Radio Check

There are many aspects of the Rotary Wing community that distinguish us from the rest of the Naval Aviation Enterprise. To me, one of the signature features that makes the naval Rotary Force strong is our unique incorporation of aircrew in mission execution. Many accomplished pilots will tell you that they’d be nowhere in their respective careers if it weren’t for the guidance, knowledge, and wisdom of an excellent Crew Chief somewhere along the line. For this installment of Radio Check, we asked to hear from you regarding what makes a great Crew Chief. How did that Crew Chief help you get to where you are today?

From Tom Phillips:

Except to taxi straight ahead from one ramp spot to another, what can a Navy helo pilot (or most any helo pilot of a military helo at least), do without a crewman? Seriously. Can you name something?

They seldom get love, and are normally invisible in stories about helo exploits. One of my DRIVERS in life in all my scratching is to never forget the crewmen. So much we read is LT Short did this, LT Phillips did that, etc. etc. like we are solo. Almost any story from the POV by not-helo-people ignores their work and their names (not to mention the copilot). That has always frosted me and I highly encourage any writer to find a way to smoothly integrate them into your story: not just an obligatory listing of crew and forgetting them for the rest of the story. We should be especially thoughtful of this when addressing all those Restricted Aviators, and the Great Unwashed, who otherwise are probably insensitive to this element of helicopters.

As a RULE, I submit this is a great RULE any self-respecting helo pilot should have no trouble buying into, although accomplishing it seamlessly can be a bit of a writing challenge. Examples of omitting them are legion: PO Smith entered the water and saved the rescuee. He may even get his name mentioned for that, especially if it becomes a bit dramatic down there. Who was positioning the helo over them and running the hoist? Either task not critical to the whole thing? If all goes according to plan, the work is invisible, and it is easy to leave him out. But if there is any drama, suddenly he is critical, and deserves some visibility. Name another mission and you can go through the same analysis (I hope not for the first time).

Crewmen are always there, always critical, largely unthanked (except by their smart pilots), usually left unmentioned by the vast majority of writers, because they do not appreciate the Great Truth that we helo pilots are helpless to do any useful task without them.

So to the question: What makes a great crew chief and personal shout outs? Don’t we all know what makes a great crewman?

First tour Seawolves: a detachment’s aircrew were skilled gunners AND did the day-to-day maintenance, repair, and servicing of the det’s helos. They literally kept them out on the cutting edge alone and unafraid, reliably-repaired-remotely from minor battle damage, and ready to fly single-engine; over hostile territory from the moment we took off. And their gunnery skills (proven to the satisfaction of all the pilots and their fellow aircrew, any one of which had the veto. All out lives depended on their reliability) were our secret weapon and our claim to fame. They literally saved all our lives frequently as instant, effective, suppression of enemy fire is what keeps a slow helicopter alive in combat. 1. Subsequent life; HS SH-3 squadron: Skilled in operating the dipping sonar. If they can not find the submarine, no amount of awesome pilot tactical skill is going to be of any use. 2. Verbally coordinating with the PNAC to talk the helo through an approach to survivor or to ship fantail. 3. Verbally holding that position while the survivor is prepared for hoisting by the competent rescue swimmer or the ship takes its sweet time organizing a hoist package or HIFR hose. On a dark, non-NVGs, night, running hover trim without terrifying the pilots (training a rookie to do that was great fun). Calm voice is priceless here, no matter what is going on back there.

Shout outs? Also named "Which of your children do you love the most?" First one which came to mind was AWC Gary Davey of HS-6 when I had the great good fortune to be Aircrew Division Officer as a j.o. He had the rhythm and the calm voice. We pilots believed he could tell us that our flight suit was on fire in such a soothing voice that we would not be alarmed but would clearly understand the message. He was the master of subliminal inflection when he talked. Many were loyal and appreciative acolytes to the master and we all benefitted. The aircrew In encountered in my flying life were so consistently good that the few no-so-good stand out more than the many who were our strength.

From CAPT Michael Middleton, USN (Ret.)

One of the benefits of reaching a position of leadership in a helicopter squadron, is that you are assigned the senior aircrewman as your permanent crew. With the World Famous Indians of HS-6 in ‘86, I was privileged and honored to fly with AWC Andy Anderson. He was an extraordinary sonarman, tactician, and leader. He wasn’t however, a “morning person”. I always asked for the dawn launches, so I had the rest of the day available for “administrative duties”. The AWC had to persevere through those early mornings and always supported his pilot. He also persevered through ALERT 5’s in 110 degree heat when the BIG “E” was going through “the ditch”, and a night landing on an “out of limits” deck roll on a smallboy for a lifesaving MEDIVAC out of Okinawa. But the highlight of our time together was tracking a Soviet “Charlie” sub at night, that was shadowing the carrier in the North Arabian Sea. Once the AWC had contact, he seldom lost it. Sticking to the “Crew Concept” during deployment has many benefits. But it benefitted me the most, since I was honored to fly my last tactical missions with AWC Andy Anderson!

From LT Grant “Dingle” Kingsbery, USN

Agood crew chief is one who is involved in the flight, and someone who takes pride in their knowledge of the aircraft and use of CRM. A crew chief who is reliable and who can be fully trusted to spread the workload of the mission requirements throughout the entire crew makes for a more smooth and safe execution of mission standards. A shout out to AWSC Downey, a crew chief who has set the example for me throughout my time flying. Whether we are flying a FAM flight for a couple of brand new Fleet Replacement pilots and aircrewmen, or a SWTP Lvl 3 PR/SOF Full Mission Profile, his attention to detail and knowledge of NATOPS and SEAWOLF are evident and critical to achieving the learning objectives. Being scheduled to fly with a crew chief who exemplifies the job sets the flight up for success from the beginning, and provides a great foundation to showcase the range of our ability as a community.