Photo By Sgt. Kayden Bedwell | Students attending the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site prepare an...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- Every year, over 100,000 service members from all over the country come to Fort Indiantown Gap to complete training and attend schools that are offered here.
One of those schools is the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, or EAATS, which trains over 1,500 service members annually from all 54 states and territories, the active-duty Army and Army Reserve as well as international military students that are ready to transition to UH 60M pilots.
“We fall under the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, but we're a National Guard asset overall,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Adam Garrison, the aircraft qualification transition course manager at EAATS. “Unlike other locations that teach these courses, we do all of the podium instruction and all of the flight instruction ourselves. So we have that rapport that we build with the students.”
The UH 60M is the latest modernized variant of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter, offering modern controls and equipment that students at EAATS are able to fly.
“We started off in the simulator, seeing what the aircraft can do by pushing buttons and just seeing what the automation, and the aircraft, can do for you.” Said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew Chasin, an EAATS student based out of the General Service Aviation Battalion, Rhode Island National Guard.
The first 11 days of the six-week course are conducted using a flight simulator.
“We actually have 11 days on the front end of the course. That is all in the simulator,” said Garrison. “We're in there every single day because when learning a new aircraft, especially coming from an old analog aircraft to a more digital cockpit like we have in our MC model, there's a lot of things that we can accomplish in there.”
“When we run the aircraft up for the first time, it takes a while because they move things around,” said Chasin. “So, to be able to do that in the simulator, and ask questions without wasting fuel, that's been extremely helpful. So I think the simulator is key.”
The rest of the course is spent in the aircraft or the classroom.
“The course is doing what it's intended to do, which is to make sure we're all qualified on a much more advanced set of avionics in the same airframe,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Harrison Yi, a student from the Wisconsin Army National Guard. “And to teach us the different systems that you should pay attention to.”
Students attending EAATS also mentioned their appreciation for the school house and how enjoyable their experience was there.
“I do think that the instructors we have are super knowledgeable on the topics,” said Yi.
"The instructors here are extremely approachable,” said Chasin. “They have a huge background and awesome experience coming from the active component, the guard, and the reserve.”
“We do all the podium instruction, we do all the cockpit instruction, so we know exactly what those students are being taught,” added Garrison. “We're all subject matter experts in those things. And we hold not only our students to high standards, but ourselves as well.”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2026 11:01 |
| Story ID: | 566587 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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