Professional Pilot, January 2016

The 12th Av Battalion flies Sikorsky UH60Ls and UH60Ms in both VIP and utility versions The unit went from White Tops to Gold Tops to differentiate its helicopters from those operated by the USMC HMX 1 VIP squadron based at Quantico VA which fly Marine Corps One for the President PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2016 101 Allowances allotment of 24 Black Hawks including the 16 UH60Ls in Companies B and C and 8 VH UH60Ms in Company A Delta Company Maintenance Company D is commanded by Capt James Webster supported by CW4 David Sessoms and First Sgt Richard Ables Basic line maintenance is conducted by each companys crew chiefs The remaining in house maintenance is done by DoD civilians and consists of AVUM unit maintenance generally considered to be on aircraft maintenance and AVIM intermediate maintenance If depot level maintenance is required the aircraft are normally sent to Corpus Christi Army Depot CCAD in Texas However the unit can get special permission to perform some depot level maintenance 911th Technical Rescue Engineering Company TREC The 911th TREC was formed to train engineers in techniques to rescue victims trapped in structurally damaged buildings the only unit of its kind in the US Army It is commanded by Capt Brittney Clark supported by Sr NCO First Sgt Tyron Stacy Pilots of the 3 helicopter companies and engineers of the 911th TREC train together constantly to perfect the synergistic relationship between the units including training in both day and night slingload operations The 911th has 2 platoons We switch off every other month for slingload training with the helicopter companies explains 2nd Lt Grace Andrews First Platoon leader and a 2014 West Point graduate While we primarily train for disasters caused either by nature or terrorists we also do some low density efforts such as firefighting so we train with local fire companies Staff selection Staff positions within the battalion are traditionally filled by incoming commissioned officers prior to being assigned as a company commander according to Capt Steve Galbreath the units S1 personnel officer He is currently scheduled to take command of Alpha Company during 2016 His duties supported by the S1 NCO Staff Sgt Kerryann Gordon is to provide overall personnel management whether its for individuals currently assigned or to acquire new personnel as needed to maintain full unit strength Its primarily an HR office As for pilots needed for the unit the S1 submits a list of personnel requirements We request a certain type of pilot such as UH60 qualified then Aviation Branch HR fills those requests We can look at snapshots of each individual submitted and if we see any major issues we can go back to Branch and say This person may not be the best fit Then Branch will work with us to get the person we need explains Galbreath Warrant officer pilots tend to serve 24 to 36 month tours before being reassigned while commissioned officers are subject to meeting career objectives such as school requirements which may affect the length of their tours Training is overseen by Maj Wesley Cannon the units S3 Officer and Training NCO SFC Robert Bryant A 2004 flight school graduate Cannon served 1 tour in Iraq flying Black Hawks Each company has its own training officer and they handle the individual training While the Army provides general requirements for training It is more up to the company commanders to determine what type of training the pilots need comments Cannon Each pilot therefore gets the level of training to meet his or her specific need Each company also has a commanders task list that is essentially the contract between the commander and the aviator to perform the number of flight segments needed to ensure the pilots remain proficient Most of the pilots within the Battalion are at Flight Activity Category FAC 1 meaning they must maintain the highest level of proficiency As such they are required to log a minimum of 48 flight hours semi annually The training requirements combined with the VIP personnel transport missions ensure they more than meet those minimums As for the future there are no major changes on the near horizon The now all Black Hawk fleet organization will continue to train to build and maintain aviation proficiency while simultaneously providing the National Capital region with worldclass aerial support and rapid technical rescue response Douglas Nelms is a retired Army CW4 Master Aviator with 22 years as an active US Army and reservist rotary wing pilot and over 40 years as an aviation journalist In 1968 he was assigned to the VIP rotary wing flight detachment predecessor to the 12th Av Bn following his tour in Vietnam He is now a freelance writer living in Haymarket VA