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ARABIAN GULF (August 26, 2009) - The USS Ponce
floated in the Arabian Gulf as Sailors moved to their positions
with chock blocks to brace the incoming UH-60 Black Hawk and Navy
HS-15 Seahorse helicopters Aug. 23.
First Battalion, 58th Aviation
Regiment pilots, alongside the 2515th Navy Air Ambulance Detachment
pilots, performed deck landing qualifications in order to keep
their training up to date.
"The mission is to train Army pilots
and aircrews on DLQ proficiency on USS ships," said Navy Lt. Bruce
Lefferts, air boss, USS Ponce.
There were two teams of pilots and
crew members who flew around the Landing Transport Dock and landed
while the flight operations crew ran out to brace the aircraft to
the ship's LTD after each landing.
"Our unit was tasked by [Third Army]
to get everyone shipboard operations qualified ," said Chief
Warrant Officer James Landry, Black Hawk pilot, 1/58th Aviation
Reg.
The training started out as a swim
test for the majority of the unit. The Army unit also sent certain
Soldiers to Fort Rucker, Ala. for training, that was immediately
followed by ground based training presented by Navy personnel,
field deck landing practices on land and several air training
sessions in Kuwait.
"The ship is a more dynamic
environment," said Lefferts, "It has pitch and roll, variable wind
speeds and [of course] it's moving."
Aircrafts land on the USS Ponce
almost daily for reasons such as currency, training, operations,
missions, etc. Therefore, the training of Army helicopters to land
on ships is necessary to Third Army's mission to "Sustain the
Fight," making Army personnel more adaptable to different
situations.
"I think the training's necessary
just to show the joint operations together and to improve the
concept of Army aircraft landing on U.S. ships to increase
operational capabilities," said Lefferts.
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