Rotor Review Winter 2016 #131

Number 131 Winter 2016

Issue 131 Winter 2016

© 2015 BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC.

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BELLHELICOPTER.COM

SATELLITE WEATHER FOR SAFE NAVIGATION

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navalhelicopterassn.org

FOCUS Naval Helicopter Association WINTER 2016 | ISSUE 131

ON THE COVER

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class George Bell, USN

Rotor Review is intended to support the goals of the association, provide a forum for discussion and exchange of information on topics of interest to the rotary wing community and keep membership informed of NHA activities. As necessary, the President of NHA will provide guidance to the Rotor Review Editorial Board to ensure Rotor Review content continues to support this statement of policy as Naval Helicopter Association adjusts to the expanding rotary wing community.

SAFETY FIRST A Look at Naval Helicopter Aviation Safety

Safety First: In this issue of Rotor Review we examine the topic of aviation safety. Articles submitted from the fleet include safety updates, lessons learned and best practices.

Focus Articles 36 We All Know Something Unique, But Who Knows Best?

39 A Well-Soiled Flight Suit Lt. Alex Turnbell, USN

40 Does Anyone Speak Marine?

Lt. Leah Jordan, USN

44 Just How Standardized Are Your Standard Operating Procedures?

Lt. Rebekah Cranor, USN

45 Navy Adds Measures to Enhance Safety During Shipboard Flight Operations Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

47 My First Emergency

Lt. j.g. Matt Edwards, USN

48 Going Without Practice Lt. Chad Tutton, USN

©2016 Naval Helicopter Association, Inc., all rights reserved

52 Unfamiliar Terrain

Lt. George “DQ” Meszaros, USN

53 No Fast Hands in the Cockpit Lt. Nick Avila, USN

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

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36

Lt. Andrew Gregory, USN and Lt. j.g. Jessica O’Brian, USN

Rotor Review (ISSN: 1085-9683) is published quarterly by the Naval Helicopter Association, Inc. (NHA), a California nonprofit corporation.

NHA is located in Building 654, Rogers Road, NASNI, San Diego, CA 92135. View s expressed in Rotor Review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of NHA or United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. Rotor Review is printed in the USA. Periodical rate postage is paid at San Diego, CA. Subscription to Rotor Review is included in the NHA or corporate membership fee. POSTMASTER: Send address change to Naval Helicopter Association, P.O. Box 180578, Coronado, CA 92178-0578.

PAGE

PAGE

HISTORICAL

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Manuel Arias signals the Dusty Dogs assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 to lower its cargo onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

and NHA Join-Up Highlights

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Operation FREQUENT WIND PAGE

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FEATURES

Editorial Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Lt. Emily Lapp, USN

emily.lapp@navy.mil

Design Editor George Hopson

navalhelicopterassn@gmail.com

Copy Editors

Capt. (ret) Jill Votaw, USN Cmdr. (ret) John Ball, USN Lt. Adam Schmidt, USN

adam.c.schmidt@navy.mil

Feature Articles

HSC Editors

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Making Descent: Marines Hone Fast-Roping Skills

23

Black Dart 2015

27

Marines and Coast Guard Rehearse Search and Rescue Procedures

59

An Interview with Colonel (ret) Louis Gerken, U.S. Army

Lt. Michael Hearon, USN (HSC West)

Cpl. Paul S. Martinez II, USMC

michael.hearon@navy.mil

Lt. Kristin Hope, USN (HSC East)

HSM-75 and HSC-8 Public Affairs Teams

kristin.hope@navy.mil

Lance Cpl. Jonah Lovy, USMC

HSM Editors

Lt. Sean Castle, USN (HSM West)

sean.castle@navy.mil

Lt. Michelle Sousa, USN (HSM East)

Lt. Emily Lapp, USN

michelle.sousa@navy.mil

USMC Editor Position Open

USCG Editor

Lt. James Cepa, USCG

james.e.cepa@uscg.mil

4 Chairman’s Brief 6 In Review

DEPARTMENTS There I Was

66 Midnight MEDEVAC

Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Dectorio Huerta, USN

8 From the Organization 10 In Our Community

67 Command Updates

12 Industry and Technology

72 Engaging Rotors

50 Change of Command

75 Book Review

Historical

Perspective

61 Operation Frequent Wind Mr. Chris Woods

64 A Lasting Legacy: Two Great Instructors Retire Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin “Big Perm” Permenter, USN

In appreciation of our advertisers Bell Helicopter LSI, Inc. Navy Mutual University of San Diego Hover Girl Properties Sikorsky Aircraft

Page C2 1 42 51 70 C4

76 Flight Suit Culture

Capt. (ret) D.A. Yesensky, USN

78 Unmanned Systems: Enhancing Our Warfighting Capabilities Today and in the Future Rear Adm. Robert Girrier, USN

Lt. Doug Eberly, USCG

douglas.a.eberly@uscg.mil

Aircrew Editor

Naval Aircrewman 1st Class Dan Mitchell, USN

daniel.l.mitchell@navy.mil

Technical Advisor

Lt. Cmdr. (ret) Chip Lancaster, USN

chipplug@hotmail.com

Historian

Cmdr. (ret) Joe Skrzypek, USN

1joeskrzypek1@gmail.com

Editors Emeriti

Wayne Jensen John Driver Andy Quiett Susan Fink Tracey Keef Bryan Buljat Todd Vorenkamp Clay Shane Scott Lippincott Ash Preston

John Ball Sean Laughlin Mike Curtis Bill Chase Maureen Palmerino Gabe Soltero Steve Bury Kristin Ohleger Allison Fletcher

Historians Emeriti

Capt. (ret) Vincent Secades, USN Cmdr. (ret) Lloyd Parthemer, USN

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Chairman’s Brief

G

reetings!

I have two great events to report on this time around. The first is the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Change of Command which took place this past October at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. Vice Adm. David “Decoy” Dunaway was relieved by Vice Adm. Paul “G8” Grosklags. Some of you may recall from my last article that this is Vice Adm. Grosklags’ second 3-Star assignment. “G8” hails from the HSL community, was the H-60 Program Manager and is a self-confessed avid “Cheesehead.” I haven’t yet done my research but I’m pretty sure he is the first rotary wing flag officer to command NAVAIR. The change of command was a great event and Vice Adm. Grosklags’ remarks focused on ensuring NAVAIR is structured to maintain and upgrade our existing fleet assets. I’ve included a picture from the event which captures a little of the past, present and future of rotary wing aviation. The picture to the right includes me, Vice Adm. Grosklags and Vice Adm. Dunaway’s son, Lt. j.g. Bray Dunaway, who is one of the Navy’s newest MH-60R Fleet Replacement pilots.

I had a chance to visit with Vice Adm. Grosklags about a month after he took command and was impressed with his enthusiasm and vision for NAVAIR. He wants to enable NAVAIR to respond more rapidly to fleet needs by having organic capability and smart contract vehicles in place that provide a full range of capability for our fleet aircraft. I was also lucky enough to join some old program office alumni as we “greenlighted” Vice Adm. Grosklags in his new NAVAIR Commander flag quarters.

The next great event I attended was the Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In and NHA Join Up at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Fla. Training Wing (TW) 5 did a fantastic job organizing and hosting the event! Special thanks also to Capt. (ret) Bill Personius and the NHA staff for organizing all of the social events that accompanied the event. As I drove on base the morning of the first day, the weather was terrible! With the low ceilings, pounding rain and high winds I was worried that we would have to postpone the event. But, sure enough, one-by-one our fleet aviators descended from out of the clouds and by the end of the day they were all there!

Here are a few personal highlights from the fly-in: • The best call sign at the event was Lt. “Potty” Porter • I had the chance to sit in for the Executive Steering Committee with the rotary wing commodores and

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

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it was really wonderful to see them all working so closely together.

The community presentations are really getting “Gucci!” Each community did a great job trying to “sell” their community to the flight students.

The skills competition was a lot of fun. The crowd really got into the display of airmanship as the pilots and crewman precisely maneuvered their TH-57’s to do things like popping balloons while executing box patterns.

Rear Adm. (ret) Shannon, Vice Adm. Grosklags and Lt. j.g.

Dunaway at the recent NAVAIR Change of Command.

As I close, I want to remind everyone that the next big event is our annual symposium which will take place from May 9-13, 2016 at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel. Our NHA President and his staff are working hard to make this another memorable event. See you there!

All for now!

Rear Adm. (ret) Bill Shannon, USN

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Naval Helicopter Association, Inc. Correspondence and Membership P.O. Box 180578 Coronado, CA 92178-0578 (619) 435-7139 / (619) 435-7354 (fax)

Corporate Associates The following corporations exhibit strong support of rotary wing aviation through their sponsorship of the Naval Helicopter Association, Inc.

AgustaWestland Inc. Airbus Group BAE Systems / Electronics Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. Breeze-Eastern CAE Inc. Capewell Aerial Systems Elbit Systems of America FLIR Systems, Inc. G.E. Aviation Kongsberg Defence Systems Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors LSI, Inc. L3 Communications / Crestview Aerospace L3 Communications / Vertex Logistic Solutions L3 Communications / Link Simulation and Training Navy Mutual Aid Association Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Raytheon Robertson Fuel Systems L.L.C. Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions Rolls-Royce Corporation Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Telephonics Corporation USAA

President................................................Cmdr. Shawn Bailey, USN Executive Director.........................Capt. (ret) Bill Personius, USN Admin/Rotor Review Design Editor.....................Mr. George Hopson Membership/Symposium......................................Ms. Leanne Dehner Marketing..................................................................Mrs. Linda Vydra VP Corporate Membership......Capt. (ret) Don Williamson, USN VP Awards..........................................Cmdr. Dewon Chaney, USN VP Membership ................................Cmdr. Ryan Hayes, USN VP Symposium 2016...............................Cmdr. Chris Bailey, USN Secretary......................................................Lt. Kasey Scheel, USN Treasurer.................................................Lt. Mary Hesler, USN NHA Stuff..............................................Lt. Adrian Andrade, USN Senior NAC Advisor..........Naval Aircrewman Master Chief Justin Tate, USN

Directors at Large

Chairman................Rear Adm. (ret) William E. Shannon III, USN Capt. (ret) Gene Ager, USN Capt. (ret) Chuck Deitchman, USN Capt. (ret) Dennis DuBard, USN Capt. (ret) Tony Dzielski, USN Capt. (ret) Greg Hoffman, USN Capt. (ret) Dave Moulton, USN Capt. (ret) Bill Personius, USN Capt. (ret) Paul Stevens, USN

Regional Officers

Region 1 - San Diego

Directors.……..………...........................Capt. Lawrence Vincent, USN Capt. Sil Perrella, USN Capt. Marc Orgain, USN President..…..................................................Cmdr. Bobby Brown, USN

Region 2 - Washington D.C.

NHA Scholarship Fund

Directors....…………...…….…….................Capt. Kevin Kropp, USN Col. (ret) Paul Croisetiere, USMC Presidents................................Cmdr. Wayne Andrews, USN Cmdr. (ret) Pat Jeck, USN

President........................................Capt. (ret) Paul Stevens, USN Executive Vice President.......Capt. (ret) Kevin “Bud” Couch, USN VP Operations..........................................Lt. Jonathon Wendt, USN VP Fundraising..................................Capt. (ret) Michael Fuqua, USN VP Scholarships.............................................................Vacant VP CFC Merit Scholarship.....................................Lt. Ian Gill, USN Treasurer.............................................Lt. Cmdr. (ret) Bob Royal, USN C o r r e s p o n d i n g S e c r e t a r y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T B A Finance/Investment............................Cmdr. (ret) Kron Littleton, USN

Region 3 - Jacksonville

Director...........................................................Capt. Bill Walsh, USN President......................................................Cmdr. David Loo, USN

Region 4 - Norfolk

Director ...............................................................Capt. Pat Everly, USN President..........................................................Cmdr. Chris Bailey, USN

Region 5 - Pensacola

Directors..........................................................Capt. Mark Murray, USN Capt. Thomas MacDonald, USCG President...................................................Cmdr. John D. McBryde, USN 2016 Fleet Fly-In.....................................................Lt. Adam Boyd, USN

NHA Historical Society

Region 6 - Far East

President..........................................................Capt. (ret) Bill Personius, USN Secretary............................................................Cmdr. (ret) Joe Skrzypek, USN Treasurer.......................................................................... Mr. Joe Peluso San Diego Air & Space Museum............................Capt. (ret) Jim Gillcrist, USN USS Midway Museum..............Chief Warrant Officer 4 (ret) Mike Manley, USN Webmaster............................................................Cmdr. (ret) Mike McCallum, USN NHA Board of Directors........................................Capt. (ret) Dennis DuBard, USN Cmdr. (ret) John Ball, USN Naval Aircrewman Chief Petty Officer Adrian Santini, USN

Director.......................................................Capt. Murray J. Tynch, USN President..…...........................................Cmdr. Stephen Froehlich, USN

NHA Junior Officer Council

President.......................................................Lt. Jeremy Cappalo, USN

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In Review Editor’s Log

by Lt. Emily Lapp, USN - Rotor Review Editor-in-Chief

G

reetings!

I first heard the phrase, “NATOPS is written in blood” as a young ensign in flight school. I conceptually understood the statement, yet thought it unnecessarily gruesome and macabre. I imagined deadly accidents happening decades ago and in ancient aircraft - certainly not in the brand new, most technologically advanced aircraft of today’s Navy. Throughout flight school the predominant attitude among student pilots seemed to be that mishaps only happened to hapless and unprepared pilots, and we were certainly neither of those things! It wasn’t until near the end of my first fleet tour when two specific events opened my eyes to the phrase’s true meaning. The first event occurred on a clear December night, when I hot-seated the aircraft to a close friend of mine and returned to base the next morning to find the aircraft I had been flying the night before crushed into a million pieces and all four crewmembers admitted to the hospital. The second event occurred several months later in the Red Sea, when a helicopter from my air wing, on the deck of a destroyer, was hit and severely damaged by a wave.

The helicopter spun so violently it was ripped from the chains securing it to the flight deck and plunged over the flight deck and into the Red Sea, its pilots never to be seen again. The despondency that set over my ship as the unsuccessful search efforts continued was palpable and made me re-consider my approach to aviation safety. I began to understand the true meaning of the phrase “written in blood.” There is now a section of the MH-60R NATOPS that did not exist when I first began flying the aircraft. It is written in the blood of two pilots who left on deployment and never came home; and they were neither hapless nor unprepared.

Naval aviation is a dangerous business. Mishaps are costly; they end lives prematurely and destroy vital aircraft and equipment. From the Fiscal Year (FY) 14 Naval Safety Center Annual Mishap Overview, the latest report available online, there were 19 Class A flight mishaps across naval aviation. Of the 19 mishaps in FY14, 74 percent (14) involved an aircrew causal factor, as determined in the Safety Investigation Report (SIR).

The so called “pilot error” element of mishaps is a difficult aspect to quantify, but preventing human error begins with each of us.

Every day, when confronted with time and resource constraints, we face the choice of overlooking inconvenient details and cutting corners or insisting upon “by the book” procedural compliance. The latter usually takes longer, but ultimately can be the difference between life and death. The small deviations in procedure we accept in our daily flying routines can, over time, culminate in a safety culture that is wildly off track. Our sailors are watching us to “see if the lieutenant lets it slide” or observe if we insist upon procedural compliance, no matter the time or inconvenience. Safely launching and recovering aircraft requires the effort of a multitude of people: from the mechanic turning wrenches, to the desk chief releasing the aircraft “safe for flight,” to the plane captain on the flight line, to the tower personnel clearing airspace to the pilots and aircrew flying and fighting the aircraft. Naval aviation is a team sport. As such, safety is also a team sport. It requires the full attention and integrity of each of us to identify, report and correct safety discrepancies. No matter our job title, we each need to be observant throughout our daily routine, adeptly identify “Swiss cheese holes” lining up and take timely action to correct the situation before it is too late. It is my hope that Rotor Review can be a way to share close calls and lessons learned with the naval helicopter community, ultimately saving others from making the same mistakes.

Fly safe!

MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the Indians of Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6 fly in formation while while underway with USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Burke

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

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Letters to the Editors It is always great to hear from the members of NHA to learn what impression Rotor Review is making upon its members. This magazine’s staff always strives to provide the product that meets the demand of the NHA members at large. We urge you to remember that we maintain many open channels by which you may contact the magazine staff for feedback, suggestions, praise, or publishing corrections. Your anonymity is respected. If you would like to write a letter to the Editor-in-Chief, please forward any correspondance to navalhelicopterassn@gmail.com or mail to the following address: Letters to the Editor c/o Naval Helicopter Association, Inc. P.O. Box 180578 | Coronado, CA 92178-0576

Déjà Vu All Over Again Dear Editors, I have to comment on your “Joint Training-Crack On” article. Back in the day, flying Phrogs in Helicopter Combat Support Squadron (HC-5) forward deployed to Guam, I was asked to “volunteer” for a unique mission that was totally covert. I will keep this short but in 1985 there was no such thing as one crewman in the back of the 46 nor was there such a thing as Helicopter Rope Suspension Technique’s (HRST) or even Rappel Masters for that matter.

In the words of one of the better aircraft commander’s I ever flew with we just went out and “stuck our noses in it” to see if we could pull it off. The requirement at the time was to apprehend a certain ship that was peppering mines in the Gulf of Hormuz.

We spent several months of workups with the Navy SEALS in both Guam and in Subic. We were the first Navy 46 personnel to ever use night vision goggles and the first to fast rope. That last statement may be an error because I believe HAL5 might have been doing it in Coronado but I know for a fact we were the first navy squadron to fast rope out of 46’s because I had to develop the connection methods we used for the procedure.

The articles description of the general scheme of the maneuver brought a large smile to my face and Déjà Vu. As I read the deployment description and casualty evacuation, close air support operations descriptions and the how the operation was going to progress to take over the ship I could not help but think that they had picked up our old HC-5 Detachment 6 syllabus which the original four pilots and two crewman wrote in pencil and was a closely guarded secret for at least a year. I am proud to say that I was instrumental in developing some of the techniques and methodology’s that are still being used today.

With today’s advanced equipment and capabilities you are far more advanced then we were in 1985 but the mission is the same and I am proud to have been a part of it.

So Others May Live....

Aircrew Maintenanceman Master Chief (ret) Bill “Red Dogg” Moss, USN

RR #130

I just browsed through RR #130 and I have to say that it is VERY impressive. The graphics are great, it’s laid out well, and

Naval Helicopter Association

2016 Submission Deadlines and Publishing Dates Symposium 2016 (Issue 132).............................Feb. 19, 2016 / April 2016 Summer 2016 (Issue 133).................................May 18, 2016 / July 2016 Fall 2016 (Issue 134)..........................................Aug. 17, 2016 / Oct. 2016 Articles and news items are welcomed from NHA’s general membership and corporate associates. Articles should be of general interest to the readership and geared toward current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard affairs, technical advances in the helicopter industry or historical anecdotes.

Rotor Review Submission Instructions 1.

2.

3.

Articles must be in a Word Doc format without any tabs, identations or embedded photos.

Photos and Vector Images must be a EPS, TIF, HI-RES JPEG or PDF in CYMK mode with a resolution of 300 dpi.

Videos must be in a mp4, mov, or avi format. All submissions must follow these guidelines: • • • • •

With your submission, please include the title and caption of all media, photographer’s name, command and the length of the video.

Verify the media does not display any classified information .

Ensure all manuvers comply with NATOPS procedures.

All submissions shall be tasteful and in keeping with good order and discipline.

All submissions should portray the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and individual units in positive light.

All submissions can be forwarded to your community editor via email or by mail to Rotor Review c/o Naval Helicopter Association, Inc. P.O. Box 180578, Coronado, CA 92178-0578

the stories are edited well. You have really turned the magazine into something that I WANT to pick up and read.

-Capt. (ret) Dave Schnell, USN Editor-in-Chief’s comments: Master Chief (ret) Moss and Capt (ret) Schnell, thank you both for your notes. The Rotor Review staff is always pleased to hear our readers have enjoyed the latest issue!

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From the Organization President’s Message

b y C m dr. S hawn “ Op i e ” B a i l e y, U SN

H

ello, rotary wing warriors! I hope this edition of Rotor Review finds you well and anticipating a great holiday season. In this issue our focus is aviation safety, an element that is at the heart of everything we do in naval aviation. It improves readiness, improves morale, enables operational effectiveness and ensures mission success. A strong safety culture is visible in a squadron; one can see it immediately upon crossing the quarterdeck, traversing the hangar or surveying the flight line.

It’s in the way the Sailors carry themselves; the professionalism, focus and esprit de corps they exude; that winning attitude that translates into operational excellence. To prepare and launch a section of aircraft, navigate to the objective, execute the mission on time, on target and return to base; all without incident, that is what we do. It takes every one of us, each with our finger on the pulse of what makes our profession beat so successfully and without fail.

I want to express my thanks to Col. Kling and the Training Wing 5 Team: Cmdr. John McBryde, Skipper of HT-8 and Lt. John Geary and crew for an outstanding Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In! It was a professionally rewarding week filled with a lot of great interaction with the future of naval aviation. Thank you to all of our corporate sponsors, as well, for making the Naval Helicopter Association (NHA) Join Up such a great success. It was an incredible week all the way around; you all out did yourselves again!

We have some new officers joining the national office; please welcome Lt. Adrian Andrade of HSC-3 taking over the “Stuff Officer” position from Lt. Robin Dirickson. Thanks Robin for all your service to NHA, you will be missed! Cdr. Ryan Hayes, Executive Officer of HSC15, joins us as the Vice President for Membership, taking over from Lcdr. James Udall. James, thank you for all your efforts promoting the association and bolstering our membership. Lt. Danielle Stone is filling a new position as Symposium Coordinator, Lt. Mike Hearon is joining as the HSC West community editor, and Lt. Mary Hesler is taking the reigns from Lt. Jeremy Cappalo as our Treasurer. Jeremy remains as the President of the Junior Officer Advisory Group. Welcome to all and thanks for your service!

It’s been a busy fall so far with many reflection points along the way; Veterans Day, the birthdays of our Navy and Marine Corps and the 72nd anniversary of naval rotary wing and the 44th of NHA. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’m grateful for many things, one of which is being a part of our calling. It is truly a privilege to serve this great nation. Thank you for all YOU do each and every day out there in the air and on the deck plates, at home, on the sea and around the globe.

Finally, planning continues for 2016 NHA Symposium. Mark your calendars in preparation for another great event, May 9-13 in Norfolk, Va. The “Future of Vertical Lift” is our theme and it will be another professionally and personally enriching week. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Semper Fortis

Executive Director Notes

by C a p t. (re t) Bi l l Pe rs o n i u s , US N

A

ll, It has been a busy few months since our last edition of the Rotor Review. The following events have occurred:

activities this year, Happy 240th Date achieving their objective birthday to Event October 1, 2015 of providing student both the Region One Padres baseball game The U.S. Navy’s 240th Birthday October 13, 2015 helicopter pilots test U.S. Navy and Marine Corps!

October 16, 2015 rides in fleet aircraft as Events were held all over 72nd Anniversary of the n a v a l h e l i c o p t e r October 27, 2015 well as orchestrating the country celebrating our Fleet Fly-In / NHA Join-Up in Milton, Fla. October 27, 2015 a very successful list services’ continued relevance HT-8’s 65th birthday ceremony October 8-9, 2015 of social events that and successes throughout the NHA Region Four Helo Days in Norfolk October 9, 2015 were all a lot of fun. years. The naval helicopter NHA Region Two golf tournament November 2, 2015 Thank you to all the aviation anniversary was on NHA’s 44th Birthday November 6, 2015 squadrons and aircrews October 16, 2015 and we NHA Region One Hawk Ball November 10, 2015 that participated from recognized 72 years of service The USMC’s 240th Birthday all three services: Navy, for the rotary-wing community.

I’d like to thank Colonel Kling and Captain Murray from Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Without your support this event Training Wing Five for hosting this year’s Fleet Fly-in. Cmdr. J.D. would not have been possible. Speaking of making the event possible, McBryde and his team, to include Lt. John Geary and Lt. Adam I would like to personally recognize and thank our corporate sponsors Boyd, coordinated another outstanding event this year in Milton, Fla. and industry partners that attended and sponsored events this year, to They worked the 65th-birthday celebration for Helicopter Training include: AgustaWestland, AirBus, Bell, Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, (HT) Squadron 8 and the 26th annual Fleet Fly-In/NHA Join-Up Dart, FLIR, Airborne Engines, Vector Aerospace, L3 Comms Vertex

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Logistics Solutions, Kearns Group, First Command, Hover Girl Properties, USAA, MOAA, 12 O’Clock High and Milton Chevrolet.

Your continued support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to your participation again next year!

And now, a summary of recent NHA events: • Helo Days in Norfolk were a big success and included a golf tournament, aircrew competition and a ball.

• NHA Region Two had a successful golf tournament after a oneweek rain delay and a good time was had by all once things dried out a bit.

• The Region One Hawk Ball was a great time and well attended event at the San Diego Hilton.

Additionally, I’d like to welcome some new members to the NHA National Staff: • Lt. Danielle Stone is our new Symposium Coordinator • Lt. Adrian Andrade took over for Lt. Robin Dirickson as our new “Stuff” person. Robin, thank you for all your hard work!

• Cmdr. Ryan Hayes took over for Lt. Cmdr James Udall as our Membership Coordinator. James, thank you for your service!

• Lt. Mary Hesler took over for Lt. Jeremy Cappalo as our new treasurer. Jeremy thank you for all your support and good luck as the Air Boss’ new Aide! Well done!

Welcome and thank you to all our new personnel. We are grateful for all of the support provided by those leaving us. Good luck in the future and thank you again for all your efforts and support of NHA!

This focus of this issue of Rotor Review is Aviation Safety. I hope that you continue to support your squadrons safety programs with vigor and maintain an attitude that keeps everyone coming home while still accomplishing the mission at hand.

The 2016 Symposium will be upon us before you know it. This year it will be held in Norfolk at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel. Rooms and hotel registration is available now on the NHA website. Sign up as soon as possible to secure your space at the event. This years’ theme is “The Future of Vertical Lift” which should prove to be an interesting subject given the direction of the rotary wing community and the introduction of the V-22 Osprey into the fleet. Start making your plans now!

Individual registration should be up and running on Feb. 1, 2016.

Keep your turns up.

A MV-22 Osprey lifts off from USS Boxer (LHD 4).

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Debra Daco, USN

Aircrewman’s Corner

by N a v a l Ai rc re w m a n (H e l i c o p ter) Master C hi ef Justi n Tate, U S N

F

ellow aircrewmen, Good day to all of you! For any of you that do not know, the Naval Helicopter Association (NHA) hosted a Fall Join-Up in conjunction with Training Wing Five’s Gulf Coast Fleet Flyin, held in Pensacola, FL., Oct. 27-30, 2015. What is a Fleet Flyin, you ask? A Fleet Fly-in is where the fleet brings in operational squadron helicopters in conjunction with civilian industry helicopters to Naval Air Station Whiting Field. This event is put on for student pilots and aircrewmen in order to allow them to experience first-hand the aircraft they will ultimately fly in upon the completion of their hard work in the training pipeline. It is always a great opportunity to meet and greet young pilots and aircrewmen throughout the various phases of training. So, come on out next year and be a part of this monumental event!

I personally want to thank all of you who supported the Fleet Flyin by showing up and participating in the many events and briefings.

It was amazing watching the students walk among the static display aircraft and engaging with fleet crewmembers. A big “thank you” to all of you that flew your aircraft to Pensacola so that these young, spirited Americans could actually see and touch the aircraft they will soon be flying. The 2015 Fleet Fly-in was a great success! However, it could not have happened without the coordination of Chief Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) Billy Davis and all the Helicopter Training (HT) Squadron 8, HT-18 and HT-28 pilots and aircrewmen that assisted in making this event the success it was. “Thank you” again!

Let’s talk about safety! We all know flying around in helicopters is inherently dangerous. That is why we need to make sure we are doing everything by the book and abide by all rules and regulations governing naval aviation. You are all challenged daily by the planning, training and missions you are tasked to carry out and you execute all of them with great precision. I commend all of you for your continued service and for being the ultimate aircrew professionals that you are.

Fly safe!

Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Jeffery Andre, of HM-15, signals to another crew member on the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during a routine a mail delivery.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Joshua Bryce Bruns, USN

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In Our Community NHA Scholarship Fund b y C a p t. Pa u l Ste v e n s , U SN (R et)

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reeting from the Scholarship Desk.

We are well into this year’s scholarship application cycle and completed applications are beginning to trickle in.

An important date to remember is January 31, 2016, when the cycle ends and completed applications are due. That means all required documents that support the application must also be in by January 31, 2016. We have made that process easier by allowing you to download both letters of recommendation and eligibility documentation with your application. However, official transcripts must still be mailed directly from the school or college. We have also made it easier for returning applicants to reapply by using much of the information already residing in previous applications. See our website at www.nhascholarshipfund.org for amplifying information on the application process.

In other news, you may have noticed that the NHA Scholarship Fund was NOT listed in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) this year. I can assure you that you will see us in next year’s campaign, however you can still contribute to the fund by making a tax-deductible donation on our website or by mail. I can’t overemphasize how important your continued support is to the success of the fund. Our corporate partners have done their part in contributing to this important work but

Click on picture (above) to make a donate to the NHA Scholarship Fund donations from the our NHA membership has become more critical with this year’s loss of CFC donations. Hopefully you’ve seen and given serious consideration to our recent email on supporting the fund. What wasn’t included in that message was the reality that our goal of increasing both the numbers and award levels of scholarships each year may be a thing of the past unless new sources of contributions are found. Please remember, if you are reading this article you, your spouse, kids and grandkids are likely eligible to compete for the scholarships the NHA Scholarship Fund gives out. Help us spread the word to prospective applicants and donors alike that we are here to support the educational goals of those in the Naval rotary wing community and please consider donating today.

Hold fast!

Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society

by C a p t. (re t) B i l l P e rs o n i u s , U S N

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he Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society (NHAHS) has been busy charting our course for 2016.

Our priority for this year is the NHAHS website. It is our hope to add the following features: Overall review and update of our website: • “Signal Charley” section • Upload a list of Commanding Officers for both Navy and Marine Corps squadrons that are normally posted to the Symposium program • List of plaques • List of patches It is also our hope to continue our work with the west coast wings to rename Building G on base Naval Air Station North Island and continue to improve our exhibits onboard the USS

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Click on NHA Historical Society Website home page (above) to go to the website Midway Museum. We hope you and yours had a very happy holiday season and that your new year is a joyous one.

Be safe and keep your turns up.

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A View From The Labs: Supporting The Fleet

by C a p t. (re t) Ge o rg e Ga l d o risi , U S N

Helicopter Aviation Safety - Ya Gotta Hit the Books:

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his issue of Rotor Review is focused on helicopter aviation safety - a shout out for a great topic for this issue! On the subject, there’s good news and there’s also not-so-good news.

First some background and stage-setting. A while ago, my writing partner on our Tom Clancy op-center books series, retired Capt. Dick Couch, wrote a wonderful article in the U.S. Naval Academy’s Shipmate magazine entitled, “So You Want to be a Writer!” The gist of the article was to encourage active-duty and retired naval officers to write because they either had lived, or were living, an adventure that no non-military writer could possibly have experienced. He threw down the gantlet and basically said, “Just do it!” in order to capture their adventures in print.

Dick is a former Navy SEAL, who later worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. Here’s one thing he wrote in the article that really stuck with me: As a Navy SEAL, I used to think I had a corner on the adventure market. Then one evening I was seated at an alumni dinner with three other grads. They were all World War II vets, and I was the only guy who hadn’t had a ship sunk out from under him. One guy had it happen twice!

So, what does all of this have to do with helicopter aviation safety? I can’t speak for my fellow former active duty naval aviator brethren, and while I have a great many memories of flying mission-essential flights – whether it was pulling someone out of the drink as a Search and Rescue (SAR) pilot, flying in a major Navy exercise, refreshing important qualifications like Deck Landing Qualifications (DLQ’s), or flying training focused-flights as a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) instructor, there were many flights I flew that you could legitimately call, “boring holes in the sky.” I can’t speak for anyone else, but sometimes I felt that if you took the machine up in the sky and just kept the dang thing out of the water for several hours; that was a successful flight!

Now, in fairness to anyone who might have had that same inclination “back in the day,” given the state of helicopter technology then, particularly their reliability, (urban legend has it that the first two rescues performed by H-2 pilots were of other H-2 pilots who had ditched their machines), perhaps just keeping the aircraft out of the water or the proverbial “farmer’s field” was an accomplishment. Also in fairness, in 30 years I had only two machines fail from under me (I put one into the water and the other into that proverbial farmer’s field), but my entire crew got out of each one without major injuries so the dang things must have been crash-worthy!

So here’s where I circle back to the quote from Dick Couch earlier in this article. Especially for those wonderful men who were the founders of the Naval Helicopter Association (NHA), and even for those of us who came along a little later, we all knew lots of squadron-mates and others who had survived helicopter crashes - either caused by mechanical malfunctions or some notso-great flying. You got the first-person, up-close-and-personal story from someone you knew. It wasn’t hypothetical — it was real and visceral. When that happened to someone you knew, maybe someone you shared the same ready room with for six months or more, you got real interested in aviation safety. Some of us even admitted to ourselves, “Holy molly, Joe is a way better pilot than me and if this happened to him — I gotta get the gouge from him so it doesn’t happen to me, or if it does, I live through it and get my crew out!”

So how many of you first or second tour Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard helicopter aviators have had that kind of firstperson experience? My guess is, not many. The safety statistics speak volumes. Any naval aviator today who is merely trying to keep the machine out of the water is probably in the wrong line of work. Today, we’ve got great machines and great Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen maintaining them, so not many of you probably worry too much about winding up in the water. But it could happen to you.

In the absence of that first-person experience, as the title of this article suggests, you’ve got to hit the books. Our Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) and our Naval Safety Center do a world-class job of analyzing mishaps and promulgating lessons learned. Tap into those resources. Do it individually and then do it together in your ready rooms. As the old saying goes, “Knowledge is Power.”

It will give you an edge, and that edge that may just be the thing that saves you and your crews’ lives someday.

And one more note. This one goes directly to the subject of helicopter aviation safety and getting your head in the game. Years ago, my former shipmate, Capt. Doug Yesensky, wrote an article for Rotor Review titled, “Flight Suit Culture.” Doug and I served together on USS New Orleans (LPH-11) and had the privilege of working for one of the best leaders our community has ever produced, Capt. Mike Coumatos. I suspect in our digitized age our NHA staff can provide a link to that article, but for me, it was the best piece I’ve ever read about how to that one thing that might make you the safest pilot out there by really getting your head in the game.

Editor’s Comment: We have reprinted Capt.

Yensesky’s article, “Flight Suit Culture” on page 76 of this issue of Rotor Review. We hope it inspires a new generation of forward thinking aviation safety culture.

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Sikorsky Is Officially a Lockheed Martin Company

Industry and Technology

Press release by www.rotorhub.com

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ikorsky Aircraft will now be known as Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.

The acquisition expands Lockheed Martin’s core business into the areas of helicopter sustainment and production.

With the acquisition complete, Dan Schultz has been named president of Sikorsky. Schultz led Lockheed Martin’s integration efforts leading up to the closure of the acquisition, and was previously the vice president of the ship and aviation systems line of business within the Mission Systems and Training segment (MST).

Sikorsky will retain its Stratford, Connecticut headquarters.

Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO, Lockheed Martin, said: “Today we are proud to welcome the Sikorsky team to Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky share a legacy of innovation and performance that has shaped the history of aviation for more than a century. Together, we are even better positioned to provide the best value for our customers, employees and shareholders.”

Lockheed Martin has closed its acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft, aligning it under its MST business segment.

The Sikorsky MH-60R, a Sikorsky Aircraft, shown here with the AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Dipping Sonar.

For more on the Lockheed Martin – Sikorsky Aircraft: Go to www.sikorsky.com

Sikorsky Completes VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program Milestones Press release by www.sikorsky.com

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ikorsky Aircraft Corporation announced today the successful completion of the VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program Preliminary Design Review (PDR), completion of the integration and performance testing of mission communications system (MCS) components, and Sikorsky’s acceptance of the second S-92A™ aircraft for the program. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp was formerly a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

“Completing these three milestones on or ahead of schedule is a fantastic accomplishment. We are committed to executing this program on-time and within budget. These achievements keep this program moving forward,” said Spencer Elani, Sikorsky program director, VH-92A. On May 7, 2014, the Navy awarded a $1,244,677,064 fixedprice incentive engineering and manufacturing development

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(EMD) contract with production options to Sikorsky for 21 operational and two test aircraft.

Initial fielding is planned for 2020, with production concluding in 2023. Under the contract, Sikorsky will use its in-production S-92® aircraft and integrate governmentdefined mission systems and install an executive interior.

The PDR, completed on Aug. 21, allowed the VH-92A team to demonstrate the preliminary design for the VH-92A aircraft, including integration of the MCS, and the supporting logistics elements. Completing this step signals that the program is ready to proceed into detailed design (Critical Design Review).

“This is but one of many steps toward the replacement for our Presidential fleet of helicopters. I am pleased how Industry and Technology continued on page 14

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Sikorsky Aircraft is currently working with the U.S. Navy on VH-92A helicopter (pictured above) as the presidental worldwide vertical lift mission.

Image of VH-92A helicopter courtesy of NAVAIR

effectively we’ve gotten out of the gate and established a solid foundation on which we’ll mature the detailed design work of this important program,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Robert Pridgen, program manager for the Naval Air Systems Command’s Presidential Helicopters Program Office. “This team is focused and disciplined. We must maintain both to ensure we meet or exceed the expectations of a program such as the VH-92A in the months ahead.”

Engineering Development Model 0 (EDM-0), the first S-92A helicopter for the VH-92A Program, completed MCS testing on Aug. 25. More than 80 hours of ground and flight testing was conducted over the course of three months in Owego, New York, site of system integrator Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky’s principal supplier on the program.

Sikorsky accepted the second S-92A aircraft for the VH92A program on Sept. 3 when it was flown from Sikorsky’s

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

commercial aircraft facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, to the Stratford, Connecticut, location. This aircraft has commenced the early stages of the modification process.

Sikorsky is working with the U.S. Navy on a fleet of VH92A helicopters to support the presidential world-wide verticallift mission. To help ensure an affordable program, Sikorsky is integrating the already-federal aviation administration (FAA) certified S-92A aircraft with a mature MCS and an executive interior.

The VH-92A will continue to provide safe and reliable helicopter transportation for the President and Vice President of the United States and other officials.

Eventual production quantities will be determined over the life of the program, based on Department of Defense funding priorities and subject to Congressional approval of funding.

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Performance Calculations? There’s an App for That!

Article By Cmdr. (ret) Sid Hatcher, USN

is showing 94% required and a 2% power margin. That’s with Contingency-Power on and 96% available. If we don’t have Contingency-Power on, we won’t have the power. 15 knots of wind helps, bringing the power margin up to 12%; but you know how unpredictable the winds are up in those mountains.”

“Copy all. Let’s plan to dump 600 pounds of fuel. How does that work out?”

“That puts us in the green at a 7% no-wind power margin.

Make sure you turn C-power on, though. It’s still pretty close at Maximum Rated Power (MRP).”

“Roger that. What’s our single-engine envelope?”

“Minimum speed for worst-case engine failure is 41 knots. Bucket is 63 knots.”

“OK. If everyone is good with that, we’ll continue, assuming an in-flight power available check gives us at least 96%.”

“We’re good, Sir. Rigging for rescue.”

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uring a routine training flight, an MH-60S receives a radio call that gets any helicopter crew’s adrenaline pumping, “F-18 ejection. Are you SAR capable?” While transiting towards the area, the helicopter crew learns that the pilot is injured, but has communicated his position: a wooded ridge line at 6,300 feet. Among all of the activity associated with a Search and Rescue mission, the crew must determine whether they have the power available to conduct a hoist rescue, since a landing won’t be possible. Time is critical, but safety is paramount.

Over the Intercommunication System (ICS), the aircraft commander calls to the crew chief, “Hey Westy, run the numbers. Pressure Altitude (PA): 6400, Outside Air Temperature (OAT): 29, fuel state: 2,300. Current winds are 15 knots. Assume the survivor weight is 220 pounds.”

The crew chief grabs a hand-held tablet and launches the Air Vehicle Performance (AVP) Application. Since basic information on aircraft operating weight, drag, cargo, engine health, etc. was part of the take-off information, it is already stored in the App. All the crew chief has to do is enter the details for the rescue and tap “Calculate.”

With the five entries, he reports, “Sir, this is gonna be close. Density Altitude (DA) is almost 10,000 feet (9748, to be precise). No-wind Hover Out of Ground Effect (HOGE)

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Evaluating other aspects of the mission, the co-pilot speaks up, “Hang on a sec. Take a look at the Level Flight tab of AVP. If we dump 600 pounds and burn 200 pounds during the rescue, can we make it back to base? Looks like it will be a 105 mile transit.”

“At maximum range speed of 105 knots and 1,500 pounds, we can make 137 miles and still land with 450 pounds. If that 15 knot wind is off the nose, we’re good for 120 miles. The numbers show that we can do it. If this guy’s hurt pretty badly, we can kick it up to 133 knots and still make 108 miles. That’s at 30 minute power and a pretty good margin below retreating blade stall – 148 knots. And once we can get down to 3,000 feet, we’ll pick up a couple of extra miles on the range. But I also checked the outputs with the Environmental Control System (ECS) on and that’s a three mile penalty on range. A cruise speed of 130 knots looks optimum.”

The above discussion regarding weight, density altitude, torque available, hover torque required, winds, power margins, single-engine capability, best-range, range at maximum speed and airspeed for retreating blade stall were completed in a couple of minutes. The AVP calculations, taking place in a matter of seconds, gave the crew the situational awareness and initial mission analysis to make a risk decision on whether to accept the mission.

With this tablet capability resident in the AVP App, H-60 pilots (or aircrew in the above scenario) no longer have to work through the myriad of performance charts in the Pocket Check List (PCL) or risk overlooking a variable that could negatively impact performance (such as turning on Contingency Power for HOGE capability and turning off the ECS to reduce fuel consumption during cruise). Recently certified by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), AVP is available through Common Access Card (CAC) enabled

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Industry and Technology: Performance Calculations? There’s an App for That! download. This powerful tool was developed to help H-60 Summary of MH-60 R/S AVP crews gain quick and accurate insights into performance Each section of AVP uses standard inputs. The inputs characteristics; primarily for safety, but also for mission section is at the bottom of the iPad display (Figures 1 capability. Without a clear understanding of performance and 2). After making adjustments for weight parameters, capability and limitations, pilots and crew can put themselves environmental data, aircraft/engine configuration, etc., the and their aircraft at risk, as findings from numerous mishaps user taps the “Calculate” button and outputs are updated. On across the services have shown. Reducing instances of the Hover Page (Figure 1), calculated engine power available “power required exceeds power available” is one of the is depicted. Highlights on power available indicate where top safety goals for rotary wing aviation. AVP can provide engine output exceeds transmission ratings. Power required foresight on helicopter performance where mishap reports for Hover In Ground Effect (HIGE) and HOGE are displayed, have traditionally provided the hindsight. And while there are along with a comparison between power available and power many elements to mission planning, AVP fills a critical need required (i.e. – the power margin cited in the scenario above). and has a number of advantages over the conventional method Hover endurance and a quick reference to the aircraft’s single of performance calculations using hand-held charts. engine envelope are also displayed.

First, the convenience of having such a tool on a handheld tablet is clear. AVP can be utilized in the class room, ready room, while reviewing maintenance records, as well as in the aircraft itself before or during flight. The hardware is portable, lightweight, standalone and approved for use.

Therefore, NAVAIR’s AVP development team is able to focus on building the software and data source for any aircraft series.

Second, as naval aviators, we know that, “The only thing for certain is that things will change.” Whether it is a change in mission, cargo, personnel, altitude, temperature or winds, AVP will produce all performance calculations with incredible speed and accuracy, a significant improvement over attempting to use the multitude of small, cumbersome charts Figure 1 – AVP Hover Page in a PCL. Third, the user interface is another advantage of AVP. On the “Level Flight” page (Figure 2), calculated engine While various features and functions of AVP can be tailored power available is also depicted. Unlike the hover numbers, for a specific community, NAVAIR’s Airworthiness Office however, these values are also a function of the operating (4.0P) has standard performance parameters and layouts. speed entered by the user (because power available increases This, combined with implementing best-practices in the as forward speed increases). The left-hand side of the “Level development of tablet applications, means that AVP is Flight” page displays outputs that reflect the power-required easy to use and intuitive. Anyone familiar with helicopter curve for the specific conditions (PA, OAT, Weight and Drag). performance terms, calculations and limitations (such as an These give the user a quick reference to the best number to use aircraft’s limits on weight, speed, torque, etc.) can effortlessly as an operating speed. The user can enter one of these values begin using AVP. or enter a value representative of the mission (e.g. – 120 knots Finally, software download of the AVP application makes for Instrument Flight Regulations (IFR) cruise). Once the updates to the performance calculations much faster and more operating speed is entered, the user presses “Calculate” again cost effective than distributing hard-copy charts to every to see the influence on range and endurance. holder of the Naval Operating Procedures Standardization Figure 2 – AVP Level Flight Page (NATOPS) flight manual. This applies to the performance data within the source code as well as with the functionality and features incorporated in the App. The initial release of AVP (version 2.6.1) is for the MH60R and MH-60S and functions on the iPad or iPad Mini.

Versions that are compatible with the Android operating system are expected during a 2015 sustainment phase for improving AVP. The App provides three main capabilities: “Hover” performance calculations, “Level Flight” performance calculations and calculations for Functional Check Flights (FCF) and engine Health Indicator Test (HIT) Checks. An Emergency Mode of operation adjusts the “Hover” and “Level Flight” calculations based on a single engine operating.

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On the HIT/FCF Page of AVP, several functions are provided to permit a quick determination of results for Engine HIT Checks and FCF calculations (maximum power checks and autorotation RPM, for example). Rather than having to reference multiple charts, equations, or kneeboard math, the user provides the input parameters and AVP’s “Calculate’ button does the rest. AVP serves to perform these calculations prior to a check using estimated inputs or to provide formal FCF outputs for recording purposes.

Tolerances for the HIT/FCF checks are also included, so AVP will alert the user to a PASS/FAIL condition. Figure 3 Figure 3 – AVP HIT/FCF Page

Flight” maximum airspeed for a given angle of bank, climb rate at a desired airspeed and power setting, etc. Essentially, as long as the source data is available, the possibilities of AVP’s output calculations based on the user’s inputs are endless.

Working as a team with NAVAIR Engineering, the Information Solutions Business Unit of Wyle’s Aerospace Group developed AVP for NAVAIR’s Airworthiness Office.

As the first custom tablet application for naval aviation, AVP pioneered the mobile certification process at NAVAIR. AVP and the process that created it, is an excellent example of NAVAIR’s ability to grasp warfighter needs, apply innovative technology and streamlined acquisition processes and provide timely delivery of a product that meets those needs. Much like the way commercial applications are updated, NAVAIR’s development process will capture additional requirements and incrementally improve AVP’s capabilities for the H-60.

In addition to developing an Android version of the App, NAVAIR is also developing AVP versions for other aircraft Type/Model/Series. Although we may not see the end of NATOPS hard-copy charts for backup and for understanding the fundamental concepts of helicopter performance, AVP brings the mechanics of performance calculations into the modern age.

About the Author: Sid Hatcher is a test pilot for Wyle. He supports MH-60 and Presidential Helicopter programs with HX 21 at NAS Patuxent River, Md.

depicts AVP’s autorotation RPM calculation.

Future versions of AVP will incorporate growth items determine “Level Flight” maximum angle of bank, “Level

Bell Helicopter Celebrates 50th Anniversary of First Flight of Legendary AH-1 Cobra Press Release by Bell Helicopter

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ell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Bell AH-1 Cobra. The trailblazing AH-1 is the original attack helicopter whose revolutionary design and configuration defined attack helicopters to follow in the decades after the historic flight at Amon Carter Field on Sept. 7, 1965.

“During the last fifty years, the AH-1 Cobra has undergone multiple modifications and upgrades, continuing to build its notable track record of preserving our freedom and becoming

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one of the most prominent helicopters in the world,” said Michael Miller, Director of Military Business Development for Bell Helicopter and former Cobra pilot with the U.S. Army. “The longevity of this lethal armed helicopter can be largely attributed to its versatile design, originally conceived and produced in less than 18 months in the 60’s in response to urgent wartime needs. Every tandem attack helicopter you see today is born out of what the Bell Helicopter engineers were doing half a century ago. We are proud to recognize the Cobra

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Industry and Technology: Bell Helicopter 50th Anniversary of the First Flight of... AH-1 Cobra

as one of Bell Helicopter’s greatest achievements and honor the line’s five decades of faithful service.”

The United States Army launched the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition in the mid 1960’s, with the goal for manufacturers to design an aircraft, which met the Army’s immediate need for a fast, armed attack helicopter. ”We had a skunk works back in the day, but it was just a steam room where we were building the first fuselage,” said Dr. Mike Mikel, former Bell Helicopter vice president of Engineering and also a former Cobra pilot for the Army.

“We were starting to design it, and someone asked how wide we ought to make the fuselage. Someone else pointed out the door to the room we were in was just over 36 inches, so that is how we ended up with a 36 inch wide fuselage. Having such a narrow target ended up to be a decisive advantage for the AH-1 when it was heading into hostile territory. We used to joke that it was easy to get into the cockpit, but that climbing back out was sometimes the hardest part of the mission.”

Within days of completing the mockup, a team of 30 Bell Helicopter engineers began designing and building the AH-1 Cobra prototype. After just six months, on Sept. 7, 1965, test pilot Bill Quinlan made the first flight of the AH-1 at Bell’s flight test facilities at what was the time Amon Carter Field. Shortly following the successful first flight the U.S. Army awarded Bell Helicopter its first contract for two pre-

production helicopters. Four days later, the U.S. Army awarded a second contract for 110 production aircraft. By the end of the year, Bell Helicopter had earned contracts for approximately 500 AH-1 aircraft.

Bell Helicopter engineers designed a fuselage mockup for the competition which featured a revolutionary forward cockpit that seated the co-pilot/gunner in front of the pilot, and retractable landing skids that helped streamline the aircraft for even greater airspeed. The improvement provided an incredible increase in visibility for the pilot and the gunner, and tandem seating also contributed to greater situational awareness. This now-familiar configuration has been perpetuated in attack helicopter design ever since.

To date, the Cobra is acclaimed for serving as the backbone of the United States Army’s attack helicopter fleet during the Vietnam War. The latest version of the Cobra, the AH-1Z “Zulu,” is currently in service with the U.S. Marine Corps and is regarded as one of the world’s most advanced attack helicopters. More than 7,000 AH-1 models have been built and are still in production at Bell’s manufacturing plant in Amarillo, Texas.

“On a scale of one to ten, the Cobra was and still is a ten,” said Miller.

Photos by Mr. Andy Woodward.

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Features

MAKING DESCENT: Marines Hone Fast-Roping Skills Article by Cpl. Paul S. Martinez, II, USMC

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hen a Marine needs to get to the fight, quickly, fast-roping out of a helicopter may be the best option. For Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 167, ensuring Marines acquire this skill is a priority. Marines with HMLA167 supported the Expeditionary Operations Training Group in their Helicopter Rope Suspension Techniques Master Course at Landing Zone Bluebird, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Oct. 21, 2015. The students in the course are in the “air phase” of the curriculum. Earlier in the course they practiced their rope techniques from towers in preparation for applying them from an aircraft. The squadron’s crewmembers provided one UH-1Y Venom helicopter for the 24 students to fast-rope out of. This training provides Marines with the ability to conduct helicopter insertions and extractions where helicopter landings are impractical. “We are getting evaluated on rigging the aircraft with the rope and properly deploying down it to insert on our objective,” said Capt. Tebias Mason, a reconnaissance platoon commander and student in the course.

Once the Venom aircraft touched ground at the landing zone, Marines quickly got on board and set up their line. Master instructors in the helicopter and on the ground supervised and evaluated them as they descended one by one from a height of approximately 50 feet.

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Features: Making Descent: Marines Hone Fast-Roping Skills

In addition to fast-rope, employing rappelling techniques has also been a focus of the course.

“Chances are a helicopter will not be able to land on a vessel if that is the target, so the only way to get Marines on the deck will be from fast-roping or rappelling,” said Mason. “Fast-rope is easier and faster as long as the pilots can support it. It also exposes the aircraft in the open for a shorter period of time.”

The training evolution allowed the crew to become proficient in their realm of responsibility.

The Marines descend approximately 50 feet from the helicopter, which was operated by pilots with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Paul S. Martinez

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A Marine student with the Expeditionary Operations Training Group conducts a fast-rope descent out of an UH-1Y Venom helicopter as part of the Helicopter Rope Suspension Techniques Master Course at Camp Lejeune, N.C. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Paul S. Martinez, USMC

”I’m learning how to work in a different environment. In the future it might be faster paced, but I will have a better understanding of how to do it,” said Lance Cpl. Joseph Valesey, a crew chief with HMLA-167. “It’s good to have exposure of the HRST masters and to see how the training evolution goes.” The students are slated to apply their techniques to two additional Marine Corps aircraft: the CH-53E Super Stallion and MV-22B Osprey. Upon completion of the course, they will be officially HRST certified.

About the Author: Cpl. Paul S. Martinez is stationed at Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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Features

Black Dart 2015

Article by HSM-75 and HSC-8 Public Affairs Teams

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ver the past ten years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has invested substantial resources and manpower into developing its drone program. What sometimes gets lost in the narrative is that many other countries are doing the same thing and pose a significant threat to our ability to operate freely. To determine how best to counter this increasingly lethal threat, the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization (JIAMDO) hosts Black Dart, a demonstration dedicated to Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) operations. Both the Helicopter Strike Maritime Squadron (HSM) 75 Wolf Pack and the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 Eightballers from Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW) 11 had the distinct privilege of representing the naval rotary wing community in Black Dart 2015 to demonstrate what the MH-60R and MH-60S can bring to the fight.

Black Dart 2015 was conducted at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif. in early August 2015 and hosted over 60 different platforms and weapon systems from across the DoD and defense industry. The exercise lasted two weeks and was designed to demonstrate and evaluate the ability of each platform to effectively execute their portion of the C-UAS kill chain from detection through negation. Although it was a demonstration with a “test”

feel at heart, the scenarios that participants executed were Global Combatant Command (CCMD) driven so as to best simulate real world encounters and threats. This helped ensure that requirement decision makers could determine a system’s effectiveness in theatre.

Although the MH-60R has participated in past iterations of the C-UAS exercise, Black Dart 2015 marked the first year that the MH-60S participated and also the first time both the HSM and HSC communities trained together. In past exercises, MH-60R crews focused on demonstrating and evaluating the UAS detection capabilities of their MH-60R helicopter. Crews also established the effectiveness of the GAU-21, a .50-caliber machine gun, against larger unmanned systems. With this in mind, the focus this year for CVW-11’s rotary wing team shifted towards engaging smaller sized drones with the M-240D - a 7.62 mm machine gun - as well as the M197 Fixed Forward Firing Weapon System (FFFWS) - a 20 mm automatic gun - while refining intercept procedures against the entire spectrum of available UAS. The MH-60R/S in concert with the robust command and control (C2) architecture of a carrier strike group (CSG) and embarked air wing provided a natural demonstration for the CCMD-derived

Lt. Cmdr. Jenny Tinjum, a Naval Reservist with Naval Air Systems Command, serves her active time as a flight line safety officer during Operation Black Dart at Naval Base Ventura Country Point Mugu.

Photo taken by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio Turretto Ramos, USN

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maritime environment scenario. Acting as a forward screening asset for the CSG when airborne MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters are normally under the Sea Combat Commander’s (Zulu’s) control.

They are, however, trained to counter a Low Slow Flyer (LSF) threat, and can be lassoed for Air Warfare Commander (Whiskey) tasking as well. In Black Dart, this same C2 construct was used to demonstrate how well the MH-60R/S can be used kinetically against various pop-up UAS threats. Due to a last minute fallout of the participating Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, the role of Whiskey fell to the E-2C Hawkeye and ground-based U.S. Marine Corps controllers from Marine Air Control Squadron (MACS) 1. Both were extremely well suited to provide the initial detection of the UAS, create Link 16 tracks and give bearing, range, altitude, aspect (BRAA) calls to move rotary wing players into an engagement position.

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Over the four days of flying leading up to the live-fire events, the mixed-section crews executed over 50 intercepts against targets as diverse as the S-100 Camcopter, NRQ-21A Integrator and the Twin Hawk UAS, amongst others. These drones ranged in size from just 35 inches in diameter and less than 20 pounds to some with a 25 foot wingspan. The repetition and ability to interact with controllers after each sortie was invaluable. The informal post-flight debriefs allowed the Eightballer and Wolf Pack crews to hone their skills and resulted in drastically reduced detection-to-engagement times as the week progressed. Additionally, crews streamlined the internal crew resource management (CRM) process by allowing the MH-60R sensor operator to utilize the Romeo multi-spectral targeting system (MTS) while the MH-60R pilots and MH-60S crews simultaneously scanned outside. On days where there was significant sea clutter (whitecaps, surface contacts, haze, etc.), the drones were usually acquired first by the MTS, then visually

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Features: Black Dart 2015

utilizing the MTS declination angle and indication on the pilots’ horizontal situation indicators (HSI). Following visual acquisition, the section maneuvered to an advantageous perch, or chase profile, to allow for the MH-60S “tip-in” or for the MH-60R to slide into an escort position, allowing the aircrewman to train his crew-served weapon on the target.

For this year’s live-fire events, HSM-75 elected to utilize the M-240D machine gun to test the weapon’s effectiveness, following the previous year’s successful GAU-21 shoot conducted by HSM71. The target provided was the FireFlight Flanker, a Group 1 UAS with a 7 foot wingspan, weight of 20 pounds and airspeed of approximately 55 knots. The Flanker entered the range, the exercise commenced and the fight was on. Shortly thereafter the crew received their first BRAA call once the target was detected. With the sea state calm and the white target, the crew quickly visually

acquired the Flanker and radioed “tally” to the Range Safety Team.

After controller clearance, the HSM-75 pilots maneuvered to the escort position, and with Naval Aircrewmen (Helicopter) Bryce Williams’s “visual, tally” call, the Helicopter Aircraft Commander gave the “open fire” command. Williams fired approximately 5070 7.62 mm caliber rounds and tracer rounds into the target before it began smoking and flying erratically. For good measure, he kept firing and expended another 100 rounds to ensure the target’s destruction. From the time the event began to the time the Flanker impacted the water was less than eight minutes.

Shortly after HSM-75’s UAS kill, HSC-8 checked in on the range for their live-fire event. HSC-8 elected to utilize the M-197 FFFWS 20 mm automatic gun against the same target, the FireFlight Flanker. The sequence of events was very similar to HSM-75’s experience. Once the crew of HSC-8 visually acquired

A MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 prepares for the Black Dart exercise.

Photo taken by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel M. Young, USN

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the target, they proceeded to the perch position. Commencing with a 10 degree tip-in, Lt. Cmdr. Dave Owens engaged the UAS with an approximately 5-7 second trigger pull. Rather than the text book pull off, the crew traded airspeed for altitude, reset power and repeated the engagement. After five swift engagements and approximately 500 rounds of 20 mm, the UAS was destroyed. From the time the UAS was visually acquired to water impact was six minutes. This challenging scenario led to the realization that the M-197 20mm automatic gun may not be the preferred weapon against a small UAS due to the resulting complex targeting solution, but with a well-trained and proficient crew, it can be done.

While we frequently hear of small drones that are bought on Amazon.com buzzing crowds on beaches or causing nearmidair collisions with airliners, there have already been instances of potential adversaries employing drones and impacting deployed operations. With the proliferation of inexpensive, difficult to detect commercial drones only increasing, C-UAS is an emerging mission set that will no doubt be a focus in the future. Black Dart 2015 was the DoD’s response and the avenue to gauge where we stand, as well as help identify where the capability gaps lie. The performance of CVW-11’s rotary wing team in the first weeks of Aug. 2015 demonstrated that even with nascent C-UAS experience in the HSM and HSC communities, naval helicopters are well suited to answer the call.

Click on the picture (above) to view Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 75 and an MH-60S from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8 track and shoot down target drones in a live fire exercise off the coast of Naval Base Ventura Country Point Mugu during Operation Black Dart on YouTube Video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio Turretto Ramos and Lt. Ken Petkunas.

To View More Videos on The Story: See NBC Nightly News coverage of Black Dart 2015 at http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/black-dart--the-u.s.-militarys-countermeasure-against-drones-500947523566

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Features

Marines and Coast Guard Rehearse Search and Rescue Procedures Article by Lance Cpl. Jonah Lovy, USMC

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lements from Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 31 coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for a search and rescue exercise off the coast of Charleston, S.C. on Nov. 3, 2015. The exercise simulated the water rescue of two Marine pilots from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

The Marines and Coast Guard work together on similar operations during real world crises so rehearsal is critical in preparation for such events.

“The whole purpose of this exercise is to put our capabilities to the test,” said Maj. Dennis Dalton, the Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) mission commander and operations officer for MAG-31. “We need to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and test our response time for this type of incident.”

The two branches train separately most of the time and rarely get the chance to collaborate on this scale.

“The last time we did an exercise like this was in 2010 so it became apparent that we needed to run another one to see what we can improve upon,” said Dalton.

The exercise revolves around simulating events that could happen in the real world and relies on many different elements working together to rescue the pilots.

“The scenario is that two fighter jets had a mid-air collision and both the pilots safely ejected into the water,” said Dalton.

“For the simulation, the pilots will ride out into the water in a USCG cutter then wait for rescue aboard a smaller vessel.”

Although the pilots are not actually in the water for this exercise, in a real-life situation they would need to stay afloat and survive until help arrives.

“Once a pilot ejects from his plane after a crash the protocol is to activate his handheld radio and wait for rescue,” said Dalton.

All pilots are equipped with basic survival gear such as a radio and a small amount of water. After the pilots land safely in the water, they drop a sea dye marker to make their position

known. Sea dye markers contain a fluorescent green dye that spreads over the surface of the water to signal rescue personnel.

“One of the variables that we are testing is how long a pilot should wait before deploying the marker,” said Dalton. “It is possible that they will be in the water for over an hour and the dye does not stay visible forever.”

If a pilot needs to eject over water it is crucial that they keep their radio operational for as long as possible.

“Once the radio is activated, a signal is sent to the 7th Coast Guard district in Panama City, Fla.” said Dalton. “The Coast Guard then notifies the nearest base that can send a rescue helicopter.”

After the local detachment has been notified, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter flies out from Air Station Savannah to the pilots and picks them up with rescue swimmers or a basket.

“While the Coast Guard is working on getting a helicopter out there, two F-18s from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 will serve as the first ones on the scene,” said Dalton. “Their job is to arrive in the area, locate the pilots and keep an eye on the situation until rescue arrives.”

Executing an exercise of this level requires many components to work in conjunction with each other in almost perfect synchronization to effectively accomplish the mission. Marines and Coast Guardsmen can learn a lot from this type of joint operation.

“We need to determine how long this whole process takes from start to finish. We will evaluate each step to see if there are areas we can improve on,” said Dalton. “Once we have gained all the knowledge we can, we will distribute the information around the Department of Defense.”

Pulling off SAREX requires all personnel involved to work together. In a real life emergency, responders will use the lessons learned in training to bring the pilots home safely.

A Marine jet pilot, assigned to Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, deploys a sea dye marker during a search and rescue exercise.

Photo taken by Lance Cpl. Jonah Lovy, USMC

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2015 Fleet Fly-In and NHA Join-Up Highlights

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he annual Training Wing 5 Fleet Fly-In and Naval Helicopter Association (NHA) Join-Up were held at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Milton, Fla. October 27-30, 2015. The event is designed to afford Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) a first-hand look and the opportunity to actually fly fleet aircraft. Additionally, the Fly-In provides SNAs the opportunity to chat with current fleet pilots in order to help them decide which aviation community they prefer. While there are no bad choices, seeing the aircraft first hand and talking with community pilots can help clarify the realities of each community and help SNAs to make a more informed choice. The event was made possible through excellent fleet support; 11 fleet squadrons flew 12 aircraft to NAS Whiting Field and over 100 fleet aviators participated in the event. A huge thank you to the following squadrons for providing support: HSC-2, HSC-9, HSC-26, HSC-28, HSM-40, HSM-46, HSM-60, HSM-70, HM-12, HM-15 and HMHT-302. Over 450 SNAs were on hand to participate in the activities. Additionally, four civilian industry helicopters flew in to provide support. The NHA Join-Up, held in conjunction with the Fleet Fly-In, was a great opportunity to reconnect with shipmates and keep up to date with the latest fleet technology. A summary of the weeks’ activities is provided below.

HT-8 65th Anniversary Celebration Article and Photo by Lt. Rebecca Smith, USN

“Eightballer” alumni, spanning across six decades, came out to celebrate the achievements of the Navy’s inaugural helicopter training squadron, Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8. After an afternoon ceremony led by four former Eightballers and members of the Navy’s premier helicopter attack squadron, HAL-3: Capt. Dick Catone, USN (Ret.), Capt. Gary Skaar, USN (Ret.), Capt. Pete Peterson USN (Ret.) and Cmdr. Mike Louy, USN (Ret.). The celebration culminated in an evening of revelry and fellowship at Goat Lips Deli, a local dive bar in the Pensacola area. Situated across the street from the original Navy helicopter training base, Ellyson Field, the location inspired stories of yester year and aspirations for the future.

(Top Photo) Squadron representation is displayed on the flight line at Whiting Field. (Bottom Photo, L-R) Cmdr. Gary Wax, USN (Ret), the oldest Eightballer commanding officer cutting the 65th anniversary cake with the current commanding officer Cmdr. J.D. McBryde, USN. Photo taken by the 2016 Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In Committee.

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Features: 2015 Fleet Fly / NHA Join-Up

Opening Remarks in Sikes Hall Article by Lt. John Geary, USN

Despite an early morning kickoff for the Fleet Fly-In, the seats were filled to hear the Commodore of Training Air Wing (TW) 5, Col. Kling, USMC, give his opening remarks for the 26th Annual Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In and NHA Fall Join Up. The Commodore emphasized that the key mission of TW-5 is to “train warriors and develop leaders” and how these two events are essential to fulfilling this mission. These two events offer an opportunity to pass on from one generation to the next the traditions, heritage and fleet experience which makes naval aviation such a unique and amazing profession. Giving the student helicopter aviators the opportunity to fly in 19 fleet aircraft from across the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard is a valuable experience for them as they physically fly their future fleet aircraft. This assists them in the understanding of various communities and their respective nuances. Col. Kling expressed his gratitude for the fleet aviators’ participation at the event as their current fleet knowledge and experience, and the sea stories that go with them, are a vital inspiration to the students at South Whiting Field.

Aircraft Static Displays and Student Orientation Flights on the Flight Line Article by Lt. John Geary, USN

While student helicopter aviators get the chance to fly in the fleet aircraft, the aircraft static displays provide them the opportunity to get up close and personal in a “pre-flight” mentality.

The mindset of “crawl, walk, run” is a popular illustration of how many instructors teach students and the static displays provided a valuable opportunity for the students to crawl, figuratively and literally. By opening up compartments and crawling in and around the aircraft these students were able to discuss with fleet crews the operational characteristics and limitations of many of the aircraft in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Once airborne, the value in having a student in control of a fleet aircraft is unparalleled. The TH-57B/C Jet Ranger is as basic a helicopter as they come. For the student, flying a more advanced helicopter with a “glass” avionics suite and stabilization system is a snapshot of what they will soon be doing: employing their helicopter flying skills in a tactical regime.

HT Skills Competition

Article By Lt. Jeremy Hans, USN For the second year in a row, TW-5 hosted the Helicopter Training Skills Competition. Each of the three helicopter training squadrons picked a junior officer Instructor Pilot to represent their squadron in three events flying the TH-57B. The participants were scored on popping balloons with an external load, flying a full autorotation and popping balloons in a square pattern with the helicopter’s skids. Colonel Kling, USMC, TW-5 Commodore, was the head judge along with Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Lawson (Helicopter Instructor Training Unit OIC) and Lt. Sarah Melick (TH-57 Naval Air Training Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) Model Manager) scoring on both objective and subjective criteria. The competition highlighted the expert ability of instructors who fly these maneuvers daily and provided fun-spirited competition between the squadrons.

This year’s winner was HT-18’s crew, piloted by Lt. Brandon Rok, who was able to hit the most balloons and flew the best full autorotation.

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5K Fun Run

Article by Lt. Ryan Miller, USN

Features: 2015 Fleet Fly / NHA Join-Up

Spouses Orientation

Article By Lt. Katie Stewart, USN The NHA Fleet Fly-In held a Spouses Orientation Event at the base Atrium that was open to all spouses at TW-5. Fleet and Family Support Center kicked off the event with a presentation detailing the services they provide, which include: financial management, stress management, deployment support, career services and relocation support. Joy Doyle, a former military spouse of 26 years and realtor at Hover Girl Properties in Jacksonville, Fla., spoke about both the joys and stressors of being a military spouse. The heart of the event was the “Round Table� talk where current spouses spoke about different military duty stations and their experiences along the way.

Discussions on family life, where to live, pay and allowance questions and particulars about specific duty stations were all covered. Overall, it was a great event and very helpful for new spouses!

The 2015 NHA Fleet Fly-In 5K run was a fantastic event this year. The overnight forecast called for rain, but a beautiful sunrise appeared just prior to race time at 7 a.m. Thirty runners awoke before sunrise and began the race running past the line of TH-57s and then continued around portions of Runways 32 and 23. The course concluded on the taxi line, creating a backdrop of the visiting fleet aircraft and the rising sun. Runners enjoyed water and bananas as they passed through a large inflatable arch finish line. The first place runner completed the course in an impressive 16 minutes and 45 seconds, dominating the competition. Runners quickly showered and changed in order to partake in the various events that started shortly thereafter. It was a great event to start the second day of the Fleet Fly-In and we look forward to another great race in 2016!

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Welcome Mixer at the Fish House Article by Lt. John Geary, USN

On a crisp fall evening on the inner coastline of Pensacola, the Welcome Mixer at the Fish House was the perfect venue for old friends to catch up. With live music playing on the deck bar, NHA staff stayed busy signing up individuals wishing to become NHA members. Swag from the event included a painted pint glass with the familiar Pensacola beach ball logo and an NHA embossed pen and pencil set. The party kicked off at 6 pm and went well into the night with three kegs and a myriad of appetizers and finger foods. Many people decided to take the after party to Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola which, much to the enjoyment of anyone stationed in the area, has recently seen an influx of great bars and restaurants.

Community Briefs at NAS Whiting Field Article by Lt. John Geary, USN

On Wednesday, October 28, each Navy commodore held a brief geared towards the instructor pilots stationed at Naval Air Station Whiting Field. Because all Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard student aviators earn their wings of gold here, there are many impressionable students with many questions about their future careers. When they seek advice from instructors regarding coast or community, it is vital the instructors have current and accurate information to give the students when they ask. Providing instructor pilots up to date information and keeping them plugged into their communities were the reasons for these briefs. Held at various locations and venues across South Whiting Field, these briefs were a refreshing change of pace for most of the instructors as nearly all of them are on “high flight time waivers� and typically fly three students daily, averaging 60-80 hours every month. The next day, community specific briefs were given by each Fleet

Replacement Squadron (FRS) across all services. These briefs were geared towards motivating the students and to highlight the various differences across the communities. Many of the briefs included motivational videos and music and the venues were standing room only.

2015 Fleet Fly-In and NHA Join-Up: This article continues on page 56.

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Monday, May 9, 2016 1000 1300-1500 1530 1600

Exhibitor Booth Setup Open House HSC-2 and HM-12 HS Sundown Ceremony (HS-11 Hangar) Welcome Reception and Symposium Kick Off (HS-11 Hangar)

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 0630-0730 Breakfast/Coffee 0730-0745 Opening Ceremonies/NHA President’s Remarks 0800-0900 Key Note Address 0900-0930 PMA-299 - Future of Verticle Lift and MH-60 Flight Plan Brief 0930-1000 N-98 - MV-22: Where Are We Now? 1000-1015 Break 1015-1145 Captains of Industry Panel 1145-1245 VIP Luncheon 1145-1245 Buffet Lunch 1245-1415 Flag Panel 1415-1430 Break 1430-1530 Aircrew Panel 1530-1630 AWCM Round Table 1530-1630 PERS-43 Brief 1530-1630 ESC (by invitation only) 1630-1700 Detailer Breakout Groups 1800-2200 Members Reunion (Spirit of Norfolk) 2000-2300 Hotel Casino Night After Party

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 0700 Trustees/Directors Breakfast Meeting 0700-0800 Breakfast/Coffee 0730 Aircrew Competition 0800-1600 PERS-43 Breakout Groups 0800-0900 LCS Panel 0900-1000 PMA-266 - MQ8-B/C Update 1000-1015 Break 1015-1045 PMA-299 - Ongoing Efforts/Fleet Concerns/Way Forward Out of Procurement 1045-1115 How NAVAIR Works 1115-1215 Chuck Aaron Brief - Red Bull Helicopter Pilot 1215-1315 Helicopter Officer Spouse’s Club (HOSC) Luncheon 1215-1315 Exhibit Hall Luncheon 1315-1345 N-98 Future of OAMCM Brief (Big Iron) 1345-1445 Higher Education Briefing/Panel 1445-1500 Break 1500-1600 Safety Brief 1800 Tides Game (Harbor Park Stadium)

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Thursday, May 12, 2016 0700 5K Fun Run (Elizabeth River Trail) 0700-0800 Breakfast/Coffee 0800-1600 PERS-43 Breakout Groups 0800-0915 Commodore/CAG Round Table 0915-1030 The Waterfront Perspective (Commodores, Ships CO/XO, Airbosses, JOs) 1030-1045 Break 1045-1145 HAL-3 Seawolves Rescue Recap 1145-1245 PMA-205 Future of Modeling and Simulation 1245-1345 Exhibit Hall Luncheon - Salute to Aviation Lunch 1345-1545 Awards Ceremony 1545-1645 Team Seahawk Reception 1645 Exhibit Hall Tear Down 1800 O’Connor Brewing (Downtown Norfolk)

Friday, May 13, 2016 0700 0900-1300 1300

Golf Range Time (Little Creek) Golf Tournament (Little Creek) Sports BBQ and Awards Ceremony (Little Creek)

New This Year!

Approximately 350 personnel have been authorized to travel to this year’s NHA Symposium on orders! It should be the mosthighly attended Symposium in NHA history and events will fill up FAST. Space for some venues are expected to sell out quickly. Be sure to register EARLY! Click NHA logo and go online to register for the 2016 NHA Symposium and book your hotel reservations.

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Focus: SAFETY FIRST— A Look at Naval Helicopter Aviation Safety

We All Know Something Unique, But Who Knows Best?

Article by Lt. Andrew Gregory and Lt. j. g. Jessica O’Brian, USN

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maneuver and sudden increase in weight of the connected load (nearly 2,500 pounds) was pushing our helicopter to its limits.

Instinctively as we began to settle I reduced the collective and pushed the nose over to gain forward airspeed in order to reduce the power required of the engines and decrease the demand on the rotor system. As we settled, I subconsciously held my breath until we finally flew through translational lift and began climbing again as our instruments transitioned from red back to green. As the situation settled down, my crewmen asked over the radio, “Is everything under control, sir? That was close - we almost pulled a nearby load and the hook-up man overboard!”

As we took a lap in the pattern around the ship, we doublechecked all of our instruments and pre-flight calculations.

We reviewed our personal Operational Risk Management (ORM) and ensured everyone was comfortable to continue.

We radioed tower informing them we were “Ops normal” and asked for clarification on the waveoff call. Tower passed that as we flew over the load on the flight deck, our rotor wash had come dangerously close to knocking an adjacent load overboard. Once we were ready to resume operations, I passed the controls to my HAC for the drop to the receiving ship. We made the drop and finished the day without further incident.

After the flight, we conducted a de-brief and discussion of the day’s events with the Helicopter Control Officer (HCO) who had issued the “waveof” call from tower. We all came to the same conclusion. While each person had taken appropriate individual action, neither the HCO nor I had taken the hook-up man into account. Thus neither of us had complete situational awareness (SA) and did not acquire this SA prior to taking our respective actions. The HCO failed to assess the hook-up man’s position prior to making the “waveoff” call and I failed to give the crewman (who has the best SA and tactical control of the helicopter while maneuvering over the deck) the extra moment to either release the load or call for a “hold” instead.

The call from tower was a natural response to the developing situation on the flight deck. My response to tower’s “waveoff” call was procedurally correct, and our pre-flight power calculations were correct. However, I failed to apply sound judgment by taking a moment to fully assess the situation and involve our entire crew in the decision to waveoff while in the dynamic VERTREP environment.

Although tower’s call was intended to address the hazard of the adjacent load almost being blown overboard, the outcome resulted in additional hazards and made a bad situation worse.

The moments described above occurred within just a few seconds. However, if I had paused for just a moment, and fully employed Crew Resource Management (CRM), it would

t was another beautiful day on the open blue Philippine Sea. As a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) detachment, we were prepped for another long day of delivering goods, mail and ordnance to multiple cruisers and destroyers via helicopter. We walked to the bird just as the sun was coming up. We had briefed, reviewed our power calculations and Operational Risk Management (ORM) assessment, as part of our normal routine preparing for flight.

The day started off smoothly, just like any other day of VERTREP. Following the old adage, “slow is smooth – smooth is fast,” we quickly were in a groove and after only a few “picks and drops,” our experienced crew was well into the swing of things. I was flying with a senior Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC), two senior crewmen and had over 60 hours of VERTREP experience so far on my first deployment as a Helicopter Second Pilot (H2P).

As we neared the half way mark of our 10-hour day, I was inbound for the “pick” to get the load from the supply ship.

Flying in over the load I received the normal calls from my crewmen, when suddenly over the radio I heard a “Waveoff!” call from tower. It was calm, but firm and authoritative. Over the deck, the only two radio calls from tower that are mandatory to adhere to are “waveoff” and “hold.” Instinctively, and within a split second I applied power and executed a climb, with slight left and forward inputs to move away from the ship’s flight deck.

At the same moment, I heard my crewmen call, “Load’s hooked up!” In the process of receiving the waveoff call and executing the waveoff maneuver, the load had been connected to the cargo hook by the hook-up man under our aircraft. We were lifting and dragging the load under us without the usual takeoff procedures: a vertical climb to clear the deck and obstacles, a hover power check and most importantly - time for the hook-up man to get clear of the load. A quick glance at my instruments showed torque and engine temperature rising into the red and rotor speed spooling down. The abrupt

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have given our crewman the opportunity to provide SA on the developments on the flight deck. At the moment of the “waveoff” call our crewmen had one of the best vantage points of the situation – the load that was in danger of blowing overboard, the load we were picking up and the hook-up man below the aircraft.

The loss of SA was the primary contributing factor that caused this incident. So, an important question is, why did a qualified and experienced crew lose SA and why were we not able to quickly regain our SA in order to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse? There were multiple causal factors.

Our crew was complacent after four hours of the same uneventful evolution. By allowing ourselves to become complacent to the possibility of something going wrong, we were caught by surprise and were not ready to execute the waveoff call while giving consideration to the status of the load on the hook. Because we were complacent we did not consider the load and the need to waveoff simultaneously, but reacted only to one piece of information from the situation. Although always flying on the edge of our seats would be extremely fatiguing and not entirely productive, our crew could have been more cued to the developing conditions. In this case, we would likely not have lost SA as we did and responded more appropriately.

Fixation also contributed to the degradation of our SA. Each individual involved in this incident saw only his view of the situation and acted accordingly without considering any other factors. I treated the waveoff call as mandatory in accordance with our publications and waved off immediately. The crewman focused on his view of the load and his mandatory “load’s hooked up” call to the pilot. The HCO only saw the other load close to being blown overboard and made a waveoff call in an attempt to address the issue. All were fixated on their immediate responsibility without

considering other components of the evolution. This fixation on the part, rather than the whole, contributed to the drop in SA. Additionally, fatigue contributed to degrading our focus in the situation. A combination of an early start time and roughly five hours of a relatively repetitive evolution can have a soporific effect on a crew. Fatigue degrades a crew’s reaction time and adversely affects their ability to process the information and react accordingly.

The expectation during this evolution was that the same result would continue to be achieved, as it had for all of the previous evolutions. Complacenecy, fixation and fatigue coupled with this

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expectation caused a less than ideal reaction to a challenging situation.

The important take away is that so-called “close calls”

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fter the flight, we conducted a de-brief and discussion of the day’s events with the Helicopter Control Officer (HCO) who had issued the “waveof” call from tower. We all came to the same conclusion. While each person had taken appropriate individual action, neither the HCO nor I had taken the hook-up man into account. Thus neither of us had complete situational awareness (SA) and did not acquire this SA prior to taking our respective actions.

The HCO failed to assess the hook-up man’s position prior to making the “waveoff” call and I failed to give the crewman the extra moment to either release the load or call for a “hold” instead.

demand that we clearly and thoroughly analyze the events and conduct a root cause analysis in order to determine the causal factors. Causal factors lead us beyond simply what occurred to the deeper questions of “why” we found ourselves where we did.

If we can develop an understanding of why something happened, we can train, brief and better prepare ourselves for combating the insidious factors that lead to loss of SA, close calls and mishaps.

Sharing our findings with not only our respective wardrooms, but with our naval aviation community through tools such as the Aviation Safety Awareness Program and Hazard Reports are equally important to capture this corporate knowledge and truly learn as an organization. We are human and are by virtue prone to error, but that is also why we have systems in place to target the hazards and reduce the risk - we will never completely eliminate it, but we can appropriately manage it.

About the Authors: Lt. Andrew Gregory and Lt. j. g. Jessica O’Brian fly with HSC-25.

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Features

Artwork Here in the White Space

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elicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 deployed with the John C. Stennis Strike Group onboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in September 2012. Although plane guard, Surface Surveillance and Coordination (SSC) and logistic flights made up the bulk of our flight time, HSC-8 also found time to schedule training flights to maintain our tactical proficiency. This story is about one such flight.

On December 20, 2012, I was scheduled for a night dual ship plane guard and tactical formation (TACFORM) flight with another new pilot at the squadron. We spent the day studying for the flight and preparing our mission brief. It had been about a month since our last tactical formation event. Our flight planned on doing the standard “TACFORM dance,” which was a pre-determined series of maneuvers known to all members of the flight. After the flight brief the crews headed up to flight deck for a 6:45 p.m. hot seat and “Loosefoot 611” and “Loosefoot 613” launched from spots 3 and 4, in order.

Once airborne, we immediately established ourselves in the starboard delta and checked in with our controlling agencies. As plane guard was our primary mission, the flight was restricted to conducting TACFORM maneuvers within 10 miles of the carrier.

After a few maneuvers, the lead aircraft called “Break right, 090.” This maneuver meant both aircraft turned in the same direction to the rollout heading and was called to keep us within our plane guard radius. Both aircraft immediately executed a maximum angle of bank turn to the right and my aircraft, in the wing position, soon rolled out on a heading of 360. As we rolled out, I looked to my left to make sure I still had eyes on 611. I saw 611’s position lights still moving right, furthermore we were headed straight for the lead aircraft. At this point my Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC) took the controls and put in a maximum power climb to avoid an imminent collision with the lead aircraft.

Fortunately, we narrowly avoided a mishap that day, passing about 150 feet over the top of 611 and learning many lessons along the way.

For one, no matter how much you brief a maneuver, complacency can always rear its ugly head. Break turns are typically executed for 90 degrees of heading change, but 611 had called a rollout heading that required 180 degrees of heading change. Both the HAC and I had assumed the turn was for 90 degrees yet neither of us confirmed

the rollout heading with each other. Luckily, the aircraft commander realized that we were heading straight towards the other aircraft and had the situational awareness and assertiveness to immediately take the controls and start climbing. His swift action directly resulted in a safe outcome from a very dangerous situation.

Additionally, although we had 57% illumination that night, the sky was overcast and it was difficult at times to maintain visual contact with the other aircraft. 611 had their formation lights turned down low and I never voiced to my crew or 611 that I was having trouble seeing our wingman. As no one else in the crew knew that I had trouble seeing the other aircraft, they were unable to make the appropriate risk decisions because of my failure to communicate with my crew. Additionally, I faced a lack of situational awareness as I didn’t realize what was happening when our aircraft rolled out 90 degrees too early. Once I did figure out what was happening, my inability to make a real-time decision to change heading or altitude and my lack of assertiveness almost resulted in a mid-air collision.

Fortunately, the HAC’s execution of time critical Operational Risk Management (ORM) overcame my poor Crew Resource Management (CRM) skills.

The moral of the story is to be assertive and communicate what you are experiencing in the cockpit. Effective CRM is just as important as the flight maneuvers and tactics we perform.

Furthermore, don’t assume that your co-pilot has developed the CRM skills necessary to keep your crew alive and be prepared to intervene when required. .

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About the Author: Lt. Alex Turnbull flies with HSC-8.

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Does Anyone Speak Article by Lt. Leah Jordan, USN

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Marine?

hat does a Navy helicopter pilot say to the controller to enter a Marine Special Use Airspace (SUA)? While seemingly the start of a stereotypical joke about the limited lexicon of our Marine brethren – my apologies to the Devil Dogs scrambling for their pocket dictionaries – the joke, stripped of mockery, provokes the question that has plagued all aviators at one time or another: how do I communicate effectively? In its discussion of Crew Resource Management (CRM), OPNAV Instruction 3710.7 describes communication as the clear, concise and accurate conveyance of information. “This is who I am, this is where I am and this is what I want” — and the receipt of feedback — “You are cleared to enter class bravo airspace” or “Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.”

Effective communication is the exchange of ideas between two parties where either the response receives the desired result or the end result differs, but the difference is acknowledged and understood. For a multitude of reasons, my helicopter crew and I encountered a full, but not unrecoverable, breakdown of communication one overcast day in February.

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The chain of events began the evening prior, when the squadron tactics officer fell ill. Normally a minor inconvenience, however in this situation it was a larger problem. He was both the primary liaison for coordinating our initial operations in the Camp Pendleton SUA and one of the pilots scheduled to fly the event. I was selected to be his co-pilot, except now he was not going to be in the aircraft to help guide me into Camp Pendleton’s complicated airspace. My brows furrowed in anxious concentration as I analyzed the color-by-numbers chart of the Camp Pendleton airspace. I scanned, searching for Restricted Area 2503 Zulu. Situated offset of the SUA’s geographic center, the crowding of contour lines suggested a valley encircled by steeply rising terrain and fed by a canyon.

To the southwest, multiple, intimidating “No Fly” areas dotted the landscape, precluding a direct flight path to our area of operations. Unfamiliar terrain, dense military air traffic and unlabeled landmarks and hazards furthered my doubt that the transit would be as “easy” as the tactics officer described.

Still, as confidently as possible, I reviewed the guidance on Pendleton range operation to include entry altitudes and the recommended communication flow between controlling agencies and prepared the mission brief as part of my AntiSurface Warfare (ASUW) Level III syllabus which included a day Close Air Support (CAS) with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC). Briefing the event, I nervously observed my new co-pilot who was taking the tactics officer’s spot on the training mission. He was also the squadron Maintenance Officer (MO) and was well-known for conducting challenging mission syllabus flights. The Commanding Officer (CO) was in the lead aircraft. With a wry smile, I silently commended operations; a more intimidating event could not have been scheduled.

Launching from Naval Air Station North Island, just outside of San Diego, the formation flight was short-lived.

The CO’s aircraft encountered an issue that necessitated

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Focus: Does Anyone Speak Marine?

troubleshooting and after a succinct radio exchange, my aircraft pressed northbound, alone, towards Camp Pendleton to meet the range reservation time. Unspoken tension seemed to accelerate the transit, and just as I completed the final steps of the weapons checklist, the aircraft arrived at the periphery of the SUA. I swallowed. Here we go, I thought, switching from the common traffic advisory frequency to the first range frequency. The change was immediate. The radio exploded with deafening volume compared to the previous silence; controllers issued clearances or redirections nearly continuously as the traffic calls flooded in. I waited impatiently for a break.

“Pendleton Range, Loosefoot 612, three miles to the south of the restricted area, checking in for R2503 Zulu, no ammo,” I rattled off from a prepared script. “Loosefoot 612, you are cleared to enter the restricted area, hold at (inaudible), contact Pendleton Tower 340.2,” the controller briskly responded. Where did he want us to hold? And why are we being swapped to tower? I thought in alarm, tilting my head and pulling out the chart. Neither the tactics officer nor the Pendleton range operations guidance indicated any expected interaction with Camp Pendleton tower. Bewildered, I scanned the coastline quickly, searching for any landmark that might coincide with what I thought the controller directed. “What did the controller say?” I asked my crew.

“He said MASS-3!” the MO barked, turning the aircraft northward to hold adjacent a coastal Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) facility. Reflexively, I sank lower into my seat. Breathe and move on to tower, I coached myself silently. Keep your ears open. Reaching to the keyset, I punched in tower’s frequency and paused, listening for a calm spot to transmit. I groaned inwardly; it was another congested frequency. “Pendleton Tower, Loosefoot 612,” I inserted at the first moment of silence. “Last calling tower, say again,” tower replied.

“Pendleton tower, Loosefoot 612, holding over the water, request to proceed direct to Restricted Area Zulu,” I said, as our helicopter lazily circled at max conserve airspeed. Waiting for instructions, I steadied my checklist on my knee and glanced seaward. The surf dashed angrily against the rocky shore and the melancholy gray sky,

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instead of dissipating to Californian cerulean, threatened rain. Radio calls poured in, announcing the arrival, departure and transition of multiple Marine aircraft. I radioed tower again; either the controller had forgotten us in the radio commotion or the request had been incongruous with normal operations. Finally, I heard a response.

“Loosefoot 612, unable at this time. Proceed to and call MASS3,” the controller grumbled, radio interference ending the call in an indecipherable mess. “What did he say?” the MO asked the crew, not wasting a moment. “I couldn’t hear him,” I stated. “Aircrewmen, did you hear anything?” I felt the noncommittal shrug of their shoulders from my position in the left seat. “Ma’am, I think I heard MASS-3,” one of the aircrewmen responded. MASS-3? I thought disconcertedly. I had studied the chart in advance and in route, its colorful assemblage of overlapping shapes and neat scribbling and had not seen MASS-3. “MASS-3. Okay. Start looking for that on the map, Jordan,” the MO directed brusquely. I detected his frustrated seething at my ineptitude. I unfolded the chart, widening my scope to hunt for the illusive checkpoint and attempting to recompense for mistakes already made.

What I realize now, and what I was too distracted to see then, was how the “eyes and ears” of the crew were being drawn inward and effectively shut down. From the co-pilot seat, I was attempting to decipher hieroglyphics from the chart while maintaining minimal situational awareness via occasional glances at the instruments. The aircrewmen, in the cabin, hunched over the same chart and glanced only briefly outside. The MO, from the pilot seat, was focused on flying the aircraft but was also focusing on his crew, concentrating more and more on the point that could not be found. Finally, the MO demanded the chart and abruptly passed me the flight controls. Drawing in an overdue breath, I gratefully took the controls. I immediately expanded my attention from the confines of the cockpit to the world around me. I was struck by the similarity and dissimilarity of the environment surrounding the aircraft. Clouds still menaced above and the prevailing winds had increased the wave height, but other aircraft, continue on page 43

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Focus: Does Anyone Speak Marine? known only to me by radio transmissions, had materialized.

A CH-46 and two AH-1Zs circled us uncomfortably close on each side. My hands constricted around the controls and I tightened the radius of our orbit.

“Loosefoot 612, Pendleton Tower,” Air Traffic Control (ATC) crackled over the radio. Simultaneously, four heads lifted in attention and four sets of ears listened expectantly at the declaration of our call sign. The MO promptly intercepted the call, saying, “Go for Loosefoot 612.” “Loosefoot 612, you are bottle-necking traffic at your current position. Are you familiar with course rules in Pendleton air space?” The voice sounded different, resonating with authority, composure and a hint of impatience; much to our chagrin, the tower supervisor had intervened. The mortification was acute, but momentary.

“Negative, Pendleton tower,” the MO admitted. “Unfamiliar with previous reference point, request guidance to Restricted Area Zulu.”

Despite congesting the local flow of traffic, the supervisor directed our gaze to a visible landmark; which we were able to locate on the chart, enabling us to intercept a paved road leading us our operating area. Circling the boundaries for range clearance, I realized that the CAS training – a rigorous exercise in information exchange, geographic situational awareness and surface target location and correlation – had yet to commence. Already I felt overwhelmed. Mentally exhausted, but determined to salvage the opportunity to learn, I opened my mission packet and checked-in with the JTAC. Without question, the unique circumstances affecting the flight – low ceilings with un-forecast precipitation, JTACs redefining the compass rose and the direction north and radio malfunctions further complicating communications – rendered it an ultimate test of endurance and patience. I failed miserably on both accounts, but learned in hindsight what I could not see then. The obstacles confronting communication are more

HSC-8 in flight over Camp Pendleton

Photo courtesy of HSC-8 Public Affairs Office.

abundant than MH-60 circuit breakers and take a plethora of forms.

Communication can be inhibited by the failure or inadequacy of CRM, environmental stressors, technological limitations and human impediment. By far, I consider the human element the most insidious of the three as it falls within our ability as aviators to control, yet is most susceptible to complacency. However, as a junior crewmember, the act of courage required to respectfully challenge a designated or functional leader when a communication breakdown occurs can be very difficult. Conversely, the personal humility required to admit an error or to ask for assistance can also be challenging. The next time I face a communication breakdown, I hope to avoid the mistakes described above. Based on my experience, I will not hesitate to use plain language to communicate until I am confident I have been both heard and understood in order to make sound, safe and swift decisions to keep my crew and aircraft safe.

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Article by Lt. Rebekah Cranor, USN

aval aviation is full of opportunities. One of those opportunities is joining another squadron for high-tempo training as a guest Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC). I recently had this privilege with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 14 during their pre-deployment training onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, Nevada. In 2012, I graduated from the Fleet Replacement Squadron and arrived at my fleet squadron, HSC-8, two weeks before their 2012-2013 deployment, thus missing the advanced readiness training that occurred with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 and Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3. I trained at Fallon for two weeks with CVW-11 and HSC-6 as part of an integration detachment after our assignment into their air wing. However, I still had not yet seen just how the tip of the spear was sharpened.

When the opportunity arose to join HSC-14 for their predeployment training at NAS Fallon, I jumped. To prepare, I acquired copies of their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Tactical Standard Operating Procedures (TACSOP), studied Fallon’s airspace and targets and reviewed the SEAWOLF Manual, the Navy’s H-60 publication that explains the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) for all mission sets. HSC-14’s Commanding Officer, Executive Officer and wardroom were incredibly professional and warmly welcomed me and another guest HAC that joined their detachment.

HSC-14’s Commanding Officer made it clear that the safe accomplishment of the air wing training was the squadron’s focus.

If something could not be done safely, we were not to let the pressures of air wing events cause us to push any situation beyond safe limits.

While it may seem like this was a “Training 101” emphasis, perceived pressure to complete final training events before deployment was a risk factor I greatly appreciated him addressing. Perceived pressure can kill.

While it is a seemingly routine step, the brief and Operational Risk Management (ORM) discussion before each flight are still some of the best methods to ensure a safe and standardized flight while operating with a different squadron. As helicopter aircrew, we are proud of our ability to adapt and flex when the situation changes. While that is an excellent skill set, we have to be sure that

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Focus: Just How Standardized Are Your Standard Operating Procedures?

A MH-60S from HSC-14 flies over terrain in the Otay Mountains outside of San Diego, Calif.

Photo taken by Kevin Whitefield

are still operating within our aircraft and personal experience limitations. We should not rush the process of making real time risk assessments due to perceived pressure during a training mission. One way to mitigate tendency that is to follow the adage from flight school: “Brief what you fly and fly what you brief.”

Learning how another squadron operates, executes missions and interprets guidance is eye opening. Subtle differences in operations lead to different “best practices.” It is too easy to assume that everyone on the flight knows what you mean when you brief your planned response to an in-flight event as “in accordance with SOP.” However, my experience as a guest pilot at HSC-14 taught me that each squadron’s SOP are different, and relying on “in accordance with SOP” is not a standardized plan of execution. Furthermore, operating

at NAS Fallon, in a mountainous environment unlike coastal San Diego, opens the door to aircrew thinking they are on the same page, when they are actually far from it. My experience as a guest pilot taught me that it is never safe to assume “Standard Operating Procedures” are standard. In fact, they may be far from it. It is up to each crew member to question assumptions, resolve ambiguity and ask for clarification when needed.

I want to share a huge “thank you” to HSC-14 for allowing me to join you for your workup! With flight hour funding a continuing issue, the exchange of pilots and aircrew during opportunities like Air Wing Fallon, carrier qualification periods, joint exercises and deployments (from a lieutenant’s perspective) is well worth the time to make us all better at warfighting and airborne supremacy.

This is a “best practice” that I hope continues.

Navy Adds Measures to Enhance Safety During Shipboard Flight Operations Article by Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

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ew procedures that will aid surface warfare officers and helicopter pilots while increasing safety during flight operations on destroyers have been successfully tested and recently rolled out to the fleet.

“Operator polar plots” (OPP) consist of a series of placard overlays that identify limits and safety considerations that take into account a ship’s speed and sea conditions in addition to pitch, roll and relative winds. Based on the height and direction of waves, a specific OPP is used by both the ship’s officer of the deck and the helicopter pilot to determine the best options for safely landing a helicopter on a ship’s flight deck.

Destroyers and their aviation detachment crews fleetwide have been trained on using the OPPs. As well, surface officers in training pipelines including the Basic Division Officer Course, Surface Warfare Officer School and prospective Commanding Officers/Executive Officers indoctrination are also being trained on their usage before heading to their new commands.

“This was a joint effort across several commands,” said Capt. Jack Olive, responsible for aviation operations aboard surface ships for Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Forces, Navy Safety Center and Naval Surface Forces worked together to address the safety concerns of landing helicopters on low freeboard flight decks, such as destroyers.”

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ased on the height and direction of waves, a specific OPP is used by both the ship’s officer of the deck and the helicopter pilot to determine the best options for safely landing a helicopter on a ship’s flight deck.

The operator polar point (OPP) for a Flight I Arleigh Burkeclass guided-missile destroyer in 12-foot seas concept consists of a series of placard overlays that identify limits and safety considerations that take into account a ship’s speed and sea conditions in addition to pitch, roll and relative winds. U.S. Navy Graphic.

A low freeboard flight deck is one that is close enough to the surface of the water such that a wave could wash over the flight deck, creating a hazardous situation for crew and equipment.

Olive noted that Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have a flight deck approximately 13 feet above the waterline.

“Because the deck is so close to the waterline, conditions could exist that allow waves to more readily come over the deck,” Olive said.

He said such a condition was cited as a factor in a 2013 mishap aboard an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer where two aviators lost their lives and an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter was lost when a wave washed over the deck and swept the helicopter overboard.

“We are continuously reassessing our safety procedures,” said Capt. Curtis Shaub, aviation safety director for Naval Air Forces.

“In this case, we specifically looked at how best to prevent this sort of mishap from occurring in the future. We have been working to mitigate the risks involved and to come up with a better, more comprehensive solution.”

OPPs are placards that officers of the deck use to plot the ship’s heading and speed, with overlays designed for certain sea states to determine limits for safe handling during flight operations. The

direction of waves relative to the ship heading and ship speed are also marked on the placard. This plotted point will exist somewhere on the graph and if a given condition (denoted by different colors and crosshatch marks) indicate potentially risky or dangerous conditions, the ship can take actions, such as adjusting ship’s course and speed, to mitigate those conditions.

Ship speed is shown in five-knot increments on concentric circles from the center of a graph, with waves shown relative to the ship’s position. Red and yellow areas are speed-heading combinations to be avoided. Regions defined by dark lines with cross hatching reflect areas where launch and recovery roll and pitch limits may be exceeded.

“We conducted a preliminary exercise in September by giving the polar plots to six officers -- three surface warfare officers and three pilots -- with only a written explanation and no other guidance,” said Olive. “They were put in situations that required them to use polar plots to assess and manage the risk. The group successfully used the polar plots with ease and recommended integrating them into the fleet.”

Shaub said while no single procedure or process can fully prevent future mishaps, the goal of utilizing OPPs is, “to provide Sailors with risk mitigation tools which will help them to make more informed decisions.”

“Operations at sea and in aviation are complex and inherently dangerous,” he said. “Our sea-air teams are trained to look at everything we do from exercises to real-world operations through a lens of safety. Now that these OPPs have been integrated throughout the fleet, we’re better prepared for challenging sea conditions. We’ll be monitoring their effect and continually improving them based on what we learn.”

A MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter landing on the flight deck aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75).

The Sea Hawk uses Operator Polar Plots (OPP) procedures to aid surface warfare officers while increasing safety during flight operations on destroyers.

U.S. Navy Graphic.

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My First Emergency

Focus

Article by Lt. j.g. Matt Edwards, USN

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o, there I was...I had my first ever emergency situation in an aircraft on October 6, 2015. I was flying the flight prior to my Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) check ride. The Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC) was Lt. Kasey Scheel with Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 1st Class Maher as our crew chief, along with his student, Aviation Electrician 3rd Class Rodd.

We were a cold-go for the first flight of the day in “Landslide 18”. We briefed the flight at 7:30 a.m., reviewed the maintenance actions performed on the aircraft and walked at 9:00 for a 10:00 a.m. take off from Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI). We completed the overwater portion of the flight, and then transited to Naval Outlying Field Imperial Beach to practice normal approaches, single engine training and autorotations. We executed multiple approaches to a spot and then transitioned to the runway pattern for several autorotations. Lt. Scheel executed the first autorotation with no issues.

At the end of the autorotation, we checked that our gauges were within limits while hover taxiing down the runway and then began to transition to forward flight. As I pulled in collective, we felt the engines spooling up more than normal. Our crew chief was sitting in the left gunner’s seat, behind the HAC. He looked forward toward me, in the right seat, and said, “Easy,” assuming that I was being too abrupt with my power pull. I was looking outside at the time, so he was the first to notice our power turbine (Np) was at 105% and rising. He then said “High Speed” (meaning to say “High Side”) which caused momentary confusion, but was quickly sorted out.

As the HAC and I monitored our engine instruments, we determined that we had a high side failure as our crew chief alluded to. This malfunction manifests as the engine control system sending too much fuel to the engine, causing the power turbine, and consequently the main rotor, to overspeed. The situation calls for execution of the Engine Malfunction in Flight emergency procedure followed by manually manipulating the Power Control Lever (PCL) of the malfunctioning engine to manually control power turbine speed. Upon first glance we were unsure which engine was malfunctioning, as Rotor Speed (Nr) and the Np of

both engines were unusually high. The #1 power turbine speed rose to 119% Np, which was significant because the over speed protection feature of the engine control system is designed to flame out the engine if Np reaches 120%.

To add to the situation, we were quickly running out of runway beneath us. Lt. Scheel pulled the #1 PCL out of the FLY detent and slowly back toward idle. This immediately brought Np/Nr back down toward 100%. He then took the controls and told me to keep my hand on the PCL, ready to adjust it as needed to keep Np/Nr at 100% as per the checklist. We landed on the runway at the upwind numbers. After some brief troubleshooting, we taxied off the runway to a parking spot and shut down the aircraft in accordance with proper procedures.

While waiting for maintenance crews to arrive to begin troubleshooting, we concluded that the Enhanced Digital Engine Control Unit (EDECU) had failed. This caused the fuel metering valve to open to its widest position, giving the #1 engine excess fuel. Timely action was critical because of our low altitude and slow airspeed. It was the crew chief who initially recognized and correctly diagnosed the situation. As we determined the appropriate course of action, we decided to descend and land since we were still over the runway. However, the excess power from the engine was causing us to climb. Reducing collective to make the runway would only worsen the overspeed condition, which put us into a time critical situation and added stress to our process of deciding which PCL should be pulled back. Fortunately, the correct PCL was selected, and we landed without further incident.

The value of the emergency training we receive on each training flight and simulator event to ensure we operate safely was clearly visible to me on this day. The whole crew worked together, using our NATOPS procedures and checklist just as we practice. Good Crew Resource Management, situational awareness and timely action enabled us to safely land the aircraft and prevent injury to personnel or damage to the aircraft.

About the Author: Lt. j.g. Matt Edwards is a student pilot at HSC-3.

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Going Without Practice DUAL SHIP COMMUNICATIONS BREAKDOWN Article by Lt. Chad Tutton, USN

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acific Partnership 2015 has been pivotal in the advancement of helicopter operations in support of the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and its embarked medical treatment facility. This year, not only has Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 Detachment 4 flown more hours than previous detachments, but we have proven that our capability and professional expertise reach far beyond basic logistics support. The detachment has established itself as being a key tool in the maritime operation command’s logistical toolbox. In addition to providing support for Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), passenger transfer and medium cargo transportation, one of the most unique opportunities was the role HSC-21 helicopters played in a short-notice international Search and Rescue (SAR) operation.

“Sideflare 61” had just completed a logistic run to the city of Arawa, Papua New Guinea to drop off a dentist chair to the city.

They were in the process of conducting overland SAR training 10 miles inland of the city. USNS Mercy was anchored off the coast of Arawa and had received a call from the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) requesting the aide of our helicopters in the search for a small fishing vessel that had been reported missing 24 hours earlier. As “Sideflare 61” proceeded back towards the ship to give an “Ops Normal” call, Mercy tower told them to return to the ship and standby for a possible search and rescue. “Sideflare 61” bustered back to the ship as the crew prepared the cabin for the change in mission.

“Sideflare 61” was told that a 20 foot banana boat launched from the city of Buka with the intended destination of the island of Carteret with 10 souls on board. The PNG government provided three vessels launched from Buka to assist with the search as well.

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Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of the islands, there were no visual flight rules (VFR) charts available to the search aircraft and the charts that were in available named this chain of islands differently, adding some confusion on the possible location of the lost boat. After taking on a full bag of fuel and a second rescue swimmer “Sideflare 61” launched for the 85 nautical mile (NM) transit to Buka to start the first leg of the search. Utilizing the SAR Tactical Information Document (TACAID), the crew decided that a 1,000 foot search with a 4.4 NM sweep width was appropriate for the size of the vessel and current weather conditions. When “Sideflare 61” arrived on station, they completed the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) checklist and tried to hail the PNG search vessels on Maritime Channel 16. Approximately 45 minutes after “Sideflare 61” launched from the USNS Mercy, “Sideflare 66” was moved out of the hangar, spread and launched to provide an additional SAR asset.

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Focus: Going Without Practice - Dual Ship Communications Breakdown Carteret Island is located 57 NM northwest of Buka, in a small atoll of approximately seven small islands. Drift information and ocean current data were relayed to “Sideflare 61” from the ship’s navigation team, stating that the vessel could have drifted up to 30 NM west of Carteret. The main island of Bougainville, which includes the city of Buka, extends towards Carteret, making the search area an unusual polygonal shape creating a nonstandard search box of approximately 855 square NM. This drift information was changed, corrected and re-corrected three times before the ships navigation team passed it on to the aircraft.

“Sideflare 61” requested clarification of the changes which, along with the difference in island names on the different charts, provided further confusion on where the search area should be.

With the search information in-hand, “Sideflare 61” started on the first leg of the search which was a straight line from Buka to Carteret while periodically trying to receive communications from the three PNG maritime search vessels with no response.

Upon reaching the Carteret island chain, “Sideflare 61” made a lap of the islands, not noticing any stranded vessels in the area or unusual activity and proceeded west from the atoll on the connection leg before proceeding back southeast on the second leg of the search. “Sideflare 66” then arrived on-station over Carteret and made a second lap around the islands, flying five miles to the north to extend the search area and began searching at 500 feet to provide altitude deconfliction.

The difficulties of a two aircraft SAR operation became immediately apparent upon the second aircraft’s arrival. With the lack of VFR charts between the two aircraft and the remoteness of the islands, the communications between “Sideflare 61” and “Sideflare 66” had to be made by essentially using a Close Air Support (CAS) talk-on, working from big to small in trying to describe the area that “Sideflare 61” had already searched. It was intended that “Sideflare 61” search a polygonal area to the northwest of a direct line between Buka and Carteret while “Sideflare 66” searched a mirror-image search area to the southwest of this line. Upon making the turn southeast back towards Buka, “Sideflare 61” and “Sideflare 66” passed within five miles of each other with both aircraft now searching the same area to the northwest of this direct line.

Typically, during practice SAR flights, single aircraft are tasked with a simulated SAR and given a known location to search within a well-known operating area. Crews set up a search pattern, but do not have to communicate this pattern to anyone external to the aircraft. The patterns are standard and usually in an open section of water that does not include land anywhere in the search path. “Sideflare 61” and “Sideflare 66” now had to verbally communicate a non-standard search path that skirted protruding land sections, in an unfamiliar area with no charts to reference, no moving maps to use for situational awareness and no means to positively identify where the other aircraft was. Without the use of these tools, it was very difficult to coordinate different search sectors for each aircraft which resulted in two aircraft searching the same area. This complicated scenario incorporated a vessel which was now over 24 hours late, a 15 NM per day ocean current drift factor and a search area of nearly 900 square NM, all factors which may not be routinely part of normal SAR training.

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“Sideflare 61” completed its search before reaching bingo fuel and returned to the ship, passing OSC duties to “Sideflare 66.”

“Sideflare 66” completed their search and also returned to base.

Neither aircraft was able to communicate with the PNG search vessels nor did either see any boats in the search area. Both aircraft were very proficient at using the SAR TACAID to establish altitude/airspeed and sweep width solutions for the search. What both aircraft had to adapt to now was the confusion between the ship and the aircraft in the same search area, changing drift solutions and how to communicate between each aircraft what section they were searching with no standard chart to reference.

Both aircraft landed safely on deck and the crews proceeded to debrief the search.

This was an eye opening event for me. I am comfortable and proficient in gathering information, establishing a search area and commencing a search for a vessel in a relatively known location but this was a different scenario. Early administrative procedures reflected this proficiency as our crew was quickly able to provide a search solution and get off deck in a timely manner to commence the search. Upon our launch, we weren’t sure that a second aircraft was going to be launched in support but welcomed the idea. Our speed and excitement to get off deck and commence the search along with our uncertainty of another aircraft joining us likely contributed difficulties down the line.

While I am confident that both aircraft could have launched individually and found a similar search solution, the coordination between two aircraft with two potentially different solutions over the radio proved to be a challenging task. I now have a better understanding of the importance of the use of plain English over the radios to help accomplish a dual aircraft task and the challenges in painting a picture of an unfolding event in real time.

Communication and situational awareness are two extremely important crew resource management skills that extend beyond the airframe of the aircraft I am sitting in. This experience has helped my development as a helicopter second pilot in preparation for becoming a helicopter aircraft commander. Specifically, understanding the complexity of multi-aircraft operations and the importance of communication, not only inside my own helicopter but also in the coordination of multiple assets in the completion of a single operation.

About the Author: Lt. Chad Tutton flies with HSC-21.

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Change of Command

HM-15

HSC-28

Blackhawks Dragon Whales

Cmdr. Dennis Monagle, USN relieved Cmdr. Patrick Gendron, USN on November 19, 2015

Cmdr. Everett Alcorn, USN relieved Cmdr. Edward Johnson, USN on November 20, 2015

HSC-3 SCORE Det

HSC-4

Black Knights

Cmdr. Renee M. May, USN relieved Cmdr. Stephen A. Everage, USN on November 21, 2015

Cmdr. Daniel J. Keeler, USN relieved Cmdr.

Shannon L. Moore, USN on November 28, 2015

HSC-26

HM-14

Chargers

Vanguard

Cmdr. Aaron Taylor, USN relieves Cmdr.

Barry Kertanis, USN on February 4, 2016

Cmdr. Derek Brady, USN relieves Cmdr.

Josh Kinnear, USN on February 18, 2016

CHSCWSL

Cmdr. Patrick Ingram, USN relieves Cmdr.

Chris Claybrook, USN on February 18, 2016

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Article by Lt. George “DQ” Meszaros, USN

hether operating as a part of a Carrier Air Wing (CVW) or as an Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) detachment, Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) squadrons are often tasked with commitments that cross multiple primary mission areas - each requiring a specific skill set. For example, a MH-60S pilot may take off from an aircraft carrier at sea conduct an overland mission to a landing zone (LZ) with a degraded visual environment, and then return to a single spot surface combatant at night. While many of these critical skills are used on a daily basis, some are rarely exercised. Flight in mountainous terrain is one such mission essential skill, especially with the Navy’s use of the MH-60S as a platform for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Although the H-60 Naval Air Training and Operating Procedure Standardization (NATOPS) manual includes a chapter on mountain flying, many Navy helicopter pilots have very little experience flying in this challenging environment. For inexperienced mountain fliers, the current NATOPS procedure can be ineffective, however, with the addition of ‘decision points’ to the mountainous reconnaissance and landing procedure delineated in NATOPS and an increased emphasis on the use of tabular data prior to operation in a high density altitude environment, Navy helicopter pilots can increase their ability to safely and effectively complete a mission in mountainous terrain.

Although an approach for a landing to a concrete pad or large deck can be challenging at times, they are normally relatively benign. However, an approach to and departure from a mountain LZ presents a very dynamic situation that must be thoroughly understood prior to committing the aircraft to a landing. The MH-60S NATOPS outlines procedures for a “standard mountain approach and landing,” but in reality, it is impossible to come up with a cookie-cutter approach for every type of mountainous LZ. Variations in terrain, winds and altitude from LZ to LZ demand a more thorough analysis of a mountainous approach and an overarching procedure for every LZ cannot be written. As it is currently written, NATOPS recommends an “overshoot approach to 10-15 feet above the terrain with the option to land.” However, certain LZ’s may require the pilot to commit to the zone prior to reaching this altitude and following this procedure could potentially place an aircraft and crew in extremis in a high altitude, power limited situation. With the addition of an “approach decision point” to the NATOPS current overshoot procedure, aircrews would be able to identify a specific point during an approach at which they decide whether or not to continue to the LZ or execute a waveoff, before reaching a point at which a waveoff would be impossible.

An approach decision point would also allow aircrews to make a final check of cockpit instruments (airspeed, altitude, torque and wind indicators) to confirm the stability of the approach before reaching 10-15 feet, at which point the aircrew’s visual scan should

be almost completely outside of the aircraft. This point would also allow aircrews to make a time-critical Operational Risk Management (ORM) decision.

A “takeoff decision point” should also be added to the departure sequence from a mountainous LZ, taking into account any factors that may negatively or positively affect the takeoff. NATOPS recommends a “maximum gross weight takeoff mindset” from a mountainous LZ, but such a mindset may not be possible in a confined area. In some cases, the takeoff decision point may be in a two foot hover and in other cases it may be before lifting off of the ground. In either case, having a tangible decision point would add a layer of safety to operations in a mountain flying environment, as the aircrew would have to consciously decide whether or not to proceed past the point and depart or to remain on the ground and execute an alternate plan of action.

A proper preflight planning process is essential to the success of any mission, but aircrews must pay particular attention to weight and power calculations before operating in any mountainous area. The most current edition of the MH60S Pocket Checklist (PCL) incorporates tabular data for inflight power calculations, which can be a very helpful tool in a high density or pressure altitude environment. Tabular data allow the aircrew to accurately determine the power required and power available to get into and out of an LZ by

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Focus: Unfamiliar Terrain comparing the current environmental conditions to the data in the PCL. Although the same data can be obtained from the larger charts in NATOPS (and the PCL), these charts can be difficult to accurately use and read while in the aircraft.

Tabular data, on the other hand, are presented in a simple, easy to use format. For example, during the course of a mission involving a HADR scenario, tabular data can be extremely useful in determining aircraft Hover in Ground Effect (HIGE) and Hover Out of Ground Effect (HOGE) torques while transporting personnel or supplies to multiple mountainous LZ’s. While most of these calculations are currently made by the non-flying pilot, allowing the crew chief or utility crewmen in the cabin to perform these calculations would increase the situational awareness of the entire crew as to how the aircraft should perform in a given LZ. Regarding pre-landing power calculations, NATOPS states that the Pilot Not at the Controls (PNAC) is responsible for announcing the “type of approach, power available, waveoff torque, winds and waveoff route” prior to landing at a mountainous LZ. However, there is no mention of verbalizing

the power required for such an approach. By adding the phrase “Power Required is _____” to the mountainous approach sequence, the entire aircrew would know exactly how much power would be required to get into and out of a zone prior to committing the aircraft to an approach. Replacing “PNAC” with “Any Crewmember” for the verbalization of torque values would also allow the non-flying pilot to assist the flying pilot with their duties and would add an additional layer of safety in a challenging flight environment.

With the addition of approach and takeoff decision points and the inclusion of tabular data into NATOPS mountainous LZ approach process, Navy helicopter crews will benefit from an improved process that will allow them to safely and efficiently operate in a mountainous environment. As the CVW’s – and the Navy’s – primary search and rescue asset, the H-60 must be ready to operate in any location at any time.

Incorporating the improvements outlined above will ensure that Navy helicopter pilots can do safely and effectively do.

No Fast Hands in the Cockpit Article by Lt. Nick Avila, USN

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t was a balmy day overwater just outside Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The Environmental Control System (ECS) ducting was not installed, multiplying the MH-60S’s already potent greenhouse effect. The crewman had the cabin doors open to let in some cooler air. The pilots were not so lucky; we only have small scupper vents in the door windows. Some older aircraft, like the one we were flying, require the ECS ducting to be removed for Functional Check Flight (FCF), which caused our crew to begin sweating profusely within just minutes of strapping in.

We had conducted a thorough Naval Air Training Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) and FCF brief earlier, making sure to cover all the likely scenarios and flight regimes for this particular flight. I was the copilot on this FCF, assisting my experienced post-detachment Functional Check Flight Pilot (FCP) with switch manipulation for my own practice and proficiency. One of the engines had been recently worked on and required thorough testing of its performance. I had only minimal experience with engine power checks, which require thorough crew coordination to ensure the proper manipulation of the Power Control Levers (PCLs) to prevent an overtemperature or overspeeding of the engine.

Good Crew Resource Management (CRM) is essential to conduct the power checks safely. A common technique is for one pilot to remain on the flight controls while the other pilot reads the entire checklist out loud to the crew, to include all warnings, cautions and notes. Only after reading the whole procedure aloud do you then read each step one at a time

and execute the procedure. It’s a methodical process because many procedures require very specific steps to accurately measure engine power, which requires operating the engine at near maximum allowable temperatures and turbine speeds.

We were about half an hour into the FCF when we reached the engine power checks, which require us to pull back an engine’s power control lever (PCL) to just above idle. With our FCP at the controls and with dual-concurrence, I pulled back the #1 PCL to the appropriate position. I watched the engine torque decrease and confirmed that the #2 engine was responding correctly by picking up the load. I went headsdown to read the rest of the checklist and continue through the steps.

I saw something in the periphery of my vision and, when I looked up from reading the checks, I saw the “FIRE” light on the master warning panel illuminated. I glanced up and saw the #2 engine fire T-handle illuminated, which means one of the fire detectors in the #2 engine was detecting infrared energy associated with a fire. I announced out loud, “Fire,

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number two” and quickly reached for the PCL. I placed my hand on the #2 PCL and verbalized my Critical Memory Items (CMIs) for the NATOPS emergency procedures for external engine fire: “Fire – Confirm,” Engine Malfunction in Flight Procedure – Perform,” “PCLs…” I paused for half a second, heard the FCP reciting the same CMIs, and stopped what I was doing. My hand was still touching the #2 PCL. He saw my hand and said, ‘Hold on, don’t do anything!”

It occurred to me that I was rushing through the emergency procedure. We are all trained to not rush emergency procedures, but in the moment I had hurriedly moved my hand to reach for the PCL. I gave myself a second to breathe and thought about what was happening.

Then I saw it. The #1 engine was still just above idle, generating almost no power. The #2 engine was powering the transmission, and it was the one with the fire indication. The only indication of fire we saw was the fire light driven by the illuminated fire t-handle.

I was spring-loaded to pull the PCL off in the event there was an actual fire. With concurrence from my HAC, I returned the #1 engine to fly, restoring full power to the aircraft. Our crewman in the back reported he observed no indication of a fire. I broke out the checklist and read through the external engine fire emergency procedure, step by step. We simultaneously turned towards Andersen AFB, approximately ten miles away from our location.

After completing all of the steps and still being unable to confirm the presence of a fire we discussed our options and decided to land back at Andersen AFB. The FCP declared an emergency and tower cleared us to cross the runway centerlines and land.

We requested to land at a helicopter spot on the north end of the runway, within close proximity to our line and close enough to easily ground taxi back without delay. As we landed, we saw the fire trucks approaching with sirens and lights blaring. We sat there spinning to assess the situation. After confirming with the fire crew the absence of any visual indication of a fire, we called base and maintenance and updated them on our situation. Ground gave us clearance to taxi back to the line. Once there, we shut down and

maintenance personnel arrived to inspect the engine and associated fire systems.

About an hour later, maintenance troubleshooting pointed to a problem with the fire warning indicator and confirmed there had been no fire. Intending to continue with the FCF, we decided as a crew that, should the fire indication come back, we would treat it as an actual emergency. Our Operational Risk Management (ORM) and CRM training teaches us to be alert for complacency and that was a real possibility considering the nature of the indicating system malfunction. There is always the chance that the next fire light we received would be real and if we treated it as “just an electrical problem” we could possibly put ourselves in an unsafe situation.

Sure enough, about thirty minutes into the flight the “fire” light returned on the same engine. As we had briefed, we went through the CMIs, read the checklist and returned to Andersen. We did not declare an emergency this time, though we did land expeditiously at our ramp and notified maintenance that we were coming back with the same problem. We shut down the aircraft and walked inside while maintenance conducted troubleshooting. This time the fire detector was replaced and the rest of the wiring checked for discrepancies. Maintenance control cleared us to fly again and after another thorough brief we took the aircraft out again and completed our FCF without any further fire lights.

A quick pause during the emergency procedure, coupled with a time-critical analysis of our situation enabled us to make the right decision in the heat of the moment during our engine power checks.

Had I not given myself that half-second for a sanity check and had I pulled off that engine without thinking, we would have lost power so rapidly that our rotor speed (Nr) would likely have decayed at an unrecoverable rate and induced a rapid loss of altitude, forcing us to autorotate until we could get the #1 engine back to full power.

Solid CRM, deliberate and time-critical ORM and a background of thorough training armed us with the tools to handle such a situation.

So, when you conduct your next NATOPS brief, just remember, “No fast hands in the cockpit.” It may save your life.

A pilot preparing for take off. Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Shannon Renfroe, USN

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

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Send Your Completed application to: NHA, PO Box 180578, Coronado, CA 92178-0578

Aircrewman’s Fleet Fly-In Perspective

Article by Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) Chief Petty Officer William M. Davis, USN The 2015 NHA Fleet Fly-In and Fall Join up hosted 104 future naval aircrewmen from Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC) and the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC). These initial accession’s Sailors were greeted by three master chiefs and received presentations on their potential fleet communities. Students were treated to lunch courtesy by NHA and had the opportunity to meet squadron commanding officers and commodores from Training Wing Five, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wings East and West and Helicopter Sea Combat Wings East and West.

The highlight of the day involved orientation flights in the mighty MH-60R, MH-60S and the MH-53E. Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter)

Senior Officer Panel

Article by Lt. John Geary, USN In the middle of an already jam-packed and busy week, all hands were invited to ask questions to a panel consisting of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard senior officers. Panel members included Capt. John Turner, USCG (Coast Guard Liaison Officer), Col. Eric Buer, USMC (Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21), Capt. Larry Vincent, USN (Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet), Capt. Pat Everly (Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet), Capt. Sil Perrella (Commander, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet), Capt. William Walsh (Commander, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet), Capt. Leon Bacon, USN (Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office, PMA-273) and Capt. Richard Davis, USN (Commanding Officer, Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 12). The commodore of TW-5, Col. Gary Kling, USMC, moderated the event and took many questions from students, instructors and retirees alike. Questions ranged from the compatibility of Coast Guard cutters to support H-60 deployments to the rumored replacement helicopter trainer for the aging TH-57B/C.

Master Chief Waxenfelter of NASC summed up the day’s events quite well, “Today, 104 future naval aircrewmen experienced their first Navy flights ever. Not only did these young Sailors have the time of their lives, the motivation and excitement generated by the Fleet Fly-In will pay significant dividends for the future of our Navy.”

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2015 Fleet Fly / NHA Join-Up

Female Aviator Career Training (F.A.C.T.S.)

Article By Lt. Emily Lapp, USN As one of the final events of the Fleet Fly-In, Lt. Danielle Gill, USN, Lt. Margaret Robie, USN, Lt. Lauren Buss, USN and Lt. Chelsea Brunoehler, USN, provided training on a presentation originally developed by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Women’s Strategy and Policy (OPNAV N134W). Topics covered included current gender demographics within the Navy as well as the aviation community, the Navy’s pregnancy policy, the Career Intermission Program, upcoming changes to female uniforms, female flight gear and alternatives to tactical dehydration. The event concluded with a female aviator panel and provided Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) the opportunity to ask questions of other female pilots who have successfully navigated the challenges of work/life balance, family planning and other issues currently facing female aviators.

Golf Tournament

Article by Lt. Adam Boyd, USN This year’s NHA Golf Tournament marked the first time the event was held away from Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

Seventy-one NHA members and guests joined together at Stonebrook Golf Club in nearby Pace, Fla. to enjoy a competitive round of golf on a beautiful fall Florida afternoon. The shotgun started at 1:00 p.m. and teams of four set off on the scramble.

Teams competed against each other not just to place, but also to win a “longest drive” and “closest to the pin” competitions.

Each par three hole presented the chance to win a hole in one prize which ranged from cash prizes to a 2015 Chevrolet Corvette courtesy of L-3 Vertex Solutions and Lou Sohb’s Milton Chevrolet. Special recognition goes to this year’s winning team consisting of Capt. Gene Ager, USN (Ret.), Capt. Greg Hoffman, USN (Ret.), Capt. Jamie Vandiver, USN (Ret.) and Capt. Jim Fisher, USN (Ret.). As always, NHA wants to thank Sikorsky, Bell and our members for making the tournament possible. We look forward to seeing everyone back in the Pensacola area next year for another exciting tournament!

More highlights from the 2015 Fleet Fly-In and NHA Join-Up

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Features

An Interview with Colonel (ret) Louis Gerken, U.S. Army

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Article by Lt. Emily Lapp, USN, Rotor Review Editor-in-Chief

olonel Louis Gerken’s first experience with Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) was as a 16-year-old boy in Waretown, New Jersey in January 1942. Waretown, just across the Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean, was witness to the German U-boat attack on the U.S. merchant and tanker fleet. U.S. ships, hoping to minimize the danger of being attacked by a U-boat, began transiting closer to the shore. At the time, the U.S. Navy was not well equipped to fight a battle undersea and the German U-boats had a relatively easy time picking off merchants and tankers. Col. Gerken explains, “It started when I was in high school. The German U-boat submarines were up and down the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, sinking tankers that were bringing fuel from the Gulf Coast up into the East Coast ports. I’d be awakened at night; 12 o’clock or 2 o’clock in the morning with a ‘Ka-whoomp!’ That would be indicating a torpedo of a German submarine. In the morning, we would look out, across the bay, and see a stern or bow of a sunken oil tanker. And that was my first exposure to submarines and ASW.” But that exposure was not to be Col. Gerken’s last experience with ASW. With World War II raging across the ocean, many of Col. Gerken’s peers hoped to join the service and Col. Gerken was no exception. With dreams of becoming a Navy pilot and flying off of aircraft carriers, Col. Gerken and his friend went to Camden, New Jersey to apply for the Navy V-12 program, hoping to attend college on the Navy’s dime with follow-on service as carrier pilots. Unfortunately, due to a minor case of color blindness, Col. Gerken was not accepted.

However, he did not let this derail his ambition of service to the country as he was drafted into the Army at the end of 1943 and completed Basic Training at Fort Carson, Colo. He served in the 286th Engineer Combat Battalion and sailed to England “packed in like sardines” on the US Army Transport Ship Saturnia as part of

a convoy in 1944. Col. Gerken explained that the 286th served as one of several Corps Engineer Combat Battalions in an Army Corps.

Typical missions included “building bridges, clearing or laying mines, performing reconnaissance, clearing and maintaining roads, demolitions, camouflage and working with all kinds of detection equipment for mines.” After completing training in Camp Delamere in the English countryside, the 286th embarked from Southampton, England on a Polish ship and sailed “under blackout conditions” to the northwest French coast and went ashore at the port of Le Harve. The Allied invasion of France on D-Day (June 6, 1944) had already occurred but the trip was still risky given the presence of German U-boats and fast coastal armed boats.

Shortly after their arrival on the European continent, the 286th was moved by cattle cars toward the front in France where they contributed to the war efforts by building bridges, detecting and clearing mines and performing reconnaissance missions. The 286th continued on into Germany and crossed the Rhine River near the town of Worms in March 1945. Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 7, 1945 and

by June the 286th Battalion was placed in Category II which meant soldiers with sufficient points, based upon months of service and awards, could be sent to the Army Separation Centers in the U.S. Col. Gerken only had 45 points, and thus had to wait. Because the war was still ongoing in the Pacific, he wondered if perhaps he would be sent to fight Japan. However, due to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945, the war ended sooner than expected.

Col. Gerken considered himself very lucky “not to be slaughtered on the beaches of Japan,” his expectation had the war continued on. After the war ended, with still not enough points to be sent Col. (ret) Louis Gerken visits NHA Headquarters in San Diego, Calif.

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home, Col. Gerken was transferred to the Engineer Regiment at Kastel, near Mainz, Germany where he worked to remove portable bridge structures previously constructed across the Rhine River.

Eventually his time for discharge arrived, but Col. Gerken was asked by the Engineer Colonel to stay on as a civilian to “assist in the procurement of material for some of the important Army Engineer projects that were going on around Frankfurt” which was the main Army Headquarters. Col. Gerken agreed and became an Army civilian employee. However, he remained in the Enlisted Reserves in order for “future possible involvement with the Army in a military capacity.” Col. Gerken recalls this decision as an extremely good one; an assessment proven correct by the later events in his life.

In 1947, Col. Gerken left Europe and returned to the U.S. to attend college. He graduated from Indiana Tech with a B.S. in Electronics Engineering and later from Port Arthur University with a Communications Specialty. Col. Gerken soon had a job with Pan American World Airways in their Electronics/Communications Department and, in 1950, received a direct commission as a 2nd Lt. in the Army reserves based upon his experience during the war.

Over the next few decades, Col. Gerken would establish himself as an expert in the field of ASW, electronic warfare, logistics, research and development and went on to hold patents on many devices with both military and civilian applications. Highlights of his career include a position with the Navy at the Navy Atlantic Air Command (COMNAVAIRLANT) in 1954 as an electronics expert working in ASW. Col. Gerken discovered that, in order to “become a fully accepted member of the ‘Navy Club’ one must have gone to sea.” Thus he volunteered for six months of duty in the Pacific where he was sent to Naval Air Station Atusgi, Japan and then set out for duty on the USS Princeton, an ASW ship patrolling the waters off of Korea and the Philippines during the Korean War. He recalls the P-2V, a Navy aircraft with a large surveillance radar used to search for submarines at sea. Equipped with the APS-20 radar (and 2.5 million watts of power output), he remembers being horrified watching sailors stand near the antenna, enjoying the heat that it generated in their bodies as the radar emitted its power at them. At the time no dummy load was used to redirect the radar’s power output when the aircraft was on deck. Col. Gerken advised the sailors of the dangers however, unfortunately many technicians who worked on the aircraft developed cancer due to excessive HF radiation exposure.

In 1955, after his six-month stint at sea, Col. Gerken moved his family to San Diego, noting the city’s ideal weather and pleasant location. He began working at Navy Aviation Pacific Headquarters (COMNAVAIRPAC) at Naval Air Station North Island. Much of his work there involved assisting air squadrons on base with training and the resolution of problems, in order to help the Navy improve their readiness and capability. Col. Gerken also had a major role in the design and testing of Adm. Zumwalt’s Sea Control Ships. Under the direction of Adm. Zumwalt, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) at the time, Col. Gerken acted as the project manager and went to sea for two months in the early 1970s to perform evaluations of the Sea Control Ship. It was a

small helicopter carrier designed to provide ASW escort support at a much lower cost than the existing larger aircraft carriers. The project was eventually scrapped due to budgetary constraints, but remained a highlight of Col. Gerken’s career.

Col. Gerken remained active in the Army Reserves, and performed two-weeks of active duty service each year. In the mid1970s, one of Col. Gerken’s final two-week tours brought him to the Pentagon to work at the Research and Development position in the Office of the Army Staff. There, Col. Gerken recalls an Admiral on duty in OP-05 at the Pentagon’s Aircraft Desk, calling him and asking for a favor. The Army was in the process of purchasing a large number of the new H-60 helicopter from Sikorsky Aircraft.

With two engines it was considered a “well-designed” aircraft by those who had flown it. At the same time, the Navy was in need of new ASW helicopters for operations from destroyers, frigates, cruisers and later, aircraft carriers. The Navy was interested in the Army’s new H-60, because, according to Col. Gerken, “some of their pilots had flown and were impressed by it.” The Army

Rotor Review Editor-in-Chief, Lt. Emily Lapp, and Col. (ret) Louis Gerken at NHA Headquarters in San Diego, Calif.

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Features: Col. Gerken Interview was willing to sell them the aircraft, but wanted to be the weapon system manager, a task that would require intricate knowledge of Navy operations, technology and systems. Of course, the Army knew little about such things. Col. Gerken, recognizing a looming disaster were the Army to be blamed for any failures of the new Navy program, authored and submitted a point paper to the Army office in charge, strongly urging them to allow the Navy to run its own weapons system program. The Army acquiesced and the Navy consequently hired IBM as the weapon system manager and integrate the systems into what would become the beloved SH-60B Light Airborne Multipurpose System (LAMPS) Mark III system.

The Navy, some three decades after rejecting Col. Gerken for mild colorblindness, recognized Col. Gerken’s technological expertise and offered to make him a Navy Captain if he would transfer from the Army into the Navy. This time, it was Col. Gerken who turned the Navy down, explaining, “I had spent most of my time with the Army, and with my time in grade and time left before retirement, it would not be worthwhile. I thanked them, however, for their consideration. Apparently I had more friends in the Navy than I knew.”

Col. Gerken retired from the Active Army Reserves in 1985, having attained the rank of Colonel. However, he remained busy working with American Scientific Corporation, the consulting company he founded in 1973 specializing in research and development, electronic warfare, logistics and executive management. He also is the author of seven books, whose titles include: ASW Versus Submarine Technology Battle, Mine Warfare Technology, Torpedo Technology, Airships History and Technology, UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Rememberences286th Engineer Combat Battalion- WWII and Scientific Research-

Military and Civilian. His book, ASW Versus Submarine Technology Battle, published in 1986 is a 753-page tome on the historical and technological development of the submarine and anti-submarine warfare beginning in 415 B.C. through to modern submarine combat in the 1980s. It includes technological data and analysis on the major ASW players, including the U.S., Germany and the Soviet Union and was used as course material for graduate level courses at the Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif.

In 2015, Col. Gerken was awarded the prestigious French Legion of Honor and was appointed to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to France during the Liberation of France. The award is reserved for those U.S. veterans who personally risked their lives while fighting on French territory and is France’s highest distinction.

Col. Gerken continued to consult for the military, and focused specifically on research and development efforts in order to improve military readiness. From World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and beyond, Col. Gerken has served his nation selflessly in many different capacities. As a naval aviator flying the world’s most technologically advanced ASW helicopter for the U.S. Navy, I am most grateful to Col. Gerken for his decades of technological consulting for the U.S. Navy and for his lifelong interest in and support of ASW technology. It was a pleasure to interview him and learn about his vast and varied life experiences.

On behalf of the Naval Helicopter Association, thank you for your service to our nation, Col. Gerken!

About the Author: Lt. Emily Lapp flies with HSM-41.

Operation Frequent Wind

USMC HELICOPTER HISTORY 40 YEARS AGO OPERATION FREQUENT WIND – THE 1975 EVACUATION OF SAIGON

Historical

As told by Mr. Chris Woods Former CH-46 U.S. Marine Corps Aircrewman with HMM-164 (Call Sign “Swift 2-2”)

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entlemen, start your engines.” The laconic command copied from the Indianapolis 500 auto races, echoed from the 1MC, the public-address system of the USS Hancock (CV-19). Moments later, the Commanding Officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Lt. Col. Herbert Fix, lifted his CH-53A Sea Stallion off the deck of the aging carrier. When the other seven choppers in his squadron had left the deck, they fluttered off in a tight formation through blustery winds and dark, ominous rain clouds that hovered over the South China Sea. Operation Frequent Wind, the emergency evacuation of the last Americans in Saigon was under way.

The rescue operation had been delayed as long as possible-too long, in the view of many Pentagon officials. In recent weeks 44 U.S. Naval vessels, 6,000 Marines, 120 Air Force combat and tanker planes and 150 Navy planes had been moved into the area. Nevertheless, Secretary of State Henry Kissenger and the U.S. ambassador in Saigon, Graham Martin, argued that the final withdrawal of the American community would probably set off a wave of panic in Saigon and hasten the fall of the South Vietnamese government.

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On April, 1975, U.S. Marines evacuated hundreds of Vietnamese refugees from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

During the preceding eight days, U.S. planes had evacuated almost 40,000 American and South Vietnamese refugees from Tan Son Nhut airbase near Saigon. By last week, the airlift was growing increasingly dangerous. Artillery shells and rockets closed Tan Son Nhut airport Monday morning, April 28, 1975. The next day, a C-130 transport was hit by a rocket on the runway and burst into flames as the crew escaped. A short time later, two Marines, Cpl. N. McMahon of Massachusetts and Lance Cpl. D. Judge of Iowa, guarding the U.S. defense attaché’s compound at Tan Son Nhut, were killed by communist artillery.

News of the destruction of the C-130 and the Marines’ deaths reached President Ford during a meeting with his energy and economic advisers. He scribbled a note to the deputy director of the National Security Council, Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft: “We’d better have a NSC meeting at seven.”

Plainly, evacuation by commercial flights, by military airplanes or by sea was no longer feasible. The security advisers discussed whether conditions might permit a resumption of the military airlift. If not, they would have to go a fourth option, the riskiest of all: evacuation by Marine helicopters. Scarcely two hours after the

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meeting ended with no decision, Ford learned that two C-130s attempting to land at Tan Son Nhut had been waved off; the airport was blocked by thousands of panicky South Vietnamese. By then, all of Ford’s advisers, including Martin agreed that it had to be “Option Four.” At 10:45 p.m., the President ordered Operation Frequent Wind to begin.

Kissinger telephoned Ford to report that a fleet of 81 helicopters was about to embark on its mission, then, at 1:08 a.m. Tuesday, he called again with the news that the evacuation had begun. In Saigon, the center of activity for much of the day was the landing at Tan Son Nhut airport, a tennis court near the defense attaché’s compound. Landing two at a time, the helicopters unloaded their squads of Marines - 860 in all, who reinforced the 125 Marines already on the scene - and quickly picked up evacuees.

As the operation continued, many helicopters came under fire. Most evacuees sat in cold panic as their choppers took off.

“For the next three minutes as we gained altitude,” reported Time magazine correspondent William Stewart, “we held our breaths.”

We knew the communists had been using heat-seeking missiles, and we were prepared to be shot out of the sky. As I turned around to see who was on board, Buu Vien, the South Vietnamese Interior Minister, smiled and gave a thumbs-up signal. “Forty minutes later we were aboard the USS Denver (LPD-9), a landing-platform dock, and safe.”

By nightfall, the mission had been completed at Tan Son Nhut, but the evacuation of the embassy was still to be accomplished.

Sheets of rain were pelting the city and visibility had dropped to barely a mile. Some choppers had to rely on flares fired by Marines within the embassy compound to find landing zones; others homed in on flashlights.

Through Tuesday night, the Vietnamese crowd grew uglier, hundreds tried to scale the ten-foot wall, despite the barbed wire strung on top of it. Marines had to use tear gas and rifle butts to hold back the surging mob. Some screamed, some pleaded to be taken along. Floor by floor, the Marines withdrew toward the roof of the embassy with looters right behind them. Abandoned offices were transformed into junkyards of smashed typewriters and ransacked file cabinets. Even the bronze plaque with the names of the five American servicemen who died in the embassy during the 1968 Tet offensive was torn from the lobby wall. Marines hurled tear-gas grenade into the elevator shaft; at time the air was so thick with tear gas that the helicopter crews on the roof were affected.

By that time, tempers were frayed in Washington as well as in Saigon. Martin had drawn up a list of 500 Vietnamese to be evacuated; he refused to leave until all were safely gone. His delay prompted one Administration official to quip, “Martin got all 600 of his 500 Vietnamese out.” Finally, at 5:00 p.m. Washington time- it was 5:00 a.m., in Saigon- Kissenger told the president that Martin was closing down the embassy and destroying its communications equipment. Minutes later, “Lady Ace 09” landed on the embassy helo pad and Ambassador Martin boarded the helicopter as Maj. James Kean urged the CH-46 pilot Capt. Berry, to please be sure someone comes for them. After lift off, Capt.

Berry broadcast the message; “Lady Ace 09, Tiger-Tiger-Tiger.”

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Historical: Operation Frequent Winds As many as 130 South Vietnamese planes and helicopters, including F-5 fighter-bombers, transports and attack planes, were reported meanwhile to have reached the U.S.-run Utapao airbase in Thailand with about 2,000 soldiers and civilians; already some 1,000 Cambodian refugees were crowded into tents there. Alarmed, the Thai government announced that the refugees had to leave within 30 days and that it would return the planes to “the next government in South Vietnam.” Defense Secretary James Schlesinger firmly advised Bangkok that it should do no such thing; under aid agreements, the equipment cannot be transferred to a new government but must revert to U.S. possession.

By the end of the week, another seven or so South Vietnamese helicopters had landed or tried to land on the U.S. naval vessels.

One South Vietnamese pilot set his chopper down on top of another whose blades were still turning. Others ditched their craft and had to be fished out of the water. An American search-and-rescue from the U.S.S. Hancock crashed at sea, and two of its crewmembers, Capt. William C. Nystul and 1st Lt. Michael J. Shea were listed and missing, possibly the last American fatalities of the war. The crew chief, Cpl. Steve Wills and the left gunner were rescued by another CH-46, “Swift 0-7”, during a zero visibility, night water landing to pick up the two wounded Marines.

“The last days of the evacuation were very hairy indeed,” Ford confesses afterward. “We were never sure whether we were going to have trouble with the mobs.” As Ford noted, the whole operation had gone better “than we had any right to expect.” According to the Defense Department, 1,373 Americans and 5,680 South Vietnamese - many more that the U.S. had originally intended - had been removed. Another 32,000 desperate Vietnamese had managed to make their way by sampan, raft and rowboat to the U.S. ships offshore, bringing to about 70,000 the number evacuated through the week.

For the next three hours the Marines waited, and grew more concerned as they discovered no one responded to their radio signals. Finally, after they had resigned that they would not be rescued, and voted to make an Alamo-like stand, the Marines heard the familiar sound of rotor blades slapping the humid air and a CH-46 Sea Knight and two AH-1G Cobra escorts came in to view.

Dodging small arms fire and using riot control agents against people attempting to force their way to the rooftop, Maj. Kean and his 10 Marines boarded a HMM-164 CH-46 helicopter, Swift 2-2. After closing the ramp, “Swift 2-2” (piloted by Capt. Holden and Capt. Cook and crewed by Sgt. Stan Hughes and Sgt. Chris Woods) lifted into a hover. The pilots were so overcome by gas they had to set back down on the embassy helo pad. Regaining their composure, Capt. Holden lifted the helo and departed the embassy rooftop. The last American helicopter to leave South Vietnam, Capt. Holden radioed the last official message from

Front Row (L to R): Gary Mellinger, J.D. Sneed, Lamar Holmes, John Ghilain, Doug Potratz, Randy Smith, Terry Bennington, Duane Gevers, Ken Crouse. Second Row (L to R): Ted Murray, Kevin Maloney, Steve Moore, Larry Killens, John Kirchner, Bill Newell, Colin Broussard, Mike Sweeny, John Valdez, Steve Stratton, Dean Kinzie, John Moya and Chris Woods.

Saigon: “Swift 2-2 airborne with 11 passengers, ground security force onboard.” Clearing antennas and church steeples, “Swift 2-2” picked up the Saigon River and descended to tree top level and followed the river out to the awaiting American forces. During the flight along the river, Sgt. Woods sighted approximately eight communist tanks, parked side-by-side, waiting until the eighth hour to enter the city. Checking his watch, Maj. Kean noted that it was two minutes until eight, only 23 hours since the officer in charge of Marine Security Guard, Manila had called him to relay a message from his wife in Hong Kong that she was pregnant. Only 32 minutes later, on April 30, 1975, the 11 Marines exited “Swift 2-2” onto the deck of the USS Okinawa (LPH-3).

Disembarking, many on board the Okinawa wondered, why so much time had elapsed (well over two hours) between the arrival of the Ambassador’s flight and “Swift -2-2?” Had someone forgotten these Marines were still at the Embassy? The answer is no. The intention was to remove the Ambassador while some security still remained at the Embassy, and then have other helicopters pick up the remaining Marines, but it appears that when Capt. Berry’s aircraft transmitted “Tiger is out,” those helicopters still flying, including Capt. Walters who was orbiting the Embassy at the time the Ambassador left, thought the mission was complete. This particular transmission had been the preplanned code to indicate when the Ambassador was on board a helicopter outbound to the task force. Having waited so long for his departure, this transmission caused some to conclude that he had departed as part of the last group to leave the Embassy. Capt. Berry later explained that radio message “ ‘Tiger-Tiger-Tiger’ was the call to be made when the Ambassador was on board and on his was out of Saigon. It had absolutely nothing to do with the cessation of the operation. We had originally planned to bring the Ambassador out on the afternoon of the 29th.”

At this juncture, thinking the mission complete and the Ambassador safe, Capt. Walters headed back to the USS Okinawa. Subsequent to

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his landing at approximately 7:00 a.m., the command realized that Capt. Walters did not have the remaining Marines on board. Due to a misunderstanding and miscommunication, they were still at the Embassy. Gen. Carey immediately recycled the HMM-164 CH-46 “Swift 2-2”, but by this time due to the ships’ offshore movement, the time required to reach the Embassy exceeded 40 minutes. With two hours of fuel on board, the CH-46 did not have any room for error. “Swift 2-2” landed on the USS Okinawa with two “LOW FUEL” lights and approximately 20 minutes of fuel remaining.

To the Marines waiting in Saigon, attempts by the South Vietnamese to reach the rooftop kept them busy and as a consequence, they did not notice the extended gap between the flights. Maj. Kean later stated that he and his Marines did not become alarmed because they knew that another CH-46 would

arrive. “We never had a doubt that our fellow Marines would return and pick us up. They had been doing it all night long.”

Authors Note: This was a term paper I wrote in August 1996.

I have made every attempt to state the facts to the best of my knowledge having dusted the cobwebs from my memory. If I have stated something that is incorrect, or there is something that can be added, please let me know.

Editor’s Note: “Operation Frequent Winds” was originally published on www.fallofsaigon.org.

Thank you Chris Woods for your very fine USMC historical helicopter article.

A Lasting Legacy – Two Great Instructors Retire Article by Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin “Big Perm” Permenter, USN

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n the past few months two Navy reservists, Cmdr. Robert “Chopper Bob” Meagher and Cmdr. John “Q” Quillinan, retired, ending their flying careers at Naval Air Station (NAS) South Whiting Field. “Chopper Bob” and “Q” don’t need much of an introduction; most of us have met one or both of them. To most of us these two aviators represent the epitome of the flying reservist: relaxed in demeanor but exacting in instruction, chock full of good advice and unimaginably salty. Between them, they’ve put up a staggering 15,000 hours as helicopter instructors and established a precedent that will be hard for future instructors to meet.

First commissioned back in 1986 after completing Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, Meagher earned his wings in 1989 and started flying the CH-46 with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 364. He volunteered to fly for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 261 for a bit as well, because HMM261 was deployed for Desert Storm and there was no way Chopper Bob was going to miss that! Later he transferred to Okinawa for a Forward Air Controller tour with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. In 1993 he finally found his way to Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8. This was Meagher’s last assignment as an active duty Marine and in that time he became a TH-57 Standardization Instructor (i.e. an instructor of instructors) in multiple categories and also served as senior Marine of HT-8.

In 2000, Meagher returned to HT-8, now as an officer in the Navy Reserve, ready to leverage his already considerable experience. Crucially, he volunteered for a mobilization so he could be the first Reserve Department Head at the new HT-8 Squadron Augment Unit (SAU), and then became SAU Executive Officer as a Selected Reservist (SELRES) driller. The SAU model was brand new and untested at the time, but thanks in no small part to Chopper Bob it became a highly effective system, ensuring squadrons could get the most out of their Reservists. Meagher also contributed heavily to the transition to the early helicopter training Night Vision Goggles (NVG) syllabus and the implementation of the Multi-Service Pilot Training System. All told, Meagher put in

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14 years as a reservist. Combined with his time in the Marine Corps, he accumulated a whopping 8,200 flight hours, with over 7,100 of those as an instructor.

After pinning on his wings in 1988, Quillinan went to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 37 in Hawaii to fly the original Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) Mk I, the SH-2F. His shore tour was at Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8,

Cmdr. Robert “Chopper Bob” Meagher enjoying a frosty beverage.

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Historical: A Lasting Legacy – Two Great Instructors Retire. where he first became an instructor, racking up over 2,100 hours as an instructor pilot (IP) before leaving active duty.

At the end of 1997, Quillinan returned to the HT’s, this time as a SELRES driller with HT-18.

He’s spent every year since then racking up yearly flight hour totals that would look impressive on an active duty fitness report. His achievements aren’t terribly complicated; they are just a matter of sheer contribution. “Q” has instructed students and other IPs in virtually every type of syllabus event that has been taught in the TH-57. His name and presence have been synonymous with HT-18 for the past two decades. “Q” even found time to run as part of the HT-18 Wilderness Challenge team, including two years where his team finished in 1st place. All told, Quillinan has flown 9,000-plus hours as a naval aviator, with more than 8,000 as an IP. He’s only willing to give vague numbers for his time as a Delta Airlines pilot. The potential total boggles the mind!

If you fly Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard helicopters and got your wings within the last 20 years, there’s a decent chance you’ve flown with one of these guys. Even if you haven’t, you can be sure that the instructors you did fly with learned much of the “Way of the IP” from one or both of them. Here’s a last little bit of math to put this all in perspective. Their combined hours, with approximately 1.7 hours per syllabus event, represent the completion of 140 naval aviators. So if you happen to bump into “Chopper Bob” or “Q” down at the Winn Dixie, be sure to say thanks, or better yet, see if they have any sage advice.

Cmdr. John “Q” Quillinan.

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There I Was Midnight MEDEVAC

Article by Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Dectorio Huerta, USN

A MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Raptors of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71 flies towards Navy Medical Center San Diego.

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Photo taken by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Raul Moreno Jr., USN

n Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, I stood the alert Search and Rescue (SAR) watch at Helicopter Strike Maritime Squadron (HSM) 71 from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. the following day with Lt. Samuel Lada, Lt. Alison Jones and Chief Petty Officer (Helicopter) Dominic Bernardy. We received a call around 10 p.m. that we were being recalled due to a medical situation aboard USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) requiring a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).

The patient was experiencing heart palpitations and was recommended to leave the ship as soon as possible by the ship’s medical officer. The crews arrived at HSM-71 at 11 p.m., briefed the MEDEVAC situation, gathered the supplies needed for the mission and departed Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI), a little after midnight. The ship was roughly 100 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego and as soon as we drew near, we attempted to establish communications. Communication with the ship was successful and the aircrew and flight deck crew prepared for landing at about 1:30 a.m. Once the helicopter was safely secured, Bernardy and I unstrapped from the aircraft and immediately entered the ship’s hangar. The ship’s medical officer and patient awaited us in the hangar.

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The medical officer passed information on the passenger’s status: he was experiencing heart issues and was given medication which was making him slightly drowsy and dizzy. The patient was able to walk, so after we received the pass down from the medical officer we gave him a passenger brief, a cranial and a life preserver. We then proceeded outside to the helicopter.

After updating the pilots on the patient’s status, we strapped in and were given a green deck for departure at 2:00 am. Enroute to Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), we kept good communications with the passenger to ensure he was stable during the helicopter flight back to shore. We arrived about an hour later at NMCSD and landed at the helicopter pad on site.

Once we landed, we were met by base police and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) services. We relayed all the information we had on the patient to the medical team. The EMTs received the patient and took him to the Emergency Room. We departed NMCSD and returned to NASNI, landing at approximately 3:30 am to shut down and debrief the mission.

About the Author: Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Huerta flies with HSM-71.

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Article by Lt. j.g. Richard Florez, USN

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n October 1, 2015, in hangar SP-40 aboard Naval Station Norfolk, Commanding Officer (CO) Capt. Dick Davis formalized the re-establishment of Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 12 as the Navy’s sole Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for the MH-53E aircraft and the Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) community. The ceremony was presided over by Capt. Pat Everly, Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic.

Guest speaker for the ceremony was former HM-14 CO, Vice Adm. (Sel) Kevin Scott; Prospective Director for Joint Force Development, J7. Noted guests included Mr. Paul Lluy, Deputy OPNAV N98; Rear Adm. Mike Crane, Deputy Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic and Rear Adm. (ret) Bill Shannon, former HM-15 CO and current National Helicopter Association (NHA) Chairman. The presence of more than 300 current and former HM pilots, aircrew, maintainers and HM community supporters highlighted the re-establishment ceremony and showcased the Sea Dragons of HM-12 and their renovated squadron spaces. Former HM-12 commanding officers in attendance included

Capt. (ret) Van Goodloe, USN, Capt. (ret) Buck Carlson, USN, Capt. (ret) Jim Hughes, USN, Capt. (ret) Chet Harrison, USN, Capt. (ret) Lee Duckworth, USN, Capt. (ret) John Tennant, USN and the last commanding officer of HM-12, Capt. (ret) Brian Dewey, USN. During his remarks, Vice Adm. (Sel) Scott noted, “We are here today as a Navy to re-affirm our commitment to our nation, our Navy and the young men and women who have committed their lives to service.” This statement resonates with current FRS students including Lt. j.g. Mark Meyer. he explains, “With the Navy investing in the community in this way, in bringing back the training squadron, it shows a renewed commitment to the mine warfare community and the MH-53E by ensuring we have the personnel and resources to train more effectively.”

HM-12 may have been gone for the past 21 years, but when referring to the three commands (HM-14, HM-15 and Airborne Mine Countermeasures Weapon Systems Training School) that comprise AMCM, Vice Adm. (Sel) Scott stated, “In the face of incredible odds, these men and women worked tirelessly to ensure this community remained capable, relevant and ready.” Capt. Davis affirmed this cooperative spirit that has and always will be necessary to ensure the success of this unique community, “There is no obstacle that can’t be overcome when the three HM commands work together.

Whether it was the use of HM-14’s Hangar or utilizing fleet aircraft to help make production goals, Vanguard and Blackhawk support was always much appreciated and I can only imagine what we can accomplish together in the future.”

With resolve from the past and a renewed commitment from Navy leadership for the future, the Sea Dragons of HM12 now resume the mission of training all future MH-53E naval aviators, aircrewmen and maintenance personnel.

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command Updates

Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 12: Back in the Saddle!

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HSM-79 Announces Stand Up Article and Photo by Lt. Andrew Poreda, USN

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n Oct. 1, 2015, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 79’s pre-establishment unit officially opened its doors at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. The Griffins, led by Cmdr. Marc “Bishop” Cantu, are the fourth and final planned MH-60R stand-up squadron on the west coast. HSM-79 joins Commander Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Pacific (COMHSMWINGPAC) as the newest of the U.S. Navy’s pacific fleet carrier squadrons.

HMLA-167 Conducts Support Training Article by Lance Cpl. Aaron Fiala, II Marine Expeditionary Force

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arines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 167 conducted urban close air support training at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Oct. 19, 2015.

During the exercise, the warriors provided close air support to Joint Terminal Air Controllers (JTAC) for Marines with Expeditionary Warfare Training Group, Atlantic, who were conducting realistic air support training.

Marines on the ground relayed information regarding simulated enemy ground targets for the UH-1Y Venom helicopter at the event to eliminate.

“The UH-1Y is a utility aircraft that is used for many purposes,” said Staff Sgt. James Hohenstein, a crew chief with the unit. “The

aircraft is capable of providing close-air support as well as transporting heavy equipment and even combating fires.”

Hohenstein operated a .50 caliber machine gun (GAU-21 ) mounted on the left of the aircraft and Lance Cpl. Jimmy Roberts, also a crew chief with the unit, operated a minigun (GAU-17) mounted on the right.

Photo (top) Staff Sgt. James Hohenstein, a crew chief with HMLA167, mans a GAU-21 .50 caliber mounted machine gun during urban close air support training at MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C. Photo (left) Lance Cpl. Jimmy Roberts, a crew chief with HMLA167, mans a GAU-17 minigun while conducting urban close air support training

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Command Updates: HSM-79 / HMLA 167 / HM-14 After the crew received the target information, they would make several passes until all members of the aircraft had visual contact of the target.

“It is important that the pilots and gunners are communicating while confirming the target,” said Hohenstein.

Once the target was identified the request for fire would come in from the JTAC on the ground and the “Venom” aircraft would engage the target with machine gun fire, laser-guided rockets or both.

“Every training event is really important,” said Roberts.

“There is never a flight that you don’t benefit from, even basic flight hours and proficiency in the weapon systems is crucial.”

The pilots made several assaults and suppressions before returning to Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, where they refueled, resupplied their ammo and flew back out for another sortie.

“Being a part of a squadron like this is a great opportunity,” said Roberts. “There are a lot of jobs in the Marine Corps that you still have the opportunity to do outside of the Marine Corps, but I don’t think shooting a minigun out of a helicopter is one of them.”

Staff Sgt. James Hohenstein, left, a crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167, and Cpl. Candice A. Cross, an aviation ordnance technician with the unit, load 2.75 inch rockets into a LAU-68 rocket pod before conducting urban close-air support

U.S. and Republic of Korea Conclude Exercise Clear Horizon 2015

Article by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Abraham Essenmacher, USN

Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 14, Detachment 1, and Mine Countermeasure Squadron (MCMRON) 7, completed the bilateral mine countermeasures exercise Clear Horizon with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy, Nov. 13, 2015.

Exercise Clear Horizon is an annual bilateral exercise between the U.S. and ROK navies that focus on increasing capabilities and coordination

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between ships and aircraft in mine countermeasures in international waters surrounding the Korean peninsula.

“This exercise is a testament to the strong partnership between the U.S. and our ROK partners,” said Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, the commander of Naval Forces Korea. “The threat of mines can have a crippling effect both militarily and economically and it is the enduring threat of mines in the waters around the peninsula that is the driving force behind this exercise.”

Approximately 330 U.S. Navy personnel assigned to HM-14 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5 participated in this year’s exercise, which included U.S. and ROK units practicing clearing shipping routes and conducting training surveys.

“The largest take away for me regarding conducting an exercise like Clear Horizon is the coordination involved,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Mike Dowling, MCMRON 7’s commodore. “Effective coordination is critical in ensuring the U.S. and ROK team is prepared to counter any possible mine threat.”

In an effort to better coordination and communication regarding flight deck operations, HM14 teamed up with the ROK Navy ship Wonsan (MLS 560) to perform numerous take-off and landing drills, or DLQs, with a MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. navalhelicopterassn.org

“There are only a few ships in our fleet that can accommodate the landing of an MH-53,” said ROK Navy Cmdr. Kim, Ki-Hyun, commanding officer of the Wonsan. “This was important because it allowed our crew an opportunity to increase our proficiency in supporting various platforms.”

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sean Trombley of HM-14 agreed that the rare evolution was an important training opportunity. “Anytime we deal with an international partnership it’s important to establish standard procedures and communications,” said Trombley, the weapons and tactical officer assigned to HM-14.

“We were impressed with their professionalism and eagerness to to train with us so this was a great opportunity in which both sides benefited.”

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea is the regional commander for the U.S. Navy in the Republic of Korea and provides expertise on naval matters to area military commanders, including the Commander for the United Nations Command, the Combined Forces Command, and Commander, U.S. Forces Korea.

HSM-40 Attends Memphis Airshow Article by Lt. Chris Kohlskelley, USN

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ctober 4, 2015 marked the 30th anniversary for the establishment of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 40. The squadron celebrated the occasion with a ceremonial cake cutting involving the squadron’s most junior and senior members. A select few individuals had the opportunity to share the squadron’s legacy with the greater Memphis, Tenn. area via the “Naval Air Orientation Day & Wine Under Wings” airshow hosted by the Memphis Navy League.

The squadron was represented by Lt. Chris Jenkins, Lt. Derek Johnson, Lt. Chris Kohlskelley, Aircrewman 1st Class Joshua McDaniel and Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Eduard Fezjo. The group departed Naval Station (NS) Mayport on Sept.

30 in Airwolf 013 and made a brief stop at Dobbins Air Force Base prior to reaching Memphis International Airport. Also representing fleet aircraft at the airshow were one MH-60R from HSM-46, a MH-60S from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 2, an E-2D from Carrier Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 126 and an F/A18F from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213. Representing the training squadrons of the U.S. Navy were two T-6B’s from Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola and two T-45’s from NAS Meridian.

The naval air orientation portion of the airshow began in the morning of Oct. 1 when the crew supported a static display for over 500 students from the Memphis area who represented underprivileged schools, STEM programs and Memphis area Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC).

Each group had a wide variety of questions ranging from deployment experiences, opportunities to serve in the military, missions of the helicopter and the path towards becoming a pilot.

All three Sea Hawk helicopters were the most popular aircraft amongst the young visitors as they were the only platform to offer full access to the cockpit and cabin. These tours gave each student the opportunity to imagine themselves as future naval aviators or aircrewmen. The second half of the airshow was Wine Under Wings, a gala sponsored by the Memphis Chapter of the Navy League that facilitated the socialization of aircrews and personnel from Naval Station Millington with corporate executives, philanthropists and local government leaders. The event helped raised $60,000 for

Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

Navy League sponsored scholarships and community outreach programs. Both events offered a rare glimpse of the Navy’s most technologically advanced helicopter to a traditionally non-Navy city.

The Airwolf crew returned to NS Mayport on Oct. 2 after completing the 1200 nautical mile cross-country flight. The trip marked the second community outreach event in as many weeks for HSM-40. On Sept. 26, the squadron hosted 100 cadets from the Mayport Naval Sea Cadets. Both events exemplified the squadron’s 30-year legacy as a top Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) as well as a local community leader.

HSM-40 is the East Coast FRS for the MH-60R Sea Hawk based at NS Mayport in Mayport, Fla. The Airwolves, led by Cmdr.

David Loo, are comprised of 15 MH-60R’s, 40 instructor pilots, 35 aircrew instructors and a maintenance staff of 300 personnel.

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Command Updates

Eightballer Seasonal Snapshot Article by Lt.j.g. Danielle Hilt, USN

Continuing the execution of an aggressive and exciting training plan, the Eightballers of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 closed out the fourth quarter of 2015 with 693 mishap-free flight hours. Although this exceeded the squadron’s monthly allocation by 21 percent, their history of efficient and effective training and support provided justification to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 for the additional flight hour expenditure.

From August 3-6, the Eightballers proudly implemented and demonstrated the Fixed Forward Firing Weapons System (FFFWS) capabilities of the MH-60S during Black Dart Demonstration 2015. Over the demonstration’s four day period, HSC-8 rehearsed with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 and Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu air intercept controllers to locate and intercept low, slow flyers in the form of Group I and Group II Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The demonstration culminated in the target acquisition, engagement and destruction of a Group I UAS via the M-197 20mm gun.

This successful kill was the first for HSC-8, as well as the HSC community. The Eightballers are focused on cultivating the FFFWS mission skills for its pilots and aircrew and qualifying additional Helicopter Aircraft Commanders (HAC) as FFFWS instructors.

HSC-8 trained at Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro during a seven day detachment from Aug. 26 to Sept. 3, flying 79.6 hours. The squadron executed 38 sorties and completed 52 Seahawk Weapons and Tactics Program (SWTP) syllabus cards for pilots and aircrew. Training focused primarily on the Personnel Recovery (PR) and Special Operations Forces (SOF) missions, with opportunities to utilize a variety of unfamiliar terrain flight (TERF) routes, landing zones (LZs), operating areas and ranges. NAF El Centro’s LZs and route diversity increased the overall proficiency and confidence of junior pilots and aircrew in the TERF environment. Adding training intensity and realism through the use of squadron aircrew and chief selects as Opposing Forces (OpFor) provided a robust presentation for SWTP Level II and III flights. Not only did the OpFor aid pilot and aircrew preparation for upcoming Level III PR/SOF Weapon School check rides, it provided excellent leadership opportunities for the newly selected chief petty officers.

Over the course of the quarter, the Eightballers successfully completed three pilot PR/SOF Level III qualifications, three aircrew PR/SOF Level III qualifications, one pilot AntiSurface Warfare (ASuW) Level III qualification, four HAC qualifications, four Helicopter Second Pilot (H2P) qualifications and two Utility crewman qualifications.

On September 18, HSC-8 was honored to participate in the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) ceremony aboard USS Stockdale (DDG 106). The Eightballers rendered

honors as a flight of two MH-60S flew overhead with the American Flag and POW Flag in tow. The Eightballers were selected for the fly-by, in large part, to their legacy of warfighting that includes eight western pacific deployments to Vietnam between 1957 and 1968 and over 30 successful Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) missions.

In addition to their performance in the aircraft, the Eightballers completed their annual Search and Rescue (SAR) and Command Assist Visit (CAV) inspections without any “Off Track” programs. HSC-8’s SAR program was recognized as the top program in the Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Looking forward, the Eightballers will be training in midDecember with Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Pacific (ETWGPAC) flying integrated Close Air Support (CAS) flights. This will aid HSC-8’s pilots in gaining proficiency working with live Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC), while at the same time, helping to qualify student JTACs going through their training syllabus. Additionally, HSC-8 will be working with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) units to conduct Helicopter Visit Board Search and Seizure training. The Eightballers relentless pursuit of qualifications has led to five lieutenants earning Level III qualifications across all primary mission areas with over a year remaining in the squadron.

VICTORY ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE EIGHTBALL!

A MH-60S Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8, conducts a helicopter visit, board, search and seizure training exercise with Range Support Craft (RSC) 1 off the coast of San Diego.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel M. Young

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The newest naval helicopter pilots going to the fleet

Winging Class September 25, 2015 Back Row: Lt. Col. Raffort M. Coleman, USMC, Commanding Officer HT-18; Lt. j.g. Erik P. Townsend, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Philip T. Hawthorne, USN, HT-18; Lt. j.g. Andrew B. Shea, USN, HT-28; 1st Lt. Brian A. Toczek, USMC, HT-28; Ensign Knight Hammock, USN, HT-8; 1st Lt. David J. Hunter, USMC, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Andrew M. Bogdan, USCG, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Timothy R. Benoit, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Julius C. Jones, USN, HT-28; Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Wing Five Middle Row: Cmdr. John D. Mcbryde, USN, Commanding Officer HT-8; Lt. j.g. Abdullah M. Al-Shehri, RSNF, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Hannah L. Geisen, USN, HT-28; Lt. Aaron R. Jones, USCG, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Ralph P. Duffett, USN, HT-18; Lt. j.g. Daniel J. Schmerber, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Nicholas B. Wilson, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Sarah C. Blatt, USCG, HT-18; Lt. j.g. John M. Carlos Jr., USN, HT-8; 1st Lt. Bret B. Bartlett, USMC, HT-18; Cmdr. David Loo, USN, Commanding Officer HSM-40 Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer HT-28; 1st Lt. Michael A. Pittman, USMC, HT-18; Lt. j.g. James D. Brown, USN, HT18; Lt. j.g. Grant T. Johnson, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Timothy J. Craddock, USN, HT-18; Lt. j.g. David A. Crowell, USN, HT-18; Lt. j.g. Benjamin J. Schmidt, USN, HT-8; 1st Lt. Richard G. Trammell, USMC, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Mohammed G. Al-Qarni, RSNF, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Nicolas M. Lebovitz, USN, HT-18

Winging Class October 9, 2015 Back Row: Lt. Col. Rafford M. Coleman, USMC, Commanding Officer HT-18; 1st Lt. Christopher Hayes, USMC HT-8; 1st Lt. Christopher M. Tooley, USMC, HT-18; Lt. j.g. Timothy J. Cullen, USN, HT-8; 1st Lt. David K. Kee Jr., USMC, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Tyler J. Cope, USN, HT-28; 1st Lt. Brendan Z. Boley, USMC, HT-8; 1st Lt. Samuel E. Goldsmith, USMC, HT-28; Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Wing Five Middle Row: Cmdr. John D. McBryde, USN, Commanding Officer HT-8; Lt. j.g. Theresa Lopez, USN, HT-28; 1st Lt. Fernando Lopez-Sotelo, USMC, HT-18; Lt. j.g. Abdulrheem F. Aljehani, RSNF, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Jason B. Darby Jr., USN, HT-8; Ensign James Srisutasanavong, USN, HT-8; Lt. j.g. Patrick O. Maguire, USN, HT-8; Lt. j.g. Katrina M. Lintz, USN, HT-8; Capt. John G. Turner, USCG, Coast Guard Liaison Officer Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Rachel L. Rychtanek, USCG, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Bryan C. O’Loughlin, USN, HT-8; ; Lt. j.g. Ahmad A. Al-Ansari, RSNF, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Gabriel A. Lopez, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Daniel F. Symansky, USCG, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Raquel A. Smith, USN, HT-28; Lt. j.g. Taylor W. Cooper, USN, HT-8

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Winging Class October 23, 2015 Back Row: Cmdr. Thaddeus O. Smith, USN, Squadron Augment Unit Commanding Officer HT-18; Lt. j. g. Andrew M. Carmichael, USN, HT-8; Ensign Sinjen A. Povoli, USN, HT-18; Lt. j. g. Robert C. Veech, USN, HT-18; Lt. j. g. Damon K. McIntire, USN, HT-8; Lt. j. g. Jeffrey K. Honnold, USN, HT-8; Lt. j. g. Joshua D. Lawrence, USN, HT-18; Ensign Benjamin C. Northop, USN, HT-8 Middle Row: Cmdr. Brian Sanderson, USN, Executive Officer HT-18; 1st Lt. Andrew P. Dunbeck, USMC; 1st Lt. Spencer A. Hart, USMC; Lt. j.g. Yazeed Z. Almutairi, RSNF; Capt. Andrew J. Lloyd, USMC; 1st Lt. Brandt D. Showalter, USMC; Lt. j.g. Samuel R. Ingham, USCG; 1st Lt. Nolan J. Vihlen, USMC; 1st Lt. Travis J. Phillips, USMC; Cmdr. Edward J. O’Grady, Commanding Officer HSM-48 Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Wing Five Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer HT-28; Lt. j. g. Natalie G. Livingston, USN, HT-18; Ensign Joshua M. Haley, USN, HT-8; Lt. j. g.

Cotter A. Walker, USN, HT-28; Lt. j. g. Richard A. Hoyt, USN, HT-18; Lt. j. g. Spencer R. Wiltz, USN, HT-28; 1st Lt. Jonathan Lopez, USMC, HT-18; Guest speaker Lt. Col. Mark Thompson, USMC (Ret)

Winging Class November 6, 2015 Back Row: Lt. Col. Raffort M. Coleman, USMC, Commanding Officer HT-18; Lt.j.g. Sean R. Hart, USN, HT-28; 1st Lt. James D. Laughridge, USMC, HT-18; Ens. Tyler R. Boblit, USN, HT-18; Lt.j.g. Shaun E. Kinney, USN, HT-28; Ens. Andrew S. Reuther, USN, HT-8; Lt. Abigail T. Wallis, USCG, HT8; Lt. Blake J. Morris, USCG, HT-18; Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Air Wing Five Middle Row:Cmdr. Scott G. McWethy, USN, Squadron Auxiliary Unit Executive Officer HT-8; Lt.j.g. Colin A.S. Zychlewicz, USN, HT-8; Lt.j.g.

Timothy J. Wheeler, USN, HT-18; Ens. Cody J. Schneider, USN, HT-18; 1st Lt. Joshua A. Wanderscheid, USMC, HT-18; Lt.j.g. Nicholas S. Zablotny, USCG, HT-28; 1st Lt. Alexander W. Sweet, USMC, HT-8; Ens. Samuel W. Stoess, USN, HT-18; Guest speaker Capt. John G. Turner, USCG Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer HT-28; 1st Lt. Anthony W. Emberger, USMC, HT-18; Ens. William H. Sigmon III, USN, HT-8; 1st Lt. Matthew G. Mugnaini, USMC, HT-8; Ens. Daniel J. Westcott, USN, HT-28; Lt.j.g. Christopher M. Monacelli, USCG, HT-18; Lt.j.g.

Nathan A. Gordon, USN, HT-8; Lt.j.g. Rebekah S. Haba, USCG, HT-8

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Winging Class November 20, 2015 Back Row: Lt. Col. Rafford M. Coleman, USMC, Commanding Officer HT-18; Lt. j.g. Caleb W. Wadsworth, USCG; Lt. j.g. Shubeg S. Grewal, USN; 1st Lt. Michael J.T. Kripp, USMC; Lt. j.g. William P. Prisco, USN; Ensign Shane P. Lyons, USN; Lt. Samuel H. England, USCG; Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Air Wing Five Middle Row: Cmdr. John D. McBryde, USN, Commanding Officer HT-8; 1st Lt. Christopher A. Hood, USMC; 1st Lt. Andrew J. Stanley, USMC; Lt. j.g. John K. Satterwhite, USN; 1st Lt. Gregory D. Moore, USMC; 1st Lt. Kody D. Hill, USMC; Lt. j.g. Matthew E. Baglini, USN Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer HT-28; Lt. j.g. Kevin C. Watson, USN; Lt. j.g. Holly M. McKimmins, USN; Ensign Chase M. Davies, USN; Lt. j.g. Xavier T. Scott, USN; Lt. j.g. Abdullah I. Bin Shqyr, RSNF; Lt. j.g. Walther K. Sergojan, USN; Guest speaker Brig. Gen. James S. O’Meara, USMC, Director, Strategy and Plans Division, Policies and Operations Department

Winging Class December 11, 2015 Back Row: Lt. Col. Rafford M. Coleman, USMC, Commanding Officer HT-18; Lt. j. g. Ryan E. Sliva, USN; Lt. Matthew B. Lane, USCG; Ensign Michael D. Wycoff, USN; Lt. j. g. Ernest J. Halton, USN; Lt. j. g. Andrew J. Vanheest, USN; Lt. j. g. Zachary E. Levi, USN; 1st Lt. Troy W. Carver, USMC, HT-8; Lt. j. g.

Daniel J. Whitsett II, USN; Col. Gary A. Kling, USMC, Commodore Training Wing Five Middlle Row: Cmdr. John D. McBryde, USN, Commanding Officer HT-8; 1st Lt. Connor M. Stokes, USMC; Lt. Theodore P. Warren, USCG; 1st Lt. Robert M. Scoggin, USMC, HT-8; Lt. j. g. Christopher R. Thompson, USN; 1st Lt. Blake C. Cole, USMC; Lt. j. g. Michael W. Simpson (Leskowsky), USN; Lt. j. g. Isiah E. Coker, USN; 1st Lt. Mason H. Kimmel, USMC; Maj. Gen. Michael A. Rocco, USMC, Commanding General Third Marine Aircraft Wing Front Row: Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Ketcham, USN, Commanding Officer HT-28; Lt. j. g. Heather H. Resue, USN; Lt. j. g. Katie M. Otano, USN; Lt. j. g. Michelle A. Simmons, USCG; 1st Lt. Matthew J. Morris, USMC; Lt. j. g. Madeleine J. Andersen, USN; Lt. j. g. Cassandra J. Olson, USN; Lt. j. g. Sarah E. Rupp, USN; Lt. j. g. Mary E. Graf, USN

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Cherubs 2 Book Review

Cherubs 2 by Marc Liebman

Fireship Press;Tucson, Arizona; 2015; $19.99.

Book Review

Article by Cmdr. (ret) John Ball, USN

his is a fast-paced novel about a junior officer helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. With an engaging plot, realistic flying scenes and a number of sub plots that keep things interesting, the latest in the author’s Josh Haman series will make unrestricted naval aviators feel as if they were right there in the helicopter.

Set in the early 1970s, our hero, young Josh Haman, is a nugget helicopter pilot, sent to the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) to join a Search and Rescue (SAR) squadron. Hurriedly sent on his first detachment, he is faced with an officer-in-charge who wants to play it safe. Shortly, Haman is faced with a career-impacting decision when a successful rescue under fire cements his reputation as a “good stick” and a daring, innovative young aviator. The main plot only gets better. Though at times stretching plausibility, the storyline includes Haman inserting SEALs into enemy territory multiple times. Through it all, Haman and his loyal crew survive a number of hair-raising operations, and end up with medals!

The author is a retired Navy captain and aviator who flew combat SAR in Vietnam. The author’s naval aviation and helicopter background lend credence to the dramatic flying scenes in this pageturner. The realistic descriptions of helicopter and ship operations made this reviewer feel as if he were right there; a refreshing change from many military novels. Even the radio transmission jargon was believable.

This reviewer quickly became absorbed in the book. The subplots were interesting and each one provided another reason to keep reading. The venues ranged from the Pentagon to Moscow to Laos, while the characters included a disgruntled Navy lawyer, Russian and Chinese diplomats and a love interest for our hero. The characters are believable, the events fast-paced and the dialogue and flying scenes realistic. The author deftly uses italics as an enjoyably successful method of capturing the thoughts of characters. Lieutenant Josh Haman is a likable hero. There is even a humorous account of his role in a chief’s initiation.

However, the publisher apparently left the author face down in a rice paddy; there are a number of typical editorial and proofreading errors that mar this otherwise terrific novel. At the end of the book is a short history of Navy SAR, a list of call signs, air wings and ships active during the Vietnam War and a glossary of terms for the layman.

Any helicopter pilot or crewman will find this book realistic and absorbing and will not want to put it down. Naval veterans of Vietnam will recognize the locations, ships, aircraft and the frustrating progress of the war in Southeast Asia. I highly recommend this thriller to all hands.

NAVAL HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION, INC

The Navy Helicopter Association, Inc was founded on November 2, 1971 by the twelve rotary wing pioneers listed below.

The bylaws were later formally written and the organization was established as a nonprofit association in the State of California 11 May 1978. In 1987 the bylaws were rewritten, changing the name from Navy to Naval to reflect the close relationship of the rotary wing community in the Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy, from initial training to operating many similar aircraft. NHA is a 501 ( C ) (6) nonprofit association.

NHA Founding Members Capt. A.E. Monahan Capt. M.R. Starr Capt. A.F. Emig Mr. H. Nachlin

Cmdr. H.F. McLinden Cmdr. W. Staight Mr. R. Walloch Cmdr. P.W. Nicholas

Cmdr. D.J. Hayes Capt. C.B. Smiley Capt. J.M. Purtell Cmdr. H.V. Pepper

Objectives of NHA Provide recognition and enhance the prestige of75 the United States Naval vertical flight community. navalhelicopterassn.org Promote the use of vertical lift aircraft in the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Keep members informed of new developments and accomplishments in rotary wing aviation.

Perspectives on Safety and Future Technologies Rotor Rotor Review Review #131 #131 Winter Winter 2016 2016

Flight Suit Culture

Article by Capt. (ret) D. A. Yesensky, USN A reprint from Rotor Review Issue 111 (Fall 2010)

D

uring the past few years the HS and HSC communities have suffered seven Class A accidents with 13 fatalities.

Five of these accidents were fraught mostly with pilot error, one was of unknown cause and one was due to material failure.

This is an unacceptable accident rate in such a short time with pilot error being a significant cause. Ominously, six of these accidents occurred in Continental U.S. (CONUS) training areas and one in Guam. With our forward deployed units in the Iraq and Afghanistan area I would expect our accidents to be centered there. As a simulator and classroom instructor with both of these communities I feel as if I share responsibly with all of us who trained these pilots.

Captain Nettleton’s summer of 2010 Rotor Review article was profound and timely. His last section titled “Safety Culture” leaves implementation of actions up to us. The captain said, “…if we are to develop a culture of aviation professionals who recognize all hazards, whether operational, behavioral, or material: we must provide the best tools available. Leaders must take an active role in directing monitoring and shaping our culture—we need to understand that gaining insight into how our organizations really operate is the only way to identify all the hazards.” The organization is responsible for top down implementation and measurement of the effectiveness of safety programs. Individuals are responsible for bottom up carrying out their duties safely. Most of our aircrews and maintainers will understand Captain Nettleton’s comments, but only our brightest leaders will implement actions necessary to establish a culture that embraces safety excellence.

Each of us attended a high school and many of us attended a university. How many of the school’s football, basketball and baseball team players wore their sports uniform to classes, to the student union, to and from work and to the commissary? How strange it would be to see the star quarterback show up each day in class in pads. The bull fighter does not wear his suit of lights each day--it becomes a very special ceremony donning these garments just before stepping into the bull ring. Since 2000 I have often wondered why our aircrews wear their flight suits daily and everywhere. Some aviators I asked gave me the 1,000 yard stare and said, “dah.” One particular aviator told me, “We wear the flight suit daily because it portrays the warrior culture.” This war-horse was twelve time zones removed for the nearest forward edge of the battle area. In today’s Navy one could consider donning the Navy Working Uniform (NWU) to maintain that warrior image.

Changing from the uniform of the day to the flight suit just before a flight will mentally shift us from our everyday routine. Lt. Cmdr. Ohleger’s “Editor’s Log” in the Rotor Review summer 2010 issued stated, “…it took seven seconds from the moment my tail rotor failed until the aircraft impacted the ground upside down.”

She may be telling us that there may not be time to transition from thinking about our ground responsibility duties to flying a crippled helo. Aviation is truly quickly unforgiving.

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Perspective: Flight Suit Culture Many of you now reading this are questioning my sanity.

Why opt for uniforms which are costly to buy and maintain, when we get a free flight suit that only needs occasional machine washing? Let me explain how I came to understand that switching from ground duties to flight duties required a mental and image change.

My second deployment was embarked onboard USS Midway (CV-41). There was only one wardroom below the hangar bay and the uniform of the day was required for meals.

There was one dirty shirt table reserved only for aircrew on the flight schedule during that meal. Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. E. Zumwalt attempted to change some of the chicken rules. However, my commanding officer (CO) and senior leadership were unbending regarding the flight suit. My first three CO’s only allowed flight suits one hour before briefing and back into the uniform of the day quickly after landing.

Being a reservist I asked each why! All bluntly said that they do not want aircrews preparing for flight and being disturbed by earth bound personnel—the flight crew’s responsibility was solely concentrating on their flight. In essence a flight suit, image, was a do not disturb sign. After promoting to lieutenant and augmenting I still did not get it.

While a Lt. Cmdr. department head I was leading a flight of four from Naval Air Station Jacksonville to Andros Island and the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) range for torp drops. While flying down there on an absolutely perfect day my mind was on the change of command ceremony I was responsible for running. Flying along I was thinking about invitations, guest list, whether the ceremony should be held inside or outdoors, shrimp or gator nuggets and what to do if it rained. My mind was not in the cockpit.

About half way to AUTEC, with nothing but ocean around us, both my port and starboard wingmen reported that my helo was hemorrhaging oil. Within minutes the flight turned into a can of worms. A high speed shaft failed due to a bearing ceasing. Shortly after we ditched into the water but when the remaining engine was secured the rotor system locked up while the speed selector was still above idle. Once I saw the nine of us had safely egressed and were treading water; my first thought while swimming in the Bermuda Triangle was: “Are there any big hungry fish?” I then realized that my mind during the flight was anywhere but in the cockpit. I got it.

Not on the flight schedule and assigned to my new squadron at sea I was dressed in working khaki. The CO advised me that we wore flight suits even when not on the flight schedule. There was actually a dirty shirt wardroom.

The CO told me he wanted all of us in a flight suit in case we had to unexpectedly launch a helo. Imagine 22 pilots racing to the one alert helo and fighting over the two seats and only two of the pilots had briefed as the alert crew. So why the everyday flight suit policy? The CO and a few others were fifteen to twenty pounds overweight and possibly the green zoom bag kept their secret. Maybe cleaning and caring for uniforms was time consuming and flight suit wearing met the JO wishes.

Or while cruising base shopping venues, perhaps squadron pilots looked cool with their squadron patch displayed for all

Lt. Dan Dolan and Lt. j.g. Matt Debbink, assigned to the Black Knights of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron (HSC) 4, pilot a MH-60S Sea Hawk en route to Hawaii for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. to see. Did the constant wearing of the flight suits impact the command’s safety record-- absolutely not, we won the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) safety award. Maybe there is a middle ground.

While commanding I mandated flight suits for flights and once the briefing started that no aircrew member would be distracted with a flaming duck of the day, not even the CO. No phone calls, no business conducted outside of flight crew duties, no message board reading and no distractions such as finishing the movie of the day before launch. In today’s world I would have to include electronic “pods.” When King Arthur put on his suit of armor, I doubt some peasant interrupted him complaining of taxes, paucity of bread or why serfs cannot own property. The King’s broadsword, Excalibur, would have sung. Did my policy impact the command’s safety record—I have no statistical evidence. We won the Battle E and Wing weapons award and had zero accidents. Our aircrews were focused on their flight, undisturbed and were not distracted by thinking things working Sailors think about.

I do know that a shift from our other interest to flying must be made when we enter the briefing room. Most of my readers will read that I am attacking their daily wearing of flight suits. What I am seeking is a demarcation from every day activities to focusing on flight. Our very best leaders must create a firewall or a significant departure from daily grinding and establish a non-distracting pre-flight environment. The flight schedule is the command’s daily Super Bowl.

About the Author: Capt. (ret) D. A. Yesensky, USN is a current HSC-3 fleet squadron simulator, tactics and classroom instructor.

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Unmanned Systems – Enhancing Our Warfighting Capabilities Today and in the Future Article by Rear Adm. Robert Girrier, USN

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Perspective: Unmanned Systems – Enhancing Our Warfighting Capabilities Today and in the Future.

This is an exciting time for me to be serving as the Navy’s Director, Unmanned Warfare Systems (N99) partnered with Secretary Frank Kelley as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (DASN) for Unmanned Systems. We were able to speak a couple of weeks ago at an event for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and I want to share with you some thoughts and information about our newly formed directorate we discussed at the event.

We are living in a world that is connected more than ever with the surge of technology and rapid information sharing. We are also living in an increasingly dangerous world with contested regions on the sea, in the air, under the sea and in cyberspace. My job, drawing on fleet experience, is to see how unmanned systems and technology can help solve problems we face in contested regions around the world. How can unmanned systems help leverage the capabilities of our ships, submarines and aircraft?

While many of you are broadly aware of unmanned capabilities today, some of you have actually worked with these vehicles first hand. Fire Scout and Scan Eagle have been used for several years supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Currently, Fire Scout is employed in conjunction with a manned helicopter aboard USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). This past May, USS North Dakota (SSN 784) deployed and recovered unmanned

underwater vehicles (UUV) while operating in the Mediterranean Sea. As the resource sponsor for unmanned warfare systems, I’m charged to serve as champion for Pre-Milestone B systems, or systems that have not begun the official start of a program in the acquisitions process. In simpler terms, N99 will be focused on the prototype and demonstration of unmanned systems in a rapid development cycle. We will work with Naval Warfare Development Centers and the fleets to find out where the capability gaps exist and where unmanned systems might fill those gaps and requirements. Next, with the DASN for unmanned systems, we will survey technologies across the research and development enterprise to find the right match of technology to fill those capability gaps identified. Our team will then prioritize these matches for prototyping and demonstration.

This process informs our rapid development plan that executes within a two-year period. Within those two years, we’ll also look to terminate those demonstration efforts that are not working out for the fleet in order to reinvest money into more promising initiatives.

Through this approach, resources are optimized and technical risk is reduced, saving time and money. I also want to point out that unmanned systems directly support our Sailors, making their jobs easier, more efficient and ultimately, a more effective combat

A MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system, left, and an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter are displayed on the flight deck of the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) while the ship was moored pierside in Singapore.

U.S. Navy photo by Lt. James Arterberry, USN

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Scan Eagle program members launch an unmanned aerial vehicle from the flight deck of the Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce (AFSB (I) 15) during the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Christopher Carson, USN

team. As Secretary Mabus has said, the N99 stand-up isn’t just about producing improvements to platforms and weapons, it’s about implementing a cultural change. As unmanned systems continue to come online and mature, we’re changing how we think and how we operate, so we’re not just reacting to the challenges we face today, but focusing creativity and initiative to ensure we prevail in the future. I’m excited to move out with Secretary Kelley with this important portfolio, and remain committed to developing and integrating unmanned systems into our broader warfare areas.

I look forward to hearing the input from the fleet and seeing you out there — on the job.

About the Author: Rear Adm. Robert Girrier is the Director, Unmanned Warfare Systems (OPNAV N99)

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Rotor Review #131 Winter 2016

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PROUDLY SUPPORTING U.S. NAVY AVIATION PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Sikorsky continues to support Naval Aviation with an innovative MH-60R upgrade strategy and the MH-53K, the future of Naval Aviation Mine Counter Measures.

MH-60R upgrade plans include a significant increase in time on station, payload, and safety measures.

The upgrade plans also include a reduction in maintenance hours and operating costs.

The Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon TM is the only proven airborne mine hunting and sweeping capability currently fielded by the U.S. Navy. The MH-53K promises increased payload, reduced work load, lower flight hour cost, improved safety margins, and keeping sailors out of mine fields. Airborne Mine Counter Measures has proven to be the most effective solution to enemy mines and will likely continue to be relied upon into the future.

Sikorsky has provided helicopters to the Navy since the first helicopter rescue in 1947 and we are honored to continue providing Navy Aviation with multi-mission helicopters designed to meet the Navy’s aviation needs today, tomorrow, and in the future.

sikorsky.com | follow us on: The MH-53E Sea DragonTM is a trademark of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.

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