Clear Direction for the Jack of All Trades

By LTJG Jackson Cotney, USN

As the MH-60S carrier squadrons transition their footprint within the carrier strike group (CSG), now is a good time for their counterpart, the expeditionary squadrons, to reassess and refocus on the critical skills and roles that make them valuable to the amphibious assault force and its future engagements. For a long while, the Sierra community has prided itself on its wide array of mission sets, serving as the Swiss Army knife of the sea-going air wing. We have become local experts on everything from ship-to-ship vertical replenishment, strike group defense and security, and search and rescue at sea, to ship-to-shore logistics and special operations support. With other worthy squadrons and groups that perform each one of these missions in a more directed focus, the Sierra seems to provide redundant capabilities. The Romeo pilots hunt submarines, and the Air Force rotary pilots are the world’s best at combat search and rescue. The Army is great at the DUSTOFF medical mission and the carrier Sierra squadrons are integral to the strike group with logistics runs and plane guard, but what exactly is the expectation of the expeditionary Sierra community? Expeditionary squadrons have a clear training cycle and general idea of the order of a peacetime deployment afloat, but no solid position for a great power conflict. The wide skill set of many missions makes the Sierra pilot an adaptable and well-rounded aviator with a broad swath of experiences and skills, but leaves no specific area to hang our hat on.

An overload of tasks and diverse knowledge across different mission sets quickly creates conversation of real world applicability in future engagements. The training syllabus blindly follows a multitude of avenues in which the helicopter is capable without great introspection on the bigger picture. This leads the community to an identity crisis: what will our tasks actually be when America’s enemies come knocking? Sure, we CAN do any of the numerous missions that we currently advertise with average proficiency, but will we actually get the chance when the task arises? Or will those tasks continue to be directed to more specialized units? We can better prepare ourselves for the realities of the future organization and potential conflict by clearly defining where WE think we should be placed and having the confidence and training experience in those specified areas. Instead of wondering which competency we will need to achieve next, we can advertise ourselves for the problems we are uniquely adept at tackling. This comes with a mindset geared toward finding a solution, and not just identifying a problem, through the assertiveness, clear communication, and confidence that we already expect from fleet aviators.

The expeditionary Sierra community must adapt to fill gaps that are important tasking areas for national security as well as within the capability and training of the pilots and machinery. The skill sets that battle commanders and ground force element leaders should be able to quickly direct to the expeditionary Sierra squadrons are combat logistics, long-range maritime personnel recovery (PR), and Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO)/Helicopter Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (HVBSS). These competencies are historically relevant to Naval Rotary Wing Aviation, and will become critical components of future engagements at sea.

The phrase “no one flies without supply” is not only frequently sung by SUPPOs across the sea wall, but should also be an area that the expeditionary squadron will champion in future wars. The primary threats in the South China Sea will be countered by combatants spread few and far between, and these elements will need constant stores of the beans, bullets, and band-aids required to wage war. The Sierra VERTREP experience and payload capabilities, as well as its ability to operate from mobile supply platforms, should make it the first choice for combat commanders to count on to keep troops adequately stocked. No other service, community, or platform focuses on the consistent supply chain problem in the maritime environment or presents as capable a platform to bring stores from ships across the archipelagos and island groupings from which we could be operating. When no runways are available and small teams of combat troops are spread across a broad swath of territory, ground commanders will need to be able to count on a steady stream of resources from mobile platforms.

With integrated air defenses growing in both size and capability, and future conflicts including enemies with aircraft just as capable as the US fleet of fighters, we have to accept that the military will suffer casualties greater than ever before. Because of the Sierra community's operations across a large number and types of ships and expanded global footprint, expeditionary squadrons should be prepared to be the closest resource, even covering huge distances, to the downed aviators. This presents a unique challenge that is vastly different from the plane guard and local SAR capabilities the carrier squadrons provide. Any forward deployed Sierra squadron should have the training, capability, and maintenance support to go ‘double bubble.’ with as much fuel as the MH-60S can take. They then need to be able to engage in long distance overwater navigation to hasty forward arming and refueling points (FARP) on the way to the objective. Changing environments dictate that the mission travels for as far as our fighter community can reach, much greater distances than the Sierra has been utilized for before. This requires experience and skill in not only mission planning but also in threat avoidance. At sea, we can become the world experts in beating or avoiding over-the-horizon radars and long range SAMs and offer this widespread capability to reduce the amount of time a downed pilot spends in extremis. This skill set cannot simply be a combined version of multiple avenues in which we already train but must be seen as its own unique area in itself.

LCS detachments combined with law enforcement efforts in South America have already proven a successful mission set to stake claim in the battlespace. Going forward, it will be more important than ever to inspect and interdict shipments of people and weapons with nefarious purposes. Large actors on the world stage have already and will continue to engage in the gray area of funding and supplying bad actors in proxy wars that support their own interests. Whether it be enforcing sanctions, or investigating involvement in trafficking or shipments of drugs and weapons into the US, our country has a vested interest in inspecting and detecting applicable shipments on the high seas. Helo commanders will need to be able to make quick judgements on the nature of the swath of vessels encountered and develop instincts concerning what kinds of things ‘just look off’ in shipping lanes to be able to assess threats and direct interventions. The expeditionary Sierra squadrons already deploy on the LCS, alone and unafraid, into coastal regions around the world. Clearly defining the MIO and HVBSS skills as a primary service gives the expeditionary squadron another firm place to hang our hat.

These specific capabilities are the requirements in which we must demonstrate mastery to be able to bring the expeditionary helo community into the next century, provide the best defense for the nation, and provide a foothold to compete for resources and funding against other DoD assets. How do we get there? It will not require a shakeup in command structure or a wildly different syllabus. It also will not require costly new training phases or pressure to increase budgets for fancy new gear. The community will continue to do what it already does - practice multiple mission sets and consistently remain flexible by keeping up qualifications across the spectrum of knowledge. The most important change that squadrons will have to make immediately is to initiate the conversation addressing how each training event actually fits into these three areas. Once the importance of these core mission sets is emphasized, the crossover from the already developed and well executed workup profile lends itself to expansion into combat logistics, long range maritime PR, and MIO/HVBSS operations.

Normal squadron practices will not have to be overhauled. Overland full mission profile SOF insertions build skills like threat study and avoidance, fuel planning and FARP operations, and combined logistics elements that play well into combat logistics and long range maritime PR. Combining and adding to these events with days spent out in the field introduce and enforce operating in radar environments where we may need to ‘lay low’ and perform quick maintenance in the field, rarely practiced in standard half-day flights from San Diego or Norfolk. Utilizing publications and incorporating knowledge from other communities and services, like collaboration with the surface warfare officers, Air Force FARP specialists, and law enforcement entities will drive proficiency with the challenges of these defined roles and aid in practicing interoperability. Classes on shipping regulations and customs blend well into the training already being conducted with SOF personnel to offer a broader knowledge base covering exactly what we are ‘roping our guys into.’ Learning more about supply chain management and, even, folding practices of industry giants like Amazon into our information toolbox can offer solutions to logistical complications that WILL be encountered in denied environments. Standard training profiles already lend themselves to making our community better at a more defined solution, so there is no need or pressure to ‘reinvent the wheel.’

The community is already doing great work and is well prepared to enact its expertise when needed. The current identity crisis only seems to pertain to if and when these skills will be asked for, especially when competing for tasks against other services and communities with a more narrow focus. To ensure longevity and relevance, expeditionary Sierras could use more shaping towards realistic expectations and what is needed in the next big conflict. Taking the extra time to spell out not only the “what” but also the “why” behind each specific training evolution and how it relates to the specific grouping above gets everyone on the same page in thinking about tactical relevance. It also will fill in gaps in the battlespace that could hinder combat operations or put more troops at risk unnecessarily. These well-defined mission sets must become second nature to both the pilots who relate each lesson learned to its applicability on the battlefield and to upper leadership who count on the expeditionary community to efficiently fulfill these roles. By naming specific areas of prowess and plugging unique capabilities in as critical components of a total combined effort, Knighthawk squadrons will continue to serve the nation and interests of the free world.