I wish we had black helos....
That paint scheme is terrible for anything but Europe in the spring summer and fall. The USN/USMC gray is so much more effective over the terrain we are currently doing combat ops over and still isnt too bad over European type terrain. IF you only fly at night it isnt bad but other than that it sucks!
I know of one National Guard Apache unit that said fuck it and got their birds painted gray at NADEP Cherry Point. I never saw any stats but I bet it was better than other Apaches as far as SAFIREs.
How much training did those guys have to get to land on ships? Did it vary at all compared to Navy/Marine helos?
How much training did those guys have to get to land on ships? Did it vary at all compared to Navy/Marine helos?
Can't speak to the 160 guys, but I did some of the training for CA NG 47 drivers some years back. They did the standard navy 6 dlq's to a qual. Through an arrangement with CNAF they had one of us go along for their instructor's intitial qualification.
(As a side note, the first instructor that qualed with me had 17.5k hours of helo time - over 8k in a 47. Yeah, I said 17.5.)
Actually, no. He was a -4 but had been in and out.
I sat next to a guy on a plane recently who said he was a squad leader for "Landing Zone Security" in the 160th. I'm "told" they (the 160th) do some pretty amazing stuff - but hey, what do I know, I'm just a slimmy squid !!!
![]()