Photo By Nathan Rivard | U.S. Army Spc. Cynthia Nichols, flight Medic, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th...... read more read more
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Vermont Army National Guard Aviation Soldiers used the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer, during their drill weekend to refresh and expand their aviator skills.
The AVCATT allows Soldiers to receive realistic training through simulated scenarios in a controlled environment.
“It’s a [bad] weather day, we can’t fly, so if it was a normal sling load day, we would not have been able to conduct training and either push it until next year, so it could be a whole year until you get the chance to do it,” said Staff Sgt. Robert Slater, flight medic, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment. “This gives you that opportunity rain or shine to get at it and train and keep proficient.”
Without the danger of real aircraft, the simulators also allow junior Soldiers to take charge and operate the equipment.
“I’ve never done it [simulator] before and I’ve never done an external [load hoist] in a black hawk either,” said Spc. Cynthia Nichols, flight medic, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment. “The simulator was kind of neat because it was like a no pressure environment and you could just practice and it didn’t matter if you screwed up.”
“New people get a chance to watch what is going on, see what is going on, versus a helicopter, you can only have so many people inside,” said Slater. “If there’s a problem, you can stop the simulation, talk about it, figure out what you did right, what you did wrong, and there is no aircraft to worry about.”
The relaxed and controlled environment is working towards training scenarios in the summer. This preparation training will make the scenarios easier for newcomers and even the veterans of sling load training.
“We were getting a chance to do some sling load training which we usually get once a year,” said Slater. “Once a year is kind of hard to keep up with everything. It’s a good chance to get a refresher on what we do. New members got a chance to see what it was like for the first time and then this summer when we do it for real, they already had a chance to practice on the terminology and know what’s coming.”
The terminology and proper commands are essential for an effective and safe mission.
“There are a lot of calls that you have to make, so you got to practice the calls,” said Nichols. “So before you go out into the field and have to do it for real, you’re getting to practice and really hone in the skills.”
Even though it is training and summer training missions are months away, the AVCATT allows Soldiers to experience something as close to reality as possible.
“It’s surprisingly real close,” said Slater. “You look at it and next thing you know, you’re reaching out for something that looks like its there and you’re just reaching in the air. You look up and you think you’re underneath something, so you duck down and you had all kinds of room. It’s amazing how real it is.”
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2016 21:07 |
| Story ID: | 185993 |
| Location: | BURLINGTON, VT, US |
| Web Views: | 293 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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