The Crew: UH-60L

Photo By Staff Sgt. Kellen Stuart | Crew chiefs from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, conduct aerial door gunnery training at Fort Stewart on Jan. 5. The annual training focused on weapon status, control measures, crew coordination with the pilot and positive identification of the target.  

HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, GA, UNITED STATES

01.09.2017

Story by Sgt. Kellen Stuart 

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade

The Crew: UH-60L
Sgt. Kellen Stuart, 3rd CAB Public Affairs

Hours before daybreak on January 5, a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter sits outside of the hangar ready for its mission. Inside the offices, the crew sits around a table reviewing the plan. The objective for the day: conduct aerial door qualifications for crew chiefs. However, the crew along with the pilots, work together to hit main checkpoints before reaching that objective.

“Crew chiefs are the workhorses of Army Aviation,” said Capt. Nick Craig, commander, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment. “Like crew chiefs in NASCAR, they keep the equipment, in our case, Black Hawks, operational.”

The crew checks the overall condition and security of the airframe, including main and tail rotor blades, avionics compartment, windshield, cockpit, and everything inside the cabin.

“Pre-flight inspections are thorough and required before each flight,” he said.

There is an incredible amount of scheduled maintenance that is required for military aircraft such as 40-hour inspections, 120-hour inspections and air washes, he explained. The UH-60L crew chiefs do a fantastic job of maintaining the aircraft, which allow the company to meet semi-annual and annual flight requirements.

“For flight training, crew chiefs and pilots always train together,” added Craig. “We are required to fly with at least one crew chief but in combat you always fly with two. We attempt to train as we fight and fly a full crew of four on every training flight.”

The focus for the gunnery was on weapon statuses, crew coordination with pilots, range acquisition and positive identification of targets, said Sergeant 1st Class Eric Teschner, a crew chief and standardization instructor for the company. All of this goes into the annual qualification requirement for crew chiefs.

Crew coordination with the pilot is critical in identifying and shooting the target.

The relationship between crew chiefs and pilots are different than typical army professional relationships, said Teschner. The pilot is in command, however, there is an intimate crew atmosphere that allows for a small team dynamic where the crew depends on each other equally.

• Date Taken: 01.09.2017
• Date Posted: 01.09.2017 16:25
• Story ID: 219730
• Location: HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, GA, US