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Army Aviation Digest - Mar 1981

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    USAARLCI SUPPORT CENTERP OX 62 577

    FORT RUCKER AL 36362 0577

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    MARCH 1981 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 3

    *r igadie rGene ra l Richard D. KenyonArmy Aviation Officer

    ODCSOPS , Headquarters ,Department of the Army

    Major General Carl H . McNa ir Jr.CommanderU.S. Army Aviation Center

    Fort Rucker , Alabama

    Colonel Kenneth J. BurtonActing Assistant CommandantU.S . Army Aviation Cente r

    Fort Rucker , Alabama

    pageB

    page 10

    2 Fire Support For The Attack Helicopter , MG EdwardA. Dinges and MAJ Joseph F . Pullano

    6 25th Century Today , SSG Ronald D. Cisco8 Ghost Riders In The Sky, Helen A . McCollough

    10 " Out I Went " Michael Biddle12 RWART: The Commander 's Friend,

    CW3 Charles Farmer13 FORSCOM Flyoff Results14 PEARL 'S17 Refueling Aircraft At Home Or Away ,

    CW3 Robert R . Atchison18 Can Do ISM 'S) Can Kill CW3 David M . Battle19 Fifth International System Safety Conference20 Reporting Final23 Views From Readers24 Bright Star '81, Betty Goodson26 Hangar Talk, CW2 Gary R . Wei land27 DES Report To The Field: On-The-Job Training30 Radio Silence-A Good Way To Buy Victory ,

    LTC James J. Rudy32 Help Wanted, David Hubb le36 Aviation Personnel Notes: LTC Joe D. Carothers38 A Resolution Conference AtThe Army Aviation Center,

    Betty Goodson41 Threat: Who Has The Advantage? MAJ Frank E.

    Babiasz and 1 L T Mark Grablin45 Putting A Cap On Head Injuries, J. J. Johnson48 Officer Basic Course Orientation Program,

    MAJ Victor M. Sathre

    Inside Back Cover: ATC Action Line: Visual ApproachDo 's and Don 'ts

    Back Cover: Armywide Flyoff WinnersCover: Fire support for Army Aviation- in particular the attack helicopter company as a maneuve r element. Read what was concluded fromCSSG II in the story beginning on page 2. Coverart by Fred Martin

    page 4

    page 41

    page 45

    Richard K. TierneyEditor

    The miSSion of the U S Army Aviation D IQest USPS 41 3 5 0 IS to provideinformation of an operational . functional nature concerning s afe ty and aircraftaccident prevent ion . training . maintenance . operations . resea rch and developmenl .avia tion mediCine and other related data

    Thi S publication has been approved by The Adjuta n t Gene ra l. Headq u a rt e rs .

    The Digest is an offiCial Department of the Army periodical publ ished month lyunder the superviSion of the Commanding Genera l. U.S . Army Avia ti on Cen terViews expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Departme n t of the Armynor the U.S Army V iation Center . Photos are U .S . Army un less o th erwise

    specified . Use of the masculine pronoun is intended to include b ot h gendersunless otherwise stated . Ma terial may be reprinted provided cred it is give n to t heDigest and to the author . unless o the rwise indicated

    Articles . photos and items of interest on Army Aviatio n are i nvi ted . Directcommunication is authorized to : Editor . U S Army Aviation Digest, P O . DrawerP . Fort R ucker , AL 36362 . Manuscripts retu rned up o n reques t

    Department of the Ar m y. 25 Apri l 198 0 . In a cc ordan c e w ith Army Regula tion3 10- 1

    Ac tive Army unit s receive distribution under the pinpOint dist rib ut ion sys temas outlined in AR 310-1 Comp lete DA Form 12-5 and send direc tly to CDR. AGPublicatio ns Center . 28 00 Eastern Boulevard , Baltimore , MD 21220 . For anychange In distribution requirements , Initiate a revised DA Form 12-5

    NatIOnal Guard and Army Reserve units under pinpoint distribu ti o n a lso should

    submit DA Form 12-5 . Other Nat ional Guard un its should submi t reques ts t hr o ug htheir state adjuta n t general

    Those not ellg ible for official distribution or who des ire p ersona l c o p ie s o f theDigest ca n orde r the magazine from the Supe rin te ndent o f Documen ts . U.S .Government Prin ting Office . Washington . DC 20402 . Annua l subsc ri p tio n ra tesa re 20 .00 d om es tic and 2 5 .00 overseas .

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    A RMY AVIATION is the combat arm that cutsacross all functions land combat - maneuver, fire

    command andthe know about each of these

    areas.And as we progress in our and training

    r lp . , , , , , , I . r.n1n ' ' 1n tc one means of ,1-1-. ,,,1-,,,,,, needed changesis recounted in A Resolution Conference at the

    Aviation Center. It a rather detailedaccount of the work done at aand Committee ~ 1 l ; : ; . i l , r , , ' T

    December when aviation officers worldwide n-th .. rfto review issues from the field and propose solutionsto DA.

    A very welcome reformation forcareers was the establishment of

    aviators'Code 15

    as a combat arms and an accession S P E ~ C l ; ; ; l l t vVictor M Sathre the Directorate of

    Aviation Ft.

    1

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    Major General Edward A DingesCommandant

    U.S . Army Field Artillery SchoolFort Sill OK

    Major Joseph F PullanoSenior Maneuver Instructor

    U.S . Army Field Artillery SchoolFort Sill OK

    GLOSSARY

    ADA air defense artilleryAFA aerial field artillery

    AHC attack helicopter company

    ARA aerial rocket artilleryCP command postCSSG II Close Support Study Group IIDA Department of the Armydivarty division artillery

    FAAO field artillery aerial observerFIST fire support teamFM frequency modulated ; field manualFO forward observerFSE fire support elementFSO fire support officer

    FSS fire support section

    HELLFIRE Helicopter Launched Fire and

    mm

    OPCON

    SEADTCTOCTOE

    TOW

    Forget

    millimeteroperational controlsuppression of enemy air defense

    training circulartactical operations centertable of organization and equipmenttube-launched optically-tracked

    wire-guided missile)

    TRADOC Training and Doctrine Command

    2

    m NY ARTICLES havebeen published about fire supportfor attack helicopters and ArmyAviation in general, but none ade-quately addresses either who willplan this fire support or who willprovide it For example, in an articleentitled SEAD and the 2-MinuteDrill in the February 1980 issue ofAviation Digest Captain Demetrio1 Tehero notes:

    . . . the most glaring shortcom-ing of all which points to theneed for detailed training isthe lack of preparation forSEAD contingencies at the

    company level. The thoughtof countering threat air de-fense weapons is given onlymental consideration and likethreat capabilities they aredisregarded with a turn of thehead. Coordination never iscarried to the last l ink thefire support officer or the directsupport artillery battalion.When questioned about deal-ing with ADA frequently re-sponses will incorporate data

    about a mythical gunship es-cort or readily available artil-lery fire from an unknown bat-tery to unplanned targets on

    unfamiliar terrain at undeter-mined grid coordinates . The U.S. Army Field Artillery

    School , Ft. Sill , OK, has been work-ing hard to resolve this fire supportdilemma. This article reports ourprogress.

    Currently , planning and coordi-nation of fire support requirementsfor attack helicopters must be ac-complished by the attack helicoptercompany commander, assisted by

    the brigade FSO to which the AHCis OPCON.This is generally the way fire

    support has been planned for attackhelicopt er companies for the last15 years. It was a fairly adequatesystem during the Vietnam erabecause helicopter gunships werelargely limited to escorti ng lift shipsinto a landing zone on an airmobileassault. In such operat ions the groundtactical commander directed the en-tire airmobile planning sequence,

    u s ARMY AVIATION DIGEST

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    FIGURE AERIAL MANEUVER FIRE SUPPORT SE TION

    B t i lM151

    x

    .t ipUH-lFSO

    ~M577 FSE

    OH 58

    @Ja

    M577 _ . . . : F S : E ~ - - - - - - - - - . . . .

    cornmlan

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    GROUND DESIGNATION HELLFIRE

    ..... ,. ..X----------------MISSILE

    AH-64 HEllFIRE)

    .H-l

    iFSO

    B OH_58

    i i iTON @J

    ~ ~~ . ~ w . : T577 FIST

    M577FS ______

    x

    elements in the immediate area.coordination with those

    same the FSS willstay tactical situation

    and will know which fire

    radio 1 , . ' , n 1 , , n

    leader, and he

    furnish themust be

    that

    looked at how thethe attack heli

    with the

    maneuver comr anlYmay be nrf- ' Plrcl two

    situations: I f enemy ADA is

    it cannot be cll. ' \nypc(:{c>ti

    aircraft. I f there are many

    that cannotviced the attack ' - ' J I J 'scouts alone, the AHC commandercan then ask fortors assist.

    In either situation, rather thanthe team leader or battle f _ l t .. t

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    S ARMY AVIATION e n-tering the world of sciencefiction'? Are the exoticdevices of Buck Rogersand Star Wars a reality?

    Perhaps. The work in laser weapons s right out of Buck s 25thCentury. Miniature cameras andradios availab le rival Q's most ingenious devices. Computer capa

    bility a lmost equals R2D2 and C3PO.Army Avia tion has its own specialscien tific marve l - the night visiongoggles (NVG). This night visionenhancement device s very effective. It has increased the nighttimecapability of the aviator, but it hasalso increased the workload.

    NVG capability allows a pilot tomore readily identify an enemy target, avoid obstacles in the flightpathand navigate by terrain features inknown areas. But, rapid visual transition from outside to inside theaircraft to gain aircraft status datas impossible and there s no R2D2

    or C3PO yet available to providethat data. This problem s especiallyapplicable to single -pil ot missions.

    6

    Pilots must obtain attitude information from items in their flightpath, determine airspeed from theirrate of c lo sure on them and determine their altitude from the relativeposition of the aircraft to those items.

    What does a pilot do for aircraftsystem information-fuel quantity,oil temperature or caution warningdevices? Since the Army has yet to

    devise a soothing voiced computer,our aviator does without aircraftsystem information. A lot of trustand hope rests with the maintenancepersonnel and crewchief.

    Most of our intrepid aviatorsmanage to overcome this lack ofdata, especially n a training or wellknown flight environment. But innight flight at nap-of-the-earth (NOE)level somewhere in the Europeantheater where they are unfamiliarwith the terrain, there are problems.

    A fog bank envelopes the aircraft - it's a whiteout or even abrownout and with no R2D2 orC3PO to help. Suddenly, the pilothas lost all visual contact with theoutside world. The eyes' slow adap-

    tation to changes of light intensitiesat night and the NVG prevent theeffective transition to instrumentflight. All the p lot sees s red (a nger)and gree n (NVG) . This could costthe pi lot a high p r i c e - a life.

    Sure, the NVG have he lped innight flight and made target identification easier, but the visual workload has increased while informationneeded to accommodate this increase has declined .

    The U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Ft. Rucker ,AL, s working on these visualproblems. The results of our workn this area combined with recent

    technological advances have ledto some unique capabil i t ies- notquite R2D2 , but getting close.

    Suppose we go back into the fogbank, but instead of seeing red andgreen, our pilot concentrates on ahead-up display presented at thevery edge of the NVG fie ld of view.There within the visual field s flightinformation on attitude, airspeed,heading and altitude. The pilot alsoknows that the aircraft system infor-

    FIGURE 1 left) : Photograph through AN -PVS -5 with display op e rating. The p ict ur eo f th e he licopter is superimposed on anactual picture taken through the NVGwith the display de v ice mounted a n d

    op e rat ing du r ing laboratory bench tes ting . Th is illustrates a flight s ighting

    FIGURE 2 below ): Optical ch ip p lacemen t

    Digit 3Dgit i 2

    Dgit

    hannel

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    mation is being monitored electronically and any sudden changeswill trigger a caution or warningdisplay within the NVG field of view.Sound impossible?

    Take a look at figure 1. This is anactual photograph taken throughthe NVG lens showing airspeed ,heading and altitude displayed atthe edge of the pilot s field of view.

    The concept of displaying criticalaircraft information to the pilotwearing the NVG began about 2years ago. In the initial trials, thepilot wore a miniature optical chipglued to the lens of an ordinary pairof eyeglasses. Through this chip theairspeed was presented to the pilot.We found accurate airspeed couldbe maintained using the device andit did not interfere with the pilot snormal visua l workload.

    The next step was to adapt thedisplay technique to the NVG without modification to the goggles andthen to evaluate the concept underactual flight conditions.

    Figure 2 illustrates the placementof the aircraft information on the

    NV G s field of view. Each information area has three display partsconsisting of a subminiature digit.This allows us to present informationto a value of 999. Since the evaluation was performed at terrain or

    NOE level , altitude never exceededthat value 3 digits) and could bedisplayed for the pilot.

    Because of funding restraints andthe need to expedite evaluation ofthe concept, airspeed, heading andaltitude were displayed at the 9, 12and 3 o clock positions. This arrangement also minimized trainingas it is the same basic arrangementas the instrument arrangement ofou r U H-1 H Hu ey research aircraft.

    Figure 3 illustrates the entirepackage necessary for displayingthe aircraft information to the pilot.From left to right are a testing device,electronic display driving packageand aircraft interface package. Inthe foreground are the NVG withthe display device to the right. Totalweight of the display is 2 ounces.Total weight of the entire packageis under 10 pounds. It is estimatedthat a production system, includingall components , would weigh lessthan 6 pounds.

    The next logical question was ,how did it help the pilot? To find ananswer we had several subject pilotswear just the NVG and fly a prescribed flight profile. We asked them

    FIGUR 3 : P V S n i h t v ision gogg les w ith subminiaturehead up display dev ice

    to maintain airspeed, altitude andheading as close to the given parameters as possible. Each pilot foundit difficult to do that and also navigate the required course withoutassistance from the safety pilot.

    Wethen gave

    themthe

    NVGwiththe head-up display and again asked

    them to fly the same profile andmaintain the parameters given. Notonly did they maintain the parameters, they maintained them to adegree much greater than our expectations. Assistance was still required for attitude , trim and aircraft system informati o n.

    Each subject pilot that flew withthe display device, without exception , said that attitude and trim information were essential for a com-plete display and that a caution orwarning device would be beneficial.Personnel familiar with the conceptand those who flew with the NVGand display for demonstration purposes made similar comments.

    These comments support researchresults that attitude , airspeed , altitude, heading, trim and cautioninformation are essential for safeflight regardless of flight environment , profile or maneuver.

    Consequently , our next step is toadd a dynamic attitude indicator ,trim information and caution warning with the current display information. Then, more evaluations.

    Our evaluations have alreadyshown pilots can accommodatedigitally presented information superimposed on the NVG s field ofview. The eventual availability anduse of digital information in the NVGwill lead to reduced visual workload,

    a nd most importantly, safer flightd u ring all types of flight profilesand maneuvers.

    So move over, Buck Rogers, R2D2and C3PO. Army aviators are moving into your futuristic world .

    The opinions expressed in this article are t h ose of the

    author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

    epartment of efense

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    Helen A McColloughAviation Digest Staff

    Chost. Ridersi th SkyC OOP1 6 C V

    photograp h s by SP4 John J . Senecal and S P4 Don C h ance

    photograph by S P4 Gary Dahn

    PLAQUE DISPLAYED in

    8

    tl. the office of the troopcommander, Major Char-

    lesR

    Poulton II, says it all, Cav-alry is not a branch it's a state ofmind. And that s exactly howthe members Ghost Riders) ofthe newly activated C Troop, 1 stSquadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment,at the U.S. Army Aviation Center,Ft. Rucker, AL, feel. They rec-ognize that their primary mis-sion, as part of the combinedarms team, is to kill enemy tanks.Concurrently the troop is to sup-port the Aviation Center in the

    U.S. RMY VI TION DIGEST

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    areas of training, and in the testing of doctrine, tactics and equipment.

    It is not difficult to understandthe esprit de corps of C Troop'sSoldiers, if you look back through

    the 6th Cavalry's long, glorioushistory. They feel the same aboutthe Cavalry as their predecessors did when they participatedin the following campaigns manyyears ago after organizing in 1861:

    Civil War Spanish-American War China Relief Expedition World War I World War IIActivation of C Troop on 1 De

    cember 1980 (see ReportingFinal Aviation Digest, August1980) announced the beginningof reactivation of the 1 st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 6thCavalry Brigade (Air Combat) asan operational unit for the thirdtime since 1861. The brigade'sheadquarters is at Ft. Hood, TX(See pages 1 through 19, January 1980, Aviation Digest.)

    Troop C is the first of threetroops that will be activated in

    the next 3 to 6 years. Department of the Army will announcethe other dates and troop locations.

    Some of the Soldiers alreadystationed at the Aviation Centerwere reassigned to C Troop,while others came from as faraway as Germany. The expertiseof these Soldiers serves to justifyC Troop s claim of being the mostexperienced aviation attack unitin the U.S. Army. And, they'rewilling and eager to accept thechallenge.

    There are 18 officers, 38 warrant officers and 167 enlistedauthorized in the troop. All ofthe of ficers (but one) are ratedaviators.

    The Troop's 33 aircraft include: 18 AH-1 S Cobras with tank

    killing TOW (tube-launched,optically-tracked, wire-guided) missiles

    MARCH 98

    12 OH-58 Kiowas, scoutsthat are always first out, lastin and ready to answer a call

    3 UH-1 H Hueys that havebeen the Army's workhorsefor nearly 2 decades

    The location of C Troop at Ft.Rucker received command emphasis from the last three commanding generals at the AviationCenter. They felt that a tacticalcombat unit should be locatedat the Home of Army Aviationbecause:

    The expertise is there It will be cost-effective Concepts should be tested

    before becoming doctrineThe 1 st Aviation Brigade is C

    Troop's parent unit at Ft Rucker,and Guthrie Field is its base ofoperation. The Troop will remainat Ft. Rucker except in event ofa national emergency when itwould rejoin the 6th Cavalry Brigade for possible deployment.

    The Aviation Center's facilitieswill be strained if the Ghost Rid-

    ers do all of their training at Ft.Rucker. Therefore, C Troop hopesto be involved in some of thereadiness command jOint exercises near Eglin Air Force Base,FL, to ensure its readiness for

    deployment on short notice. Alsosome of its more advanced training will be conducted in Georgia(near Fts. Benning and Stewart)and at Camp Blanding, FL.

    The morale of the Troop is high.Its Soldiers are dedicated tomaintaining and enhancing theCavalry's original tradition. Theirgoals are:

    To successfully accomplishthe training standards of theArmy Training and Evaluation Program (ARTEP)

    To become combat-ready To maintain that combat

    ready posture at all timesGhost Riders at Ft. Rucker

    wear the 6th Cavalry Brigadepatch with pride, and they'repleased to be located at theHome of Army Aviation.

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    J MES TOBIN declares he had a fewseconds of euphoria while on a flight 3December 1980 in an Army U-21 U t ewhich is unusual because at the time hewas hanging with one hand on a rope rail

    ing outside the airplane that was ,lying

    about 200 knots at 9,000 feet above theground .

    The civilian pilot for the Army ArmamentResearch and Development Command(ARRADCOM), Dover, NJ, had just fallenout of the U-21 ; so considering the alternatives had he not caught hold of that rope,perhaps his feeling of well-being is understandable.

    "What a way to start a job was the obser

    vation " VIr Tobin made later, since themomentous flight occurred on his first dayof work with ARRADCOM. He had separated from the service a few days earlier,after having logged more than 3,000 hoursduring the previous 10 years as an Armyaviator.

    He and his copilot , Robert Pearce, wereen route to Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD,with a shipment of small arms from AR RADCOM. The plane had just reached cruisingaltitude when a red cockpit light flashedon. This indicated that the retractable exitstairway door, located behind the cockpit

    on the underbelly of the fuselage, was ajar."The door seemed locked," said Mr. Tobin,

    but I jiggled it and it popped open. Out Iwent. If I hadn't instinctively tightened mygrip with my left hand on the door handle,it

    would probably not have pulled me out.As soon as he was outside the airplane,the wind pushed his free right arm aroundand up against his back, breaking the arm.His left hand TIripped off the handle andmiraculously caught the rope railing of thenow folded-out-and-down exit stairway.

    For a split second I had hold of nothing.I can't really remember what happened,but my heart probably kicked off four extraones. I grabbed hold of the rope and thewind streamlined my body so I was beingdragged parallel to the fuselage."

    Meanwhile, Mr. Pearce realized that Mr.Tobin had fallen outside the aircraft butwas somehow hanging on.

    Not able to leave the cockpit-there wasno automatic pilot-Mr. Pearce slowed thecraft down and contacted air traffic controllers who directed him to Salberg Airport,20 miles southwest of Morristown, NJ.Slowing the U-21 down enabled Mr. Tobinto, in his words, fight with all my remainingstrength to get my leg up and inside thedoor opening.

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    He added, "I just knew I had to do it.Otherwise, I remember thinking, it wasgoing to be a sad Christmas for my family.

    Once I had my foot in the door I knew Iwas not going to let myself fall."

    Despite the 200-knot wind Mr. Tobindidn' t feel cold and his arm didn't hurt forthe 7 or more minutes he hung from theside of the descending plane. My mindwas elsewhere."

    But when Mr. Tobin noticed that the nowunfolded landing wheels were no lowerthan his head, he summoned just a littlemore strength to pull his body higher:"There was no way I was going to make itthat far and then die. My head was off theground by 4 or 5 inches, at least "

    He was still low enough t be pelted inthe face and head by pebbles bouncing upfrom the runway.

    Then the plane stopped and Mr. Tobinwas too weak to move. It was kind of ablur. People were coming out -of nowhere,"he recalled.

    A pa ra medic team rushed him to a medical center in Somerville, NJ.

    The Lord must have something elseplanned for me. He didn't take me thistime," Mr. Tobin said from his hospital bed.

    My copilot was super; there were no

    bounces on the landing or anything."After a few weeks of recovery Mr. Tobin

    plans to return to f lying-but he also plans.to stay inside the airplane

    NEVER AGAIN. A vow to never again exit through the doorof a U-21 Ute when it is about 2 miles up in the air has beenmade by James Tobin, a civilian pilot with the Army ArmamentResearch and Development Command, Dover, NJ.ln Decemberhe fell out of the Ute when he tried to adjust the exit-stairwaydoor but managed to hang on to the rope railing until thecopilot landed the plane. Mr. Tobin figures that one experienceis enough for a lifetime

    - Michael BiddlePublic Affairs Office

    U.S. Armament e s e r c h n ~ Development CommandDover, NJ -

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    RWART:The Commander s Friend

    H OW MANY TIMES haveyou signed into an aviationunit and found that days or perhaps weeks wou Id pass beforeyou were able to complete unitflight training?

    Aviation commitments to fieldtraining exercises many timescause such delays. Or garrisonactivities (inprocessing, familiarization with new jobs, unitinspections) may require aviators to work in areas other thanflying. A shortage of instrumentflight examiners and instructorpilots, and a lack of availableaircraft due to maintenance canalso cause delays in checkingout arriv ing aviators.

    One way to eliminate that waiting time, which can rob a commander of resources needed tomeet the unit's mission, is to have

    pilots attend the Rotary WingAviation Refresher Training,(RWART) course atthe U.S. ArmyAviat ion Center, Ft. Rucker, AL,before they report to their newassignments. In that 4-weekcourse, they will receive refresher instruction needed to complete a U H 1 H Huey contactflight evaluation and rotary winginstrument requalification andalso become familiar with current

    12

    CW Charles Farmer

    Department of Flight TrainingCairns DivisionFort Rucker , AL

    tactical operations.It

    is conducted by the Rotary Wing Instrument Branch, Cairns Division,Department of Flight Training.

    RWART students are aviatorswho are on orders from a nonflying to a flying assignment.They must be qualified in theUH-1 series aircraft, have beenawarded an initial instrumentrating and have a current flightphysical which will not expireduring the course.

    A class starts each week witha quota for 12 students (that willdrop to 10 this fiscal year). Selection for attendance is made bythe Military Personnel Center atDepartment of the Army andpersons can make applicationfor one of the slots through theirbranch .

    The first five flight periods of

    RWART are spent in the contactphase, reestablishing currencyin the UH-1 helicopter . The student will refine basic flying skillsto include preflight check, hovering flight, normal takeoffs andlandings and emergency procedures. Supplemental training inengine starts, runups, shutdownsand various emergencies ispracticed in the UH-1 cockpitprocedural trainer (2C35). The

    contact checkride, conduc ted inaccordance with the appropriateaircrew training manual (ATM),completes the flight portion ofthis phase. Its academics are selfpaced, sound-on-slide presentations supplemented by programed texts.

    With reference to the academics, a diagnostic examinationis given for aircraft systems andfor instrument flight rules procedures and regulations. A satisfactory score on that excuses astudent from classes in a specif icsubject area.

    I n the instrument phase thereare eight flight periods in theUH-1 flight simulator (UH1 FS),three in the aircraft plus theinstrument checkride. The program of instruction includes individual attention in basic and

    advanced instruments in thesimulator. Aviators also receivean intensive review in flight planning, including evaluation ofnotices to airmen and determination of weather cond itionssuitable for flight; and they arerequired to make the appropriateresponse to more than 100 emergencies and precautionary measures programed into the simulator.

    u s RMY VI TION IGEST

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    After the flight simulator periods of the instrument phase,students move to the flight linefor three instrument trainingflights prior to the instrumentcheckride. The ins trumen t evaluation is administered in accordance with the ATM and applicable Army regulations. Academic subjects taught throughprogramed texts and individualinstruction include all precisionand nonprecision approaches.

    Tactical instrument preflightand flight planning are also included in the program, togetherwith interpretation of regulations.All RWART attendees are afforded the opportunity during thefourth week of training to complete the Army Aviation AnnualWritten Examination.

    The last phase is designed tofamiliarize students with the skillsand techniques necessary tooperate a helicopter in a tacticalhigh threat environment at allaltitudes. Using the aircraft forthree periods, they practice current terrain flight maneuvers,procedures and navigation.

    RWART instructors are reputed to be some of the best qualified and most proficient in ArmyAviation. That reputation is basedon the fact that each instructormaintains proficiency in contact,tactics/terrain flying proceduresand instrument flight procedures,and teaches those subjec ts on acontinuing basis. Additionally,they are trained in methods ofinstruction and use of night visiongoggles, and most are quali fied

    CAPTAIN STEPHEN E. Kee and ChiefWarrant OffIcer, CW2, George D. Chrest

    of D Troop, 1 at Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1$tCavalry Division, flying an OH-58 Kiowa last .month at Ft. Hood TX won ~ U.S. ArmyForces Command (FORSCOM ' HelicopterCompetition.

    The winners along with Ibe u t seven best

    instrument flight examiners.Almost 2,000 aviators have

    completed the Rotary Wing Aviator Refresher Training Coursesince its inception at Ft Ruckerin April 1977; and they have goneto new assignments where littl eor no additional pilot training hadto be given them. That aids inmission accomplishment as wellas allowing the field commander's flight examiners and instructor pilots to spend more time oncontinuation flight training programs in the unit.

    The ideal situation would beto have all Army aviators whoneed refresher training to cometo the Army Aviation Center forRWART so they wou Id be combatready when reporting to a newflying assignment.

    WINNING FORM. Captain Stephen Kee keepsa steady hand on thecontrols as histeammate, CW2 GeorgeChrest, observesboundary markers asthey fly their OH-58 to1st place in the 1981U.S. Forces CommandHelicopter Competition

    crews represented FORSCOM In theArmywlde competition at Ft. Rucker, AL, from-the 9th to 13th of this month see outside backcover). The other seven In the order theyp l n he FORSCOM competition were:

    Armored Division, Ft. Hood, TX.

    o CW2 s n VanEtten and CW2 Alan P o r t e r John F. ~ e n n e d yFllghtFDetachment, u S ~Army Center for Military Asllstance, Ft.Bragg, NC.

    o CW3 John T. Bailey and WQ1 Jim G.Corbitt, B Troop, 7th Squadron, 17thCavalry, 8th Cavalry Brl$l8de , AlrCombat , Ft. Hood, TX.

    o CW2 Robbie D. Robinette aniJ CW2 'Ronald C.Whetston 'e, D Company, 502dCombat Aviation ~ a t t a l l o n2d

    MARCH 1981

    o CW2 o.nnls D Ladd and W01 CharlesM Marshall, Headquarters and Headquarters Company HHC) 2d Brigade,

    101st Alrbor .re Division, Ft. Campbell, KY.o C W ~Scott E epBerrier and W01 Robert E : .McConnell, HHC, 2d Brigade, 101 st

    -Airborne Dhtislon, Ft. Campbell, KY.D cCPT Richard S. Kenney and CW3 Hugh J.

    Brown, D Troop, 2d Squadron, 9th 'Cavalry, Hunter Army Airfield, Ft.S tew,art, GA.

    o CW3 Billie R Ellison and CW3 Wllllam ,J.tiunter Jr., 114th Aviation Company,Republic of Panama.

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    PEARL SPersonal Equipment And Rescue survival Lowdown

    Reader Reaction

    We invariably receive a myriad of responses to ourPEARL articles, most of which are positive in nature,some which serve to correct our mistakes , otherswhich help to update and enlighten us , and , inevitably ,some which are negative in nature. Well , it seems thatone of our recent articles (see PEARL , November1980 , "Questions and Answers " ) has evoked quite afew responses of the latter variety. This particulararticle concerned a question about an individual whorefused to wear a standard-issue olive drab SPH-4flight helmet and insisted on wearing an SPH-4 thathe had had painted bright red. Our rather terse rejoinderstated the requir ement for an "approved flight helmet "and even listed the appropriate references specifyingthe proper color for the SPH-4. We thought that thisarticle might help alleviate one of the serious problemswith aviation life support equipment (ALSE) in theArmy, that being the lack of standardization anduniformity of ALSE. We certainly did not expectnegative reactions to such a straightforward article.

    But , alas, we were wrongWe received calls claiming that we were singling

    out Department of the Army Civilians (DACs). Wereceived calls claiming that we were attempting toruin the esprit de corps of those units who like to have

    "distinctive " helmets. Further , we received calls fromseveral irate individuals claiming that the articlepertained to them personally. First, the fact that thearticle singled out a DAC was a matter of pure happenstance. Second, there are many units having a lot ofesprit de corps without having to use nonstandardequipment. Third, those individuals who thought thearticle referred to them personally are obviously not

    adhering to regulations themselves. Those individuals

    who calledare not

    even physicallylocated

    within1,000 miles of the individual about whom the articlewas actually written.

    The purpose of PEARL is to keep everyone in theArmy Aviation community informed of changes ornew developments in the areas of life support equipment , survival techniques and rescue procedures tomake suggestions , answer questions or clarify policypertaining to those areas; and to help correc t problemsor irregularities in the field. Anyth ing we say or do issaid or done only with the best interests of the Armyaviator in mind. f we become aware of a situationwhere someone is doing something that they shouldn 't

    be doing , or using equipment that they shouldn ' t beusing , or violating regulations , then it is our obligationto bring that situation to light for the purpose ofeffecting corrective action. This we will continue todo. f it is true that you are offended by an article suchas the one referred to above, where we chastise someonewho is unquestionably in violation of existing regulations , then it is logical to assume that you also mustbe in violation of those same regulations. f that is infact the case , then the only thing that you really havegrounds for is changing y ur policy.

    heContinuing Importance Of LSE

    For a long time many people have been selling lifesupport equ ipment short, but when those same peopleare faced with a survival situation, ALSE immediatelytakes on a new look. We were recently reviewing pastissues of viation Digest when we came across twointeresting articles which called attention to the importance of ALSE. The first, enti tled "Missile Missile

    If you have a question about personal equipment or rescue/survival gear write PEARL DARCOM ATTN : DRCPO ALSE 4300 Goodfellow Blvd. St. Louis MO 63120 or call AUTOVON 693 3307 or Commercia/314 263 3307

    4 U.S. ARMY AVIATION DIGEST

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    Debbie Fuentes

    Missile ," appeared in the April 1975 edition of theDigest The following passage is excerpted from thatarticle:

    s we left the area in the C C bird, we weretaking fire. e headed toward an airfield wherewe changed aircraft and were taken directly tothe hospital. McKennty was stitched up and Iwas treated for burns. After this experience,my belief in the value of life support equipmenthas been reconfirmed. I received second- andthird-degree burns on my left arm, shoulderand side and on the back of my neck. s a pointof interest, had my Nomex collar been up, Iwould not have received any burns on theback of my neck.The second article of interest also appeared in the

    April 1975 edition of the Aviation Digest I t waswritten by LTC Charles A. Lehman and is entitled"POWs and Life Support Equipment. The paragraphwhich follows sums up the entire situation with regardto ALSE:

    Although we normally think of life support orsurvival equipment as serving to get our crewmembers home as soon as possible after acatastrophic a irborne emergency, the returneereports show another facet. Even when the

    MARCH 98

    photograph by om reene

    evasion attempt is unsuccessful, life supportand survival equipment can help keep the crewman in the best possible shape to withstandthe rigors of capture. In the case of the radioand other signals, it can also provide a greatpsychological boost during a most trying experience. The extreme consequences of evena small failure rate in life support or survivalequipment are highlighted in a combat environment.

    What s R 4 ~I?

    Diphenoxylate Hydrochloride and Atropine Sul

    fate Tablets (national stock number (NSN) 6505-00-118-1914) could really save your day if you ever findyourself in a survival situation. Well, I guess we havekept you in suspense long enough , because thesetablets are more commonly known as antidiarrheatablets, but I guess all of you knew that anyway.

    The tablets are part of your survival kit, individualtropical (NSN 6545-00-782-6412 ). This is the first aidkit which is a component of your survival kit, individual,SRU-211P , vest type (NSN 8465-00-177-4819).

    A problem arises because the antidiarrhea tabletsare a controlled drug and are not issued as part ofyour SRU-2 P survival vest. Great difficulty usually

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    PEARI Ss experienced obtaining these tablets from your medicalsupport facilities .

    You are authorized to have the antidiarrhea tablets ,and they should be part of your SRU-2 1 P survivalvest on every flight that you make. Many of you havefound that surviving a bout with diarrhea is easierthan obtaining the antidiarrhea tablets.

    So what 's AR 40-61, Medical Logistics Policiesand Procedures" ? This is the regulation that youshould take to your medical support facility when youattempt to obtain your antidiarrhea tablets. Page 3-28, paragraph 7(a) reads as follows:

    a) DEA designated controlled substanceswill be issued to the pharmacy of the hospitalfor dispensing to patients, wards, clinics andother using agencies of the hospital. Theseitems will be issued to other on-post and offpost activities only when authorized by themedical facility commander, based on propermedical staffing and demonstrated need forthese items. Records will be maintained at usingactivities in accordance with AR 40-2. Reprintedfrom PEARL, August 1978

    New Track For SPH

    The Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC)has informed us that it is now supplying MILSTRIPrequisitions for the track, visor , interchangeable , usedon the helmet , flyer's , t y p ~SPH-4 . This track is areplacement for the current tracks , visor , left andright, NSNs 8415-00-410-4669 and 8415-00-410-4668 ,respectively. The new track can be ordered from S9Tat a cost of $.63 each under NSN 8415-01-083-8372.

    Safety Boot

    There is a safety boot currently in the Army inventorywhich is both available and suitable for use by aircrewmembers. This is a 10-inch high lace-up bootwith steel toe and shank. It also is fuel and waterresistant. This safety boot is listed in SB 700-20 andCT A 50-90 under LIN CO 8735. It is available in sizes5N through 14 XW and can be ordered from S9T at acost of $27.67 per pair , using stock numbers startingwith NSN 8430-00-624-2151 (size 5N). (Thanks to CW3James K. West , MSARNG, Tupelo , MS , for this info.)

    Questions nd nswers

    We are in the proc ess ofupgrading our ALSE maintenance program and ensuring that w e hav e the propermanuals on hand for all of our equipment. We can tseem to identify th e prop e r referenc e to u sefor maintaining the head set-microphon e H-JS 7/ AIC , which

    16

    we use in our U-2J Ute aircraft. Could you plea seprovide us with the proper technical manual TM) ortechnical order TO) number to use for maintainin gthis item of e quipment? (SGT William Graham , OPTAviation , Ft. Lewis , W A

    To the best of our knowledge, no Army TM or AirForce TO exists for this item of equipment. The onlyreferences we know of are the Military SpecificationSheet, MIL-H-83511/2, which would be of little or novalue to you; and the instruction sheet which is includedwith each new H-157 / AIC headset-microphone. Thislatter reference is excellent and gives detailed instructions for the operation and maintenance of this itemof equipment. f you do n ' t happen to have a newheadset with instruction sheet, or if you wish to obtainmore instruct ion sheets, they can be ordered from the

    Roanwell Corporation, 180 Varick Street, New York,NY 10014, under Part No. 15353 Rev. C. Incidentally,we had previously provided some information aboutthe H-157 / AIC headset-microphone in a February1980 PEARL article entitled The Elusive Microphone. This information also may be of some use to you.

    R ecently our units received the orange fluore sce n tmarking tape for use on th e SPH-4 flight helmet. Acomplaint has been ma d e by AH-J Cobra aviator sthat this tape causes a reflection on the canop y whichhinders the vision of the aviator in the back seat. Isthis the authorized tape for the SPH-4? I f it is hav ean y other complaints com e from the field concernin gth i s problem? (CW3 Arthur 1. Miskimon, 25th InfDiv, Schofield Barracks, HI)

    The fluorescent orange tape you described is thecorrect tape to use when marking the SPH-4 helmetand is the one prescribed by TM 10-8415-206-13.Similar complaints from other AH-l aviators havesurfaced in the past, and the accepted solution is forAH-l personnel not to mark their helmets with thistape if they feel that it would create a vision hazard.We certainly encourage all aviators to mark theirhelmets in accordance with the TM, however AH-Javiators are the ex c eption. Remember that marking

    the helmets is not a requirement, but rather an option,at the discretion of the major commander (see para 3-21, TM 10-8415-206-13 ).

    The A viation Digest welcomes readerst submit photography for use in ourPE R L S articles

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    EVER TAKEN abath

    in JP4?Well , one Huey pilot who didfound out the hard way that it canbe more than just a frighteningexperience.

    This particular pilot was on thereturn leg of a cross-country fligh tthat required several scheduledrefueling stops. One of the stopswas at an Air Force base - thehome of a B-52 wing. When theUH-I crew landed at the base ,they parked the helicopter in thetransient area and, after a shortwait , the Air Force refuelingtruck was pulled up next to theHuey. The driver connected theground cables to the staticground , unreeled the hose, andhanded the nozzle to one of thepilots. Neither the pilot nor thetruck driver considered thesituation to be the least bitunusual , as both had refueledaircraft numerous times before.The point they didn t considerwas that since it takes severalthousand pounds of fuel for a B -52 , a high pressure refuelingsystem was being used.

    When the pilot squeezed thefuel handle , JP4 roared out of thenozzle , drenching him in jet fuel.He released the handleimmediately, but the damage wasdone. Since this was a I-day crosscountry flight , the pilot did nothave another suit of Nomex.

    MARCH 98

    Under ordinary circumstancesthis would have prompted thepilot to delay his flight longenough to shower and wash hisflight suit. But like many of us, hewas eager to get home and tookoff as soon as the helicopter wasrefueled. En route home, the pilotbegan to feel nauseous. By thetime he reached home, thenausea had gotten much worse.He eventually began havingconvulsions from fuel absorption

    into his skin.Although the pilot recovered

    it s not an experience he cares torepeat. It s certain that the nexttime he refuels at an Air Forcebase, he ll make sure the fueltruck not only contains the righttype of fuel bu t that it uses a lowpressure system.

    The Army is no more immuneto mistakes than the otherservices. This was evident whenan Air Force pilot landed at anArmy airfield and requested thathis C-121 be refueled withaviation gas. The C-12I crewdidn t bother to confirm that thecorrect fuel was provided and theinevitable happened. Just afterthe pilot took off and becameairborne , one of the enginesfailed. By the time he could makea go -around and land, a secondengine failed and a third was onthe brink of failing.

    Several months later, a POLspecialist at the same postinadvertently refueled a T-41 withJP4 instead of avgas. He laterrealized his mistake and reportedthe incident. Fortunately , no onehad tried to fly the aircraft and itwas defueled without incident.However, the airfield commanderchose to give the POL specialistan Article 5 . Although thecommander had the authority todo so , I feel that he used poorjudgment because of the impact ithad on others who witnessedwhat happened when theindividual admitted his mistake.

    As aviators and crewmembersone of our greatest satisfactions isdoing our jobs well. However ,most of us do n t include refuelingaircraft as one of our all-timefavorite duties and try to avoid itlike the plague. But at home oraway, it s our obligation to insureour aircraft are being servicedwith the proper fuel.

    This article was written from alesson plan prepared by theauthor while he was attending theAviation Safety Officer Course.The views expressed in this articleare those of the author and notnecessarily those of theDepartment of the Army or theArmy Safety Center.

    CW Robert R Atchison

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    Cando (ISM S)can killl

    AL T OFTEN, aviationas well as ground safety takesa back seat when it comes tomission accomplishment.

    There appears to be a directrelationship between the pressuregenerated on a commander to getthe mission accomplished asquickly and as efficiently aspossible and the pressure thatflows down the line to each andevery soldier. The age-old adageof "can do" is loaded withimmeasurable risk of damage toor loss of equipment, injury , an d ,potentially, death.

    Weare all aware that missionaccomplishment is the ultimategoal; get there with the most,first, and best. It only takes oneslip though, either mentally orphysically , and the results areoften painful an d / or catastrophic.In these days of much greatercomplexity not only in sophisticated equipment and weaponrybut of overall combined armsoperations, the attitude that we"can do" before considering all of

    CW3 David M. Battle4 498 Medical M ) . Fort Jackson

    the ramifications beforecommitting ourselves or troopsmust be pu t in properperspective.

    First, in combat, we "will do "our mission. There must be nodoubt of that However, that'sputting the situation into properperspective, COMBAT In puretraining , as well as combatenvironments , we must considermany factors. Foremost amongthese are weather, fatigue, andequipment status. If acommander decides on the spurof-the-moment tha t he "can do"the mission or perhaps just part ofthe mission without taking intoconsideration the factors that canand will influence the outcome ofeither the training or ultimatelythe combat goals an d / or objectives, then someone 's in for a rudeawakening.

    Everyone is usually anxious toplease and hates to say no,especially to higher ups. We wantthe brass as well as the steel toknow that we can do our job.However, if everyone on everylevel would just stop for a second

    and take a little closer look at thetotal situation, we would probablynot come up with a reason whywe can t do, but rather a muchsafer way that we can do the job ,all the while preserving valuableresources and assets.

    Being more closely associatedwith aviation than with any otherbranch except for some very challenging and educational timespent with an armored cav unit inKorea, I too have had thatgnawing feeling in the pit of mystomach when we wereconsidering taking off in marginalweather or with a radio that wasoperating kind of flaky or

    swimming a track in swift water ,"legal" in every sense of the word.But is it really imperative that we"do" it right now or is there something that we "can do" a littlebetter in a little different way?Our squadron commander (nonrated) was the epitome of a proboth in the air and on the ground.He put the word effective intocombined arms He alwaysstressed the fact that if we loseone jeep , a track, or an aircraft ,

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    injure or kill one soldier , then ourultimate victory would be thatmuch less of a total victory

    here cannot and must not beany compromise of people andequipment safety

    It 's true. Everything runsdownhill and especially when itcomes to safety and total missionaccomplishment. We are allresponsible to each other toprotect and defend each other, aswell as our country and our hardassets, for without either of these ,we have diluted our potential forsuccess and total absolute victory.We are all charged with ensuringthat the basics of commonsense

    and practical application aredirected toward achieving ourpurpose , goals , and objectives.

    he strength we are after amission both in troops andmateriel will determine howquickly we can again react to thecalls for fire.

    Let's not let can do kill usreserve that for the enemy Safetyin the air , on the ground, and inthe water must never take a backseat

    MARCH 98

    FifthInternational

    SystemSafetyConferenceDenver will be the site of the Fifth

    International System Safety Confer-ence in July 1981. The objective ofthe conference will be to provide aforum for safety professionals to exchange technical and managerial concepts, methods, and new developmentsin system safety.

    The conference theme is .. SystemSafety Throughout System Life. Theneed for system safety to play a keyrole in a product s life cycle has beenlong recognized by safety professionals.The conference will provide a uniqueopportunity for conferees to discussand present this and other issues relating to system safety. Distingui shedspeakers from government and industry, as well as carefully organized workshops and technical sessions, are planned.

    The conference will be held in Denver,Colorado, July 26-31, 1981, at TheBrown Palace Hotel.

    For further information, or for a copyof the preliminary program, contact thepublicity office at (303) 977-1647, orwrite to 145 E. Costilla Avenue, Littleton, Colorado 80122.

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    REPORTINGFIN L

    Late News From rmy viation ctivities

    FROM FORT USTIS

    u.s. Army Transportation Corps Directory. The1981 edition of the U.S. Army TransportationCorps Directory of Active/Retired TransportationOfficers (Red Book) is now available. Cost of thebook is $4.00 plus $.70 postage. Requests forcopies of the book may be sent to: Transportation

    Corps Museum Foundation, P.O. Drawer D Ft.Eustis, VA 23604.The next printing will be 1983 . Individuals not

    currently listed or retiring be fore 1983 who wishto be in the 1983 edition may submit their name ,rank at time of retirement and current mailingaddress to the foundation. (USATC-PAO)

    The Rain Tree. A 50-foot square rain tree drenches atied -down UH-i Huey during a test of a chemical coatingintended to prevent ice accumulation on helicopter rotorblades . The rain tree tests the coatings ' resistance toerosion from rain under simulated con ditions of up to 3inches per hour. The U.S. Army Aviation DevelopmentTest Activity, Ft. Rucker, l conducts this test for the U.S.Army Test and Evaluation Command

    QJc~

    EQJC>

    oQJ

    Cl>-

    .0

    C.'

    oo_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ c.

    22

    FROM KOREA

    Engineers' Aviation Safety Award. Six years o faccident-free flying were recognized recentlywhen General John A. Wickham Jr., United StatesForces Korea commander, presented the Department of the Army Aviation Accident Prevention Award of Excellence Plaque to the U.S. ArmyEngineer Far East District Aviation Section .

    The award, presen ted during ceremonies at K-16 Airfield near Seoul , represented more than4,000 hours of safe flying time logged by thesection from 1 September 1974 to 31 December1980 .

    Composed of two UH-1 H Huey helicopters,four pilots and five enlisted Soldiers, the sectionis responsible for providing aviation support tothe Far East Engineer District at constructionsites and project offices throughout Korea.

    (EIGHTH ARMY-PAO)

    Night Vision Goggles. Captain James F. Eversman teststhe efficiency of the new variable density daylight trainingfilters for night vision goggles. The filters simulate varyingdegrees of darkness during dayligh t for training purposes.The U.S. Army Aviation Development Test Activity, Ft.Rucker, A l conducts this test for the U.S. Army Test andEvaluation Command

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    VIEWS FROM RE DERS

    Editor:Request this unit be placed on dis

    tribution for the Aviation Digest . As arecruiting organization , we are activelyengaged in recruitment and processingof applicants for warrant officer flighttraining, and as such , we find the information in the Aviation Digest helpful.

    MAl Frank 1. Leggio lr.Transportation CorpsUSA Lon g Island District

    Recruiting Command

    Ft. Hamilton . NY 11252

    Official distribution of the AviationDigest to Depar tment of the Army agencies is handled under pinpoint distribution. t is necessary to submit DAForm 12-5 in accordance with instructions on that form in order to be placedon distribution.

    Editor:I am writing in reference to the article ,

    AH-IFS: One Step Closer to Reality,which appeared in the October 1980issue of the Aviation Digest . I am anindustrial engineering student at OhioState University as well as a 2LT in theOhio National Guard. Presently I amenrolled in a " training and simulation "course that deals particularly withaviation. I have chosen to do my termpaper on flight simulators , more specifically th o se used by the U .S. Army. Iwould appreciate it greatly if you couldforward to me the articles pertaining tosynthetic flight trainers that were listed

    at the end of the AH - l FS article. Ienjoy Aviation Digest very much , keepup the good work.

    2L T Larry A. HartOhio National GuardColumbus, OH 43214

    The copies you requested are inthe mail. Anyone else interested in obtaining copies of the flight simulatorarticles carried to date in the AviationDigest should write Editor, AviationDigest . P.O. Drawer P, Ft. Rucker, AL36362. We will be happy to send them.

    MARCH 1981

    Editor:I'm very interested in being an Army

    helicopter pilot after 2 years of college.I am now 16 years old and I like togather information concerning ArmyAviation whenever I can. I would liketo know if you could send me three orfour back issues of the U S ArmyA viation Digest and I would also liketo know how I can get a subscription tothe Aviation Digest. Thank you for yourtime

    Kurt B. Tschuor2704 W. Twickingham Dr.Muncie, IN 47304

    The back issues are in the mail.Annual private subscription can beobtained by sending a remittance ofS20.00 (S25.00 for overseas subscribers)to Superintendent of Documents, U.S.Government Printing Office, Washing.ton, DC 20402.

    Some back issues of the AviationDigest are available upon request. WriteEditor, Aviation Digest P.O. Drawer

    P, Ft. Rucker, AL 36362.

    Editor:Enclosed please find two tactical

    instrument approach plotters for a scaleof 1 50,000 tactical map.

    With the big push on tactical instru-

    . . . .

    /I I -1 M N

    9Nla )H ~ ~ O ) ~ l

    ment approaches , it became a very tryingtime plotting all of the necessary safetyand clearanc e zones required to executethe take-ofts and en route flight approaches. One of the major problemareas was the amount of time requiredto execute all of the pre -mission planning .

    It became apparent that in a threatenvironment one would not have verymuch time for a lot of detailed planningand that some device was necessary to

    alleviate the cumbersome planning.The tactical instrument approach

    plotter was very easy to design. and ourlocal T ASO did the rest.

    The 14th Avn Bn here at Ft. Sill hasbeen using the plotter with better thanexpected results. The SFTS personnelalso have been giving plotters to NationalGuard personnel who use the simulatorhere at Ft. Sill. I have sent plotters tovarious units within the Army , with noadverse comments received.

    It is not the answer to all our problemsin tactical instrument flight planning ,but another aid to make this flying moreenjoyable.

    CW3 William H. Whitehill200th Aviation Company14th Aviation BattalionFt. Sill. OK 73503

    T CTIC L INSTRUMENT

    APPROACH PLOTT R

    1:58 000

    E::.::

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    etty GoodsonStaff Writer

    Aerial lift assets for the desert operation were provid edby UH 60 Black Hawks

    ~ N AND SAND are con-stants on the Egyptian Sahara Desert- but even those adverse conditionscannot erode Army Aviation's combat effectiveness.

    Proof of that came in Novemberfrom "Operation Bright Star '81," a2-week overseas exercise of theRapid Deployment Task Force anda concurrent exchange of militarytraining between the United Statesand Egypt.

    Army Aviation elements camefrom the 101st Airborne Division(Air Assault), Ft. Campbell, KY.Aircraft used were the OH-S8CKiowa , the AH-IS Cobra and the

    UH-60 Black Hawk.Cairo West, a military airfield 16miles from the city of Cairo, wasthe base of operations; and an area30 miles further in the desert wasused for the live-fire portions of theexercise.

    When the American Soldiersstepped out of the Air Force C Ss,their first view of Egypt's sea ofsand elicited almost a universal comment: awesome And that first im-pression was intensified when they

    flew the traffic pattern because therewas nothing but brown sand- nolights, cactus bushes, mountainsjust a vast emptiness as far as visioncould reach.

    The lack of reference points madenight flying difficult because, asMajor William A. Glennon, commander of B Company, the BlackHawk unit , said, "You had the feelingof not moving at all since youcouldn't see the ground and therewas no horizon." He added, "Thismeant that for night flights in thedesert, you had to use the sameplanning factors and have the sameinstruments available as you would

    for an IFR [ins trument flight rules 1flight. "Major Tom Roy, commander of

    C Troop, 2 / 17th Cavalry which hadthe gunship and reconnaissanceaircraft, agreed the deser t was overwhelming at all hours. "But thosewere first impressions," he said."After a period, the body and mindadjusted; and by the end of theexercise, the pilots were more confident. Even during the short timewe were there, we learned and re-

    learned valuable lessons."Some highlights of those lessons

    are: Contrary to its appearance, the

    Egyptian Sahara Desert is not flat.Rather, there are wadis deep enoughto conceal a helicopter so the aircavalry and nap-of-the-earth missions could be performed.

    Night Hawk techniques learnedat the Aviation Center, Ft. Rucker,AL, and Ft. Campbell proved in-valuable. As one pilot said, Theykept us from buying the farm a lotof times."

    Dust signature was not a problem with the OH-S8 but was with

    the Black Hawk and Cobra. Theycould overcome that somewhat, theAmericans discovered, by makingseveral approaches , throwing up asand cloud at each to confuse theenemy as to the aircraft's exactlocation.

    Appropriate camouflage is anecessity in the desert. Because theywere using the green coloration withwhich they had trained at Ft. Campbell for the European theater, American personnel and their equipment

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    he Egyptian government to ondu t a fly-by at the Great Pyramids in Cairo during Operation Bright Star 8

    stood out like the proverbial sorethumb against the desert brown.

    Desert flying is different, causing fatigue and eyestrain in a shorttime. This is a point of concern for

    commanders who must ensure adequate crew rest.

    The laser rangefinder is neededon the Cobra so the aircraft can bekept farther to the rear of operations.Desert terrain means an increase inexposure time, and this would beone way to reduce it.

    Conversely, visibility of theopposing force (which used theSoviet made BTR-50 armored personnel carrier as its primary assaultvehicle) enabled the helicopters tonavigate around armored columnsand moving troops, thus avoidingcontact.

    A communication problemcame from the line-of-sight radiosnow used, and it is believed thatUHF (ultra high frequency) equipment would be much better fordesert operations because of thedistances involved.

    Pathfinders are a very criticalelement in desert operations because

    MARCH 1981

    of their work in setting up parkingand landing zones, particularly withregard to selecting areas where thedirection of the wind-blown sandwould allow slingloads to be dropped.

    The foregoing are only a few ofthe facts of desert life impressed onArmy Aviation people in Egypt, and

    impressed is not of adequatestrength to describe thei r introduction to the sand.

    Constant 15 to 20 knot windscarried a fine mist of sand whichinvaded everything that was notsealed or adequately sheltered. Thatmade life rather gritty for thoseresponsible for maintenance andrefueling, as well as for the cooks.Then when rotor blades stirred upthe sand, the helicopters were su b-jected to a sandblasting effect whichgummed up engines and weapons,eroded blades and jammed switches.

    None are insurmountable problems, however, and Bright Starparticipants returned to Ft. Campbell with some suggestions as tohow they can be overcome. Thosesuggestions will be scrutinized andnecessary adjustments made in the

    10lst's training program.The thing we need to train on,

    Major Glennon said, is the rapiddeployment capability of the division. I th ink we did very well in this

    case, but we can do even better.One thing which was evident wasthat Army aviators need more in-struction in the dismantling, loading and reassembling of their aircraft. Deployment s a labor intensivetime for hel icopte r units, and thereisn't time for anyone who doesn'tknow his job to find out how to doit.

    Task organization to meet themoment's situation was also stressedin the exercise, just as it is in thedivision's training. An example ofthe exchange of services and equipment, of the combination of forces,was the air cav troop's receipt ofmotorcycles from the reconnaissance unit and lift assets from theBlack Hawks.

    A training exercise is designed totake the state of the art and showwhere adjustments are needed. Basedon that premise, Operation BrightStar 81 was a success.

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    Hangar Talk is a quiz containing questions based onpublications applicable to Anny Aviation. The answers are atthe bottom of the page. f you did not do well perhaps youshould get out the publication and look it over.

    FM1 SOFIXED WING FLIGHT

    FM1 SlROT RY WING FLIGHT

    CW Gary R. WeilandDirectorate of Training Developments

    U.S. Army Aviation CenterFort Rucker AL

    1. An aircraft yaws about which axis?

    A. LongitudinalB. LateralC Vertical

    2 . What is the phenomenon called that causes asingle rotor helicopter to drift laterally to the rightwhile hovering?

    A. Translating tendencyB. Dissymmetry of liftC. Transverse flow effect

    3. What relationship must exist for an aircraft tomaintain unaccelerated , straight and level flight?

    A. Thrust greater than drag; lift greater thanweight

    B. Thrust equal to drag; lift equal to weightC. Thrust greater than drag; lift equal to weight

    4. According to Bernoulli'srinciple, what hap- ens to air as it passes

    over a nonsymmetrical air foil? IA. VelOcity decreases; static pressure

    decreasesB. VelOcity increases; static pressure

    decreasesC Velocity increases; dynamic pressure

    decreases

    5 What causes an aerodynamic stall?

    A. Excessive angle of attackB Excessive airspeedC Insufficient airspeed

    6 To retain night vision capabilities it is recommended that oxygen be used for night flightsabove what pressure altitude (feet)?

    A. 4 000B 5 000C 8 000

    7 What do blue lights on an airfield indicate?

    A. Sides of a usable landing areaB. End of a usable landing areaC Taxiway lighting

    8 How many minutes are required for the humaneye to attain total night adaptati on?

    A 15 to 20B 30 to 5C . 5 to 60

    9. Vector quantities are those that can be described using what factor(s)?

    A. Size aloneB. Direction aloneC. Size and direction

    10 . What type drag is incurred as a result ofprod uction of lift?

    A. InducedB. ParasiteC. Interference

    (OZ-Z a5ed ' IS -I W.::I pue qZ -L eled OS-I W.::I V 01(S-Z a5ed ' IS-I W.::I pue eto- eled 'OS-I W.::I J 6

    (S-9 a5ed ' IS-I W.::I pue e9 -ZZ eled 'OS-I W.::I 8 .g(SS-9 a5ed ' IS -I W.::I pue eL -ZZ eled 'OSI W.::I J L

    L-9 a5ed ISI W.::I pue P9-ZZ eled OS-I W.::I V 9

    (6to-Z a5ed ' IS -I W.::I pue Z-S eled OS -I W.::I V S( Z a5ed ' IS-I W.::I pue -to eled 'OSI W.::I 8 to

    (Z -Z a5ed ' IS -I W.::I pue 8Z-g eled 'OS-I W.::I 8 .(to-z a5ed ISI W.::I \:/ Z

    (Z a5ed ' ISI W.::I pue -toI am5 f 'OS I W.::I J SH3MSNV

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    U S RMY

    Directorate of Evaluation/Standardization '5/REPORT TO THE FIELD VI TIONST NO RDI Z T ION

    O N T H E ~ OTR INING

    T HE A VIA TION CENTER Training Analysis andAssistance Team (ACTAAT) visited 15 aviationand air traffic control battalions and 55 companiesduring 1980. (See the February 1980 viation Digestfor information about the ACT AAT mission.) Whendiscussing the issue of on-the-job training (OJT) with

    commanders, S3s and unit personnel, it was evidentthat many shortcomings exist. The major problemseems to be that some units do not have an establishedprocedure for directing OJT activities. Although TC21-5-7 provides a training management task for thebattalion to prepare / maintain an OJT program, it justisn't being done.

    It is not the inten t of this article to chastise aviationand air traffic control units for the lack of OJT programs.Rather, it is intended that we recognize the situationand offer a general discussion of the issue in hopes ofhelping commanders to establish a manageable OJTprogram. For the purpose o f this discussion the termOJT refers to training Soldiers to perform jobs forwhich they are not already qualified. We need toconsider on-the-job training as the vehicle which willqualify Soldiers in jobs while providing the benefits oftheir labor to the uni t and do this with the Army'sapproval.

    The following is an extract from Appendix BTraining Management Administration to TC 21-5-7,Training Management in Battalions, dated December

    1977.

    30 TASK/RQMT: Prepare/Maintain OJT

    Program.

    INITIATION/PREPARATION: The S section, in coordination with other staff sections,will prepare a program of instruction (POI)for each military occupational speCialty

    DES welcomes your inquiries and requests to focus attentionon an area of major importance. Write to us at: Commander U.S . Army Aviation Center ATTN: ATZQ-ES Ft. Rucker AL

    MARCH 1981

    (MOS) in which the battalion is authorizedto conduct OJT training.

    STAFFING APPROVAL: The S3 sectionsubmits POI to S3 for approval.

    ACTION REQUIRED: The source document for the preparation of the POI is theSoldier's Manual for the particular MOS. Arelated document that must also be reviewedfor additional initial individual tasks is theunit Army Training and Evaluation Program(ARTEP). For those MOSs which do nothave a published Soldier s Manual, theArmy subject schedule for the MOS will beused until the Soldier's Manual is available.

    FILE/DISTRIBUTION RQMTS: The aoproved POI will be maintained on file in theS3 section.

    REGULATION/RMKS: TC 21-5-7.

    To accomplish the mission, a unit needs trainedSoldiers performing in the duty positions for whichthey are trained. One of the many challenges forcommanders is ensuring the proper assignment ofSoldiers to the positions authorized by the unit table

    of organizationand equipment

    (TOE).The SIs of

    most battalions usually do a good job of controllingthe assignment of personnel. Yet, there are situationswhere a unit doesn't have a trained Soldier for anauthorized job. What can the commander do in thissituation? Perhaps OJT an individual to perform theduty. That certainly seems like an easy answer.

    36362 ; or call us at AUTOVON 558-3504 or commercial 205-255-3504. After duty hours call Ft Rucker HotLine AUTOI/ON558-6487 or 205-255-6487 and leave a message .

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    DA Pam 351-20, The Armyorrespondence Course

    Catalog, lists subcoursesavailable in the OdT format

    Elements Of n OJT Program As we see it thereare generally six elements in an OJT program. Certainly,you may see the need for more or fewer elements butat least give consideration to these:

    A procedure for identifying/ confirming the need - for OJT.

    An individual screening process. A personnel action request for approving the

    OJT of a Soldier. A procedure for establishing a training and eval

    uation plan for each individual to be OJTd.

    A records and reporting process necessary todocument the individual s training accomplishments and keep the commanders informed.

    A request for personnel action awarding theappropriate MOS.

    Identlfying/Confirming The Need For OfT Theneed to OJT a Soldier may come as a result of theindividual s expressed desire to either acquire anotherprimary MOS (PMOS) or a secondary MOS (SMOS).Another situation is that the Soldiers may have failedto verify their MOS through skill qualification testing(SQT) and are being reclassified into another MOS. Italso is possible that a Soldier may have to change

    MOSs because of medical factors. NCOs have beentold since 1977 that they need to have an SMOS. f youare serving in a Combat Aviation Battalion (CAB) orAir Cavalry Squadron, it is likely that 10 to 20 percentof the enlisted strength of the unit is in need of OJTfor anyone of these reasons. The commander mustbe able to identify or confirm the need to OJT aSoldier for a particular job. Regulatory measures forreclassification of MOSs are contained in AR 600-200, Chapter 2. Use of enlisted personne l is coveredby Chapter 3 of the same regulation.

    Individual Screening Process Having identified theneed for OJT, the following factors must be considered:

    Qualification criter ia for the new MOS in accord-ance with AR 611-201.

    Individual s retainability. Individual s past performance . Individual s civilian/military job experience.

    Selecting the right individual for a job is very important.Soldiers being considered for OJT should be counseledby the commander to determine the individualspreferences. The job requirements should be explainedto the Soldier. Of particular importance is the Soldier sunderstanding of SQT requirements during and afterthe OJT period.

    28

    Request For pproval f OfT Controlled MOSsare listed in paragraph 2-17e, AR 600-200. The OJTapproval authority may exist at the Forces Command /Training and Doctrine Command installation commander level. Major overseas commanders maydelegate the authority to units commanded by a generalofficer. Once the decision is made to OJT a Soldier, a

    formal request for the action must be submitted throughpersonnel channels on a Personnel Action Form (DAForm 4187). The battalion/squadron personnel actioncenter (PAC) will assist in the preparation of theform. A justification of the OJT requested will beneeded for Section IV of the form. The PAC willforward the completed request to the appropriateauthority.

    Establishing A Training nd Evaluation Plan Whilethe personnel system is taking action on the request,attention must be given to preparing the training andevaluation plan. To do this, the commander shouldappoint a trainer/supervisor from the section wherethe Soldier will work to develop and coordinate atraining and evaluation plan with the trainee and thebattalion squadron S3. The Soldier s Manual for theMOS being trained is the basic document for taskselection. Training should emphasize applied knowledge through hands-on performance. The tasks shouldbe arranged in the building-block order to allow for alogical progression of learning. The Army Correspondence Course Program offers courses in various MOSs.These are outlined in the DA Pam 351-20 series.Subcourses are available which will enhance the OJTtraining plan. It may not be necessary for the Soldier

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    to perform every task listed in the Soldier's Manual;however , it s important to remember that the individualwill be testable under SQT if the intent of the trainings to award a PMOS. Training must therefore becomprehensive and challenging. Training normallyrequires a significant investment of time , effort and

    money on the part of the unit. A return on theinvestment will be directly proportional to the adequacyof the training given the Soldier. Periodic performanceevaluation must be programed to assure individualprogression and to identify weaknesses. Performanceoriented evaluations do not have to be formal, as in aschool setting, but realistic to the unit environment.The evaluation should be sufficient to determine ifthe Soldier can perform a represen tative sampling ofthe tasks learned up to that time. The trainer / supervisorshould prepare and administer the evaluation. It wouldbe a good idea to have a battalion training representativepresent if possible.

    Recording nd Reporting. Be reasonable with thepaperwork, keep it to a minimum. Perhaps a writtenreport of evaluation is needed; although , an annotationin the Job Book (JB) would probably be sufficient todocument task accomplishment and evaluation. TheJB is structured from the Soldier's Manual and is anexcellent tool for keeping track of task accomplishments. Though simple to use, supervisors should notbe too quick to give credit to the individual's taskproficiency. To keep the commander informed , thesupervisor should report the results of evaluation andprovide periodic updates about the individual sperformance. The commander probably won ' t havethe time to follow up on each Soldier's training, sosupervisors should make the effort. All documentationof training should be consolidat ed by the completionof the training period. Documentation should includethe DA Form 4187 which indicates approval of OJT, acopy of the training and evaluation plan , copies ofevaluations ' results or a comment sheet accountingfor the evaluations, the Job Book , and any Correspondence Courses Completion Certificates.

    Request For Orders. When the Soldier has completedOJT , a second DA Form 4187 must be completed atthe PAC to request the appropriate MOS action.

    When orders are received , one copy should be retainedwith the records documenting the training. Thebattalion S3 may retain the OJT records; however ,the commander may delegate this function elsewhere.Perhaps most important is ensuring that the Soldier

    dT allows Soldiers to learnwhile their units benefit from

    the work they perform

    MARCH 98

    gets a copy of the completed training file in case aquestion about his or her MOS arises in the future.

    Elements Of n OJT SOP What are the elementsof an OJT standing operating procedure (SOP)?

    The purpose of OJT must be established by thecommander. Also, a general discussion of OJT

    should be written. The type situations which crea tethe need for OJT and a general statement reflectingon the serious nature of OJT should be included.

    A procedural paragraph should provide the stepby-step actions to be followed, i.e.:Y Screen personnel for OJT.YSubmit DA Form 4187 requesting OJT.,,-Establish the training and evaluation plan./ Administer the recording and reporting pro

    cedures.rSubmit DA Form4187 for awarding the MOS.

    Conclusion Every unit (battalion size) should havea program that clearly defines the procedures to be

    followed for OJT. The issue of OJT is not easilydiscussed nor is a program easily written, principallybecause of the lack of a simple single source referencewhich directs the program. Indeed the informationpresen ted in this article may be lacking in some ways ;however, we at the Directorate of Evaluation/Standardization hope it is helpful in opening a discussion ofthis issue . We want to hear from you. f your unit hasa successful OJT program, we would like to have acopy. By consolidating our thoughts , perhaps an OJTprogram model can be established and provided toother units. Our address is: Commander , U.S. ArmyAviation Center, Directorate of Evaluation / Standardization, ATTN : ATZQ-ES-E, Ft. Rucker, AL 36362.(Editor 's note: Copies of the February 1980 AviationDigest containing information about the ACT AATmission can be obta ined by writing to .AviationDigestP.O. Drawer P , Ft. Rucker , AL 36362.)

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    Radio Si l enceGood Way To Buy Victory

    Lieutenant Colonel James J Rudy

    LTC Rudy was commander Knox Armed Forces Examining and EntranceStation Knoxville TN when he wrote this article. He is currently assigned asan instructor Department of Tactics U.S. rmy Command and General StaffCollege Ft. Leavenworth KS

    T HE ENEMY'S electronic warfare (EW) threat means Army Aviation operations in expected forwardbattle areas will be severely restricted. A lack of disciplined radioprocedures by Army aviators andthe reliance of helicopter operationson air-ta-air and air-to-ground communications will aid the enemy EWcapability.

    Communications habits learnedby aviators in the Southeast Asiaconflict through excessive use ofinflight radio communicat ions mustbe changed if future combat operations are to be successful.

    In peacetime, tactical trainingmissions should be conducted unde rconditions of minimal radio com

    munications and maximum radiolistening silence. I f those techniquescan be mastered, normal missionsunder radio listening silence andselected key missions under radiosilence can be conducted in combat.

    Peacetime flight safety requirements prevent aviation commandersfrom using aviation assets in trainingunder radio silence. But complexmissions can be flown that veryclosely approach the transmissionfree environment that would haveto be normal under combat conditions. There are several techniquesthat can be used to significantlyreduce the excessive amount of airta-air communication that has beenthe norm in the past. Most of thosebad communications habits (bad inrelation to the lack of radio discipline) practiced by aviators stemfrom their experience and the ex-perience of their commanders inthe 1960s and early 1970s. Enough

    of the old heads are in key aviationpositions so that these communications habits still exist in someaviation units. Since they haveinherent military flexibility, however,those old heads who have not eliminated such habits certainly canadjust to the new methods of thedynamic Army Aviation community.Strict radio discipline and the useand practice of preplanned procedural techniques can be implemented to enhance survivability andmission accomplishment.

    Some techniques that can significantly reduce radio transmissionsare:

    Simplified GroundRadioCheckA technique which allows all radio

    communications (FM, UHF andVHF) of a IS-aircraft flight to bechecked in 1 minute is to have allaircraft designated (as a part of premission planning) into aircraft sequence, lead through 15 The flightlead allows time for the requiredstart and engine runup procedures,then starts the check by simply transmitting radio check. Automaticallyaircraft No. 2 keys the transmitteronly on e and transmits 2 Foxwith the radio selector switch inthe first position, Uniform withthe switch in the second positionand Victor in the third position.That procedure is sequentially duplicated down through No 15 If there ismore than a few seconds' delay byany aircraft, the next one performsthe check. The flight lead keepstrack, on a note pad, of any particular nonresponse by number andspecific radio, and those can bepicked up at the end. If any aircraft

    have radio problems, the flight leadmakes the decision to use standbyhelicopters.

    As soon as the radio check iscomplete, the flight lead hovers outto takeoff position and each aircraftfollows in order. As long as the aircraft are positioned in numericalorder, there is no need for pilots incommand (PIC) to transmit theirintentions (Le., No.3 coming ouC .In a tactical training environmentat a field location, the aircraft shouldbe widely dispersed.

    As soon as all aircraft are positioned on the ground in the designated formation, the flight leaderperforms the takeoff. The easiestand safest way to accomplish this

    maneuver is for the flight lead tohover from parking to takeoff position and to set the aircraft on theground 90 degrees to the left orright of the takeoff path. (If the aircraft are already loaded with comba ttroops , appropriate nap-of-the-earthhover checks could be performedwhile hovering from park ing to thetakeoff area.) Each subsequentaircraft is then positioned in its actualtakeoff position, allowing the leadto observe the flight forming. Oncethe last aircraft is in position on theground, the lead aircraft picks upto a hover, turns 90 degrees to thetakeoff direction, and again sets theaircraft on the ground. This is thesignal to the entire flight that theformation will take off in 10 seconds.This entire forming of the flightand the takeoff can be conductedwithout a single radio transmission.

    Troop Loading ProceduresAssume that the IS-helicopter formation lands in a pickup zone intrail formation to load troops. Assoon as the first few helicopters areon the ground the troops beginloading. As the first helicopter isloaded, its crewchief gives a thumbsup signal to the crew in No.2. Innumerical order and as each helicopter is loaded, the same signal ispassed back to the rearward aircrew. After the last helicopter isloaded, its PIC transmits Lima to

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    the flight lead. All aircrews , as apart of the pre-mission briefing andstandard operating procedure, knowthat 10 seconds after this transmission flight lead will be takingoff.

    That same loading operation isconducted during night operationsthrough the use of flashlights withred lens covers to eliminate glareand damage to night vision. As thefirst helicopter is loaded , the crewchief signals to the aircrew behindby waving a flashlight back and forthparallel to the ground. The rearwardcrewchief acknowledges that signalby moving the flashlight up anddown. As soon as the last helicop teris loaded, and that crewchief has

    acknowledged the loaded signalfrom aircraft 14 the PIC transmitsLima. All aircrews again automatically know that flight lead's takeoffwill occur 10 seconds after that transmission.

    The preceding examples are basedon a relatively large helicopterformation of 15 aircraft. The sameprocedures can be used in muchsmaller helicopter formations anda corresponding minimization ofradio communications can be ef-

    fected. Terrain Flight Tactical Trail

    Fonnation. Terrain flight operationswith lift helicopters are usuallyconducted with 4 to 6 helicopters,with 10 to 15 occasionally beingused. The smaller flights normallyuse a tactical trail formation , allowing all helicopters from No.2 onback the flexibility to fly to the leftor right of those to the front. Atterrain flight levels the formation ismaintained extremely loose, andeach aircraft avoids flying the sameflightpath as any aircraft ahead ofit. This would greatly enhance survivability when flying raid-type missions in enemy occupied terrain.When the lead aircraft is about 2to 3 / 4 of a mile from the designatedlanding zone (LZ), its anticollisionlight is placed in the on positionas a signal for the formation totighten up in order to allow theground troops to be landed as a

    MARCH 1981

    tactical unit. Again, under normalsituations, there is no need for radiotransmissions during this entire fight.

    Troop Unloading Procedures.Once in the LZ, the last aircraft inthe formation observes to see thatthe troops are all unloaded, a factthat can usually be easily ascertainedvisually during daylight hours. fthere is some delay at a speci fic aircraft, the crewchief or door gunnercan indicate with a thumbs-downsignal. As soon as all aircraft areunloaded, the PIC in the last onetransmits U niform as notice thatflight lead will take off in 10 seconds.Again, there is no need for anytransmission other than the singleUniform, and even that can be elimi

    nated in small formations by usingvisual signals between the trail andlead aircraft.

    The verification of night unloading of troops in the LZ is accomplished by using flashlight signals. Thetrail aircraft transmits the appropriate Uniform and the flight isautomatically keyed to begin thetakeoff in 10 seconds.

    Bandit Break Procedure (seefigure). f enemy aircraft, groundair defense fires or impacting field

    artillery fires pose a serious threatto the helicopter formation, flightlead signals an initial formationbreakup by transmitting BanditBreak followed by the number 1or 2. Usually two previously selec tedrendezvous positions have beenprovided to aircrews during th e premission briefing, and the numberdesignates which of the two will beused.

    At the transmission by the leadaircraft, each helicopter breaks leftor right (depending on the type offormation used and whether the respective aircraft sequence numberis even or odd). The amount ofinitial turn from the lead aircraft'sflight direction at the time of thetransmission is determined by multiplying the sequence number by 10degrees. For example, No.2 wouldturn 20 degrees in a designated direction left or right while No.3 wouldturn 30 degrees in the opposite

    \ maneuvefl\ OJ... appropriate ..

    \\

    \\

    \\

    b ndit break procedures

    direction. The initial break allowsfor the )mmediate scattering ofthe helicop ter formation. Each PICthen evades as appropriate andnavigates back to the rendezvouspoint where a decision to continueor abort the mission is made afterall or most of the aircraft arrive.

    Maximum effort must be madeto conduct all Army Aviation tacticaltraining missions under minimalradio transmission standards andwith maximum use of preplannedtechniques. Only for reasons ofuncertainty or flight safety shouldmost transmissions have to be made.

    f the described or similar procedures are mastered , the capabilitywill exist in combat for Arm y Aviation forward operations to be completed under actual radio silence.

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