From the Editor-in-Chief

Be Ready

By LT Elisha "Grudge" Clark, USN

Happy Symposium Season, Rotor Review readers!

Among these pages you’ll find stories of submarine sightings (Hunters: The Evolution of the Antisubmarine Warfare Helicopter), a visit to the fair (A Fair To Remember), and CRM that transcended the coastline of almost the entire Western Coast Guard complement (CRM Cubed).

I am incredibly proud of every submission above, impressed as always by the paths being forged across the Fleet. I want to recognize a particularly humbling contribution by one of our Marine Corps Aviation brethren, Col. David “Metro” Fitzsimmons, who is currently at the helm of MAG-29. As a MAG CO, he is the Marine Corps’ equivalent of a Commodore, and my vision as Editor-in-Chief has been one of unity, bringing Navy, USMC, and USCG more together. We are stronger together than we'll ever be alone. Our stories deserve to be told in keeping with this axiom.

Our theme for this Spring, Be Ready, focuses on every aspect of being ready for the fight. The solution for being ready has many perspectives and philosophies, many of which are covered at length in this pre-symposium issue. I’d like to talk about an essential component of being ready: learning from our mistakes.

When planes were getting shot down in large quantities during WWII, the Navy decided there was a need for a statistical analysis focused on where to armor them. Engineers made diagrams and schematics of the bullet holes, and noted that many of the planes were returning with them in the wings and fuselage. As the logic would follow, they proposed armoring the planes in those places.

But Abraham Wald, a statistician, disagreed. He told the engineers that they were focusing on the wrong aspect of the problem. They needed to focus on the planes that hadn’t come back, not the ones that had. They needed to armor the spots on the planes that were clear of bullet holes, such as the engines.

Wald astutely observed something everyone else had missed: we learn from both our successes and our failures, but we cannot only take half of that lesson. With that in mind, I am happy to introduce the theme for our next issue, The Human Weapon, which will focus on fine-tuning the operators in the planes by placing an emphasis on mental and physical well-being. In order to succeed, we must have the self-awareness to know our weaknesses. Our strengths may be someone else’s foibles, and our shortfalls may be bolstered by someone else’s gifts. We only become ready for the fight if we can rely on the person next to us. That person can only Be Ready with your support.

Letters to the Editor

It is always great to hear from our membership! We need your input to ensure that Rotor Review keeps you informed, connected, and entertained. We maintain many open channels to contact the magazine staff for feedback, suggestions, praise, complaints, or publishing corrections. Please advise us if you do not wish to have your input published in the magazine. Your anonymity will be respected. Post comments on the NHA Facebook Page or send an email to the Editor-in-Chief. Her email is elishasuziclark@gmail.com, or to the Managing Editor at rotorreview@navalhelicopterassn.org. You can use snail mail too. Rotor Review’s mailing address is: Letters to the Editor, c/o Naval Helicopter Association, Inc.,