Army Special Operations Aviation and the Conventional aviation fleet must continue and deepen their level of understanding of what each force does, but never forget they are different, as the two fleets transition from combat to peacetime, service officers said.
The Army has to understand the training needs for the two fleets and not mistake “hooah for dooah,” said Maj. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, commanding general of the Aviation Center of Excellence and Ft. Rucker, Ala.
“Don’t confuse enthusiasm with capability,” agreed Brig. Gen. Kevin Mangum, commanding general, Army Special Operations Aviation Command, during a panel discussion at the Association of the U.S. Army ILW Aviation Symposium at National Harbor, Md.
Conventional aviation is “separate and distinct” from special operations aviation, Mangum said, but training together is a must for areas where the two fleets come together, and to build on the lessons learned over a decade of conflict.
This understanding and transition plan continues to build on work by former-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, who had said during the 2004 restructuring of Army aviation “leverages many aspects of special operations aviation…and progress that’s been made over the years that we can bring into the conventional fore.”
Visiting Afghanistan recently, Mangum said all the aviators he spoke with agreed the SOF and conventional aviation relationship is mature, but commanders need to be careful what they ask conventional aviation brigades (CABs) to do, because their missions, risk assessment, and planning are different than SOF aviation.
Work needs to be done “systemically and systematically” to better prepare SOF and conventional aviation, he said. Training needs to cover how to employ SOF/conventional forces, and consider the host of other details that differentiate the two fleets. All this and more needs to be worked out and implemented in training as the forces transition from combat to peacetime, while remaining prepared to do full spectrum operations.
Col. Pedro Almeida, commander of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, said if there’s one thing SOF or conventional ground commanders want, it’s more aviation.
However, he said, what a commander expects a conventional combat aviation brigade to do has to be clearly understood. For example, the limits on the aircraft, the crew, the standard operating procedures, tactics techniques and procedures, command and mission planning.
Interoperability between SOF and conventional aviation needs to increase, with both attending conferences and training and exercising together, panelists agreed.
Additionally, SOF and conventional aviation forces need more interoperability and transparency. SOF, for example, must continue to see the value of interoperability in exercises, training, and academics with the CABs.
Even the operating environment makes a difference, panelists noted, as Afghanistan brought the need for goggles and oxygen bottles to the fore for conventional aviation, something previously only SOF aviation had.