of helicopter sustainment for 56 years. The...
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