Professional Pilot, January 2016

The Eastern ARNG Aviation Training Site is located at Fort Indiantown Gap PA and is used by the active Army and the National Guard to transition pilots into the UH60 Transitions are also done at the Army Aviation School at Ft Rucker AL and at the Western ARNG Aviation Training Site WAATS in California Most of the pilots assigned to the unit are already qualified to operate UH60s either in the A L or M models Others are transitioned prior to arriving in the unit The senior NCO of the unit is Command Sgt Maj Robert Lewis Hill Jr a 27 year Army veteran who joined the unit in January 2015 Headquarters Hqs Company The primary support unit for the 12th Av Battalion is the Headquarters Headquarters Company consisting of the various staff offices and flight operations This unit is commanded by Capt Vincent Worrell a 2010 graduate of the Armys flight school supported by First Sgt Reinaldo Rodriguez as his senior NCO Capt Worrell served 1 tour in Afghanistan flying UH60s before his assignment to the 12th Av Battalion last August One of the companys major duties is receiving and distributing the requests for aviation transport that come in from the Pentagon These requests come either through the Executive Travel Office part of the Secretary of the Armys staff or the MDW G 3 Air Staff Both are cleared through a validation office Authorization for rotary wing support is rigidly controlled by 100 PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2016 Department of the Army under AR 95 1 Aviation Flight Regulations Once a request is validated it is sent to the Battalion Flight Operations headed by CW4 Dave Ramsey who is assisted by SFC Rafael RodriguezCenteno The request is then passed to Timothy Gilchriest a DoD civilian who has been at Davison for 22 years Gilchriest checks to make sure that all the necessary information is available to process the flight He then checks the flightplan to ensure it can be flown by one of the companies based on the requirements of the flight such as number and rank of passengers and any special equipment needed on the aircraft The request then goes into an automated scheduling system and is sent to one of the companies which will assign an aircraft and crew to the mission Along with flying the senior Army leadership the unit also performs what it calls Fallen Hero duty The unit maintains a crew on 24 hour standby to fly members of the 3rd Infantry Regiments Honor Guard or Old Guard and a general officer to Dover AFB to provide the arrival ceremony for soldiers killed in combat The Fallen Heroes casualties are then transported by other means to their final resting place The 12th does not transport the remains Alpha Company Company A of the 12th Av Battalion flies 4 VH60Ms and 4 UH60Ms making it the only company to fly all Mike model Black Hawks and the only company flying VH60Ms The company is commanded by Cap UH60L Crew Chiefs SPC Dakota Jarrell foreground and SSG James Brown conduct post flight maintenance checks after returning from contingency mission training in the National Capital Region Melissa Sayers who joined the 12th in October 2013 The 8 Mike model Black Hawks have digital multifunction display cockpits as compared to analog steam gauge displays on the UH60As and Ls However all of the Black Hawks have similar and standard avionics from a myriad of companies including Rockwell Collins Honeywell BAE Systems and ITT Excelus The only difference is that the Mike models have Bendix King Stormscopes and Universal UNS FMS The senior enlisted advisor for the company is First Sgt Clarence Davis Bravo Company Commanded by Capt Darlene Moyer a veteran of flying UH60s in Afghanistan Company B was the only company to operate both UH60Ls and UH72As However now that the Lakotas are gone its fleet consists of 8 UH60Ls which mirrors that of its sister flight unit Company C First Sgt JD Gibson in the senior NCO for Bravo Company Charley Company Company C is commanded by Capt Andrew Morgan a 2007 West Point graduate with roughly 1100 flight hours He was assigned to the 12th Av Battalion in July 2013 and is assisted by First Sgt William McLilly The company recently restructured to 8 UH60Ls after the divestiture of its single UH60A and 2 VH60As With the loss of the A models from Company C and 5 UH72As from Company B the Battalion now has its full TDA Table of Distribution and Maj Jake Whiteside the 12th Aviation Battalion Executive Officer performs pre mission operational checks on a UH60L Black Hawk before bringing the aircraft out to the flight line to conduct contingency mission training