FORT BLISS, Texas – Soldiers of Comanche Troop, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, conducted cold load and hot load training, and air-to-ground integration at Network Integration Evaluation 14.1 at Fort Bliss, Texas, Oct. 27, 2013.
The cold load and hot load training, which incorporated UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters, was attended by more than 100 soldiers from the brigade. The air-to-ground integration utilized OH-58 Kiowa helicopters.
Cold load training allows soldiers to enter and exit the helicopter while the vehicle is not in operation. However, hot-load training allows soldiers to enter and exit the helicopter during a live-run.
Air-to-ground integration synchronizes how ground and air forces work together in order to establish a more sufficient fighting force.
“While the standard for our soldiers is to enter the bird in 15 to 30 seconds and exit in 15 seconds or less,” said Capt. Humberto Hernandez, a pilot for the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, “more importantly, the real goal is for every soldier to become more comfortable with the process.”
After they received a safety briefing, the soldiers were given instruction on the most expedient and proper way to utilize the seat belts, equipment and positioning. Once instructions were complete, the soldiers participated in a dry-run before the live exercises.
“The whole process sounds easy, but if it’s not practiced enough, it’s even easier to forget,” said Hernandez, adding,“and for soldiers who have never been in an aircraft or in a stressful situation, the training is invaluable.”
During the live exercises, soldiers were broken down into groups of 12, two groups of six, to enter the helicopter from both sides. While soldiers were not timed, all were watched for their entrance, positioning, equipment work and exit.
Additionally, this sort of training, according to Capt. Rick Cheriscla, commander of Comanche Troop, is unique to NIE.
“NIE is a great opportunity to train our soldiers,” said Chersicla, “because we rarely have an opportunity in garrison to have hands-on work with aviation.”
NIE is used to establish an integrated network and successfully evaluate capability solutions addressed by formal Systems Under Test and Systems Under Evaluation, in order to provide proper assessments and recommendations to the Army for its modernization program.