CSG 5 Update

Greetings from USS Ronald Reagan

By LCDR Calvin "Spicy J" Kirtley, USN

Greetings from USS Ronald Reagan! Due to the loss of a bet I made during the last port call with this column’s usual author, the newly promoted LCDR Rob “OG” Swain, I’ll be covering down on this issue. I can’t say my penmanship can equal OG’s in its eloquence, but I’ll certainly do my best. It’s been an action-packed two months underway for rotary wing aviation in Carrier Strike Group 5 (CSG-5). The HSC-12 World Famous Golden Falcons are out here executing the “mish” in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility, honing our skills, tackling community projects, and reassuring partner nations that there is no better friend than the United States Navy.

I’ll address our aircraft footprint first. It’s an exciting time in the HSC Community as we collectively gather data to inform recommendations to leadership on what the future carrier air wing (CVW) HSC complement will look like. The Golden Falcons are deployed with five aircraft on Reagan and operating in accordance with existing CV NATOPS requirements for plane guard. The squadron is also supporting a standard level of logistics support to CSG-5. Additionally, we are usually providing two alert aircraft as back-up for contracted vertical replenishment Super Pumas embarked on USNS vessels during underway replenishment—and launching more often than one would expect (our JOs have coined the mission “ALERTREP”). Simply put, the usual combat support requirements fulfilled by a CVW HSC Squadron still exist—we just have less aircraft. That said, with careful planning, the Golden Falcons have still managed to meet operational tasking demands and execute valuable dual-ship unit-level training when needed.

This was destined to be a different underway than I had experienced from the day the squadron flew aboard ship. Four of five deploying aircraft were configured with dual auxiliary fuel tanks from day one, underscoring our commitment to the Personnel Recovery (PR) mission. Flying “double-bubble” on a routine basis is not without drawbacks. Decreased cabin space and power margins, the potential for trapped fuel, and the increase in maintenance man-hours required to configure aircraft are all challenges that must be planned for and overcome. The distances involved in the Pacific battlespace are vast, however, necessitating the increased combat radius that two auxiliary fuel tanks afford. Configuring aircraft is only one piece of the PR puzzle; advising composite warfare commanders (CWCs) and Strike Leads of rescue vehicle (RV) response times, capacity, and cruiser/destroyer (CRUDES) stationing requirements for refueling during the mission planning process is also crucial to Distributed Maritime Personnel Recovery (DMPR) success. To that end, a Golden Falcon PR Representative is present during mission planning for all missions where the risk of an isolating event exists.

Shortly after getting underway, CSG-5 and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy executed CARRIER STRIKE GROUP EXERCISE (CSG-EX). CSG-EX focused on interoperability between USN and ROK Navy assets, a highlight of which being an integrated HVBSS mission utilizing HSC and HSM aircraft to deploy U.S. and ROK maritime SOF assets in a simulated ship takedown. Additionally, the two navies successfully executed a bi-lateral U.S. Navy/Republic of Korea combat search and rescue exercise where a CVW-5 led CSAR Package launched to recover an isolated personnel on a remote island. HSC-12 launched a section of dual-aux aircraft to receive lily pad fuel off Republic of Korea Ship MARADO (LPH 6112) to facilitate the long ingress, execute the recovery, and then received follow on aviation-delivered ground refuel (ADGR) from a MV-22B FARP on Okinawa, Japan prior to egressing to Ronald Reagan; exercising DMPR on an international scale. Following CSG-EX, CSG-5 participated in the joint, multi-national exercise VALIANT SHIELD. VALIANT SHIELD 2022 proved to be a multi-faceted exercise, featuring HSC on a daily basis. The Golden Falcons integrated with Carrier Strike Group THREE, USS Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, Air Force, and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force assets; supporting missions ranging from Helicopter Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (HVBSS) to Surface Warfare (SuW), DMPR, and cross-deck logistics. Of particular note, HSC-12 was able to utilize the Mixed Load Enhanced Targeting Capability (MLETC) afforded by the LAU-61/G Digital Rocket Launcher (DRL) and the Helmet Display and Tracker System (HDTS) to engage a target with Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) guided and unguided rockets on the same pass.

After a brief respite in Guam (thanks for the hospitality, Island Knights!), CSG-5 commenced Advanced Tactical Exercise (ATE). ATE was designed to operationally test tactics, techniques, and procedures that may be used in Great Power Competition (GPC). Rotary wing aviation was not sidelined for this exercise. In fact, different rotary wing flight profiles were a central part of the sequence of events. The Golden Falcons also utilized this timeframe to execute flights with the cockpit doors removed. Due to the geopolitical considerations of flying in and around Japan, mostly due to “things falling off aircraft” risk mitigation, flying doors-off is a rarity at HSC-12. It is so rare that aviators assigned to the Golden Falcons have gone entire tours without flying in this configuration—something the command wished to address. Experience with doors-off flight enables further operational flexibility for distributed maritime operations (DMO) should the need to detach to an overland location arise.

The Golden Falcons have done a lot in an exciting two months underway. No two weeks have been the same so far— our operations have been a testament to the multi-mission nature of the community. We’re excited to be able to take on these challenging missions and to continue to refine the processes that will help make future HSC aviators successful. More to follow in the next issue!