g n i n i a r T to
Tactical
By Capt. Mitchell Kirkland, USMC
lying in the Operation-Iraqi-Freedom (OIF) theater provides several challenges to squadrons. One of those challenges is the quandary between accomplishing training while keeping enough assets to support the combat mission. This problem led my squadron to use our strip-alert section of H-1s to conduct training in conjunction with our weapons checks, while we operated in Al Asad, Iraq. We had a standard shift that night. Our ODO brief and the section-strip-alert brief were held at midnight. We planned weapons checks and an initial night-vision goggle (NVG), low-light-level (LLL) navigation X for my copilot. We’d then have a couple hours off until we launched to support scheduled joint-tactical-air requests 8
(JTARs). My copilot recently had finished his NVG high-light-level (HLL) syllabus, and this would be his first experience flying in LLL. As all helicopter pilots with an OIF tour under their belt know, there is LLL, and then there is Iraq-varsity LLL. For those who have not flown in Iraq, it is very comparable to LLL opera-
tions off the boat, with marginal visibility. There are no 300-foot-tall power lines in the middle of the ocean, but the lack of contrast and depth perception is the same. Having completed two MEU deployments before this one, I felt qualified to make that comparison. The flight started off well. Before we strapped into the aircraft, I talked to my copilot about the difference between HLL and LLL: The increased outside-toinside scan needed to back-up yourself on the instruApproach
