Photo Courtesy U.S. Army
Your Army continues to modernize by leaps and bounds, so much so that technological improvements with our systems are out pacing our training capabilities.
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 10, 2008) - Army aviation continues to successfully “fight the fight,” in support of operations, while simultaneously transforming and modernizing its forces. That was the consensus of a panel of aviation commanders at the Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare Aviation Symposium and Exposition.
“As rapid as innovations occur, we are challenged daily with updating our doctrine, improving our training and sharing lessons learned, all while continuing operations in theater,” said Col. Kevin W. Mangum, commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), at Fort Campbell, Ky. “We have the systems, we just have to continue to train with them,” he added.
In recent years, the combination of a significantly increased operational tempo and advancing technologies has presented various challenges, said the commander of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, which redeployed from northern Iraq recently back to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
“We are making vast improvements materially, but our training capacity to integrate new systems into the war fight as soon as they are received needs to be enhanced,” Col. A. Thomas Ball Jr., 25th CAB commander. “It is vital that we have the ability to train before we are, ‘in the box.’ Not individual training, but collective training to synergize as a unit.” Ball praised training exercises, which he says allow simulation and integration of everything from personnel and materials to system utilization.
I watch these UAVs take off and land day in and day out over here and am privy to the capabilities that they bring to the fight; impressive to say the least. With a healthy dose of American ingenuity, Soldierly grit, and dedicated civilian contractors the mission is being accomplished and the training plans are being developed. We’ll udoubtedly catch up just in time for newer technology to be introduced, but that’s OK, bring it on. Sgt Hook out.
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