Army Aviation: Meeting the Needs of the Combatant Commander by BG E.J. Sinclair

 The Aircraft Shoot Down Assessment Team:

Combating Enemy Anti-aircraft Tactics

Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall wrote in 1945 “…that it is possible for a problem of major dimension to exist within fighting bodies and remain unrecognized for years until one person points it out.”

 A “major dimension” came to light in October 2003 in Iraq, when several Army aircraft were shot down by an unknown enemy weapon system. Today’s foe in Iraq quickly adapted to the way the U.S. military utilized aircraft, and subsequently changed the way they engaged our aircraft. Our warfighters in Iraq urgently needed assistance in determining what enemy weapon systems were shooting down our aircraft and how to counter those systems. 

On Nov. 25, 2003, the Army G3 directed the U.S. Army Aviation Center (USAAVNC) to form an Aircraft Shoot Down Assessment Team (ASDAT). COL Stephen R. Dwyer, commander of the 1st Aviation Brigade, was tasked to form a team of experts and deploy to Iraq.  The mission of the ASDAT was to “Determine the threat weapons systems used by the enemy, recommend immediate short and long-term solutions, and brief the findings to the commander, Combined Joint Task Force-7 (CJTF-7), and all deployed aviation units.”

Assembling the ASDAT

COL Dywer quickly assembled a team of experienced aviation professionals including LTC James Kenney; CW4 Greg Fuchs, a UH-60 aircraft and tactical operations and electronics warfare expert; CW4(P) John Roberts, an accident investigator and OH-58D expert from the U.S. Army Safety Center; and CW5 Mark Schwerke, a CH-47 maintenance and standardization expert from the Directorate of Evaluation and Standards. 

Also joining the team was Department of the Army civilian (DAC) Bruce Bulger, a battle-damage repair and maintenance expert from the U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School at Fort Eustis, Va.; DAC Larry Smith, an aircraft engineer from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command; and DAC Tom Leblanc, a missiles and warhead analyst from the Missile and Space Intelligence Center.

The team was rounded out by Werner Gstattenbauer, a rocket-propelled grenade analyst from the National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville, Va.; Greg Procopio, an aircraft survivability equipment analyst with British Aerospace and Engineering in Nashua, N.H.; and DAC Robert Wojciechowski, a live-fire and testing analyst from the Army Testing and Evaluation Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

The ASDAT arrived in Iraq on Dec. 13, 2003, the same day as Saddam Hussein’s capture.  COL Ray Palumbo, commander of the 12th Aviation Brigade, initially hosted the team. ASDAT members received a brief on some perceptive thoughts about what had happened with the first two shoot-downs involving 12th Avn. Bde. UH-60 and CH-47 helicopters. 

The ASDAT’s first investigation was conducted at Al Taqqadum, an airport located southwest of Fallujah and a hot bed for anti-American sentiment. Al Taqqadum was the wreckage storage site for five of the shot-down aircraft. In an abandoned hangar team members first saw the wreckage of a CH-47D shot down on Nov. 2 and an OH-58D shot down on Dec. 9. 

Neither aircraft resembled its original form as helicopters and it initially appeared that deciphering the cause of the shoot-downs would be impossible.  Due to CW4(P) John Roberts’ accident-investigation experience and the maintenance experience of CW5 Mark Schwerke, the team was able to piece together enough of the aircraft to determine what weapon system had shot down each one of the aircraft.  By reassembling the aircraft into a semblance of their original form, team members were able to determine where the aircraft was hit, what enemy weapon system struck the aircraft and what happened to the aircraft as a result. 

Using this same methodology, the ASDAT traveled throughout Iraq and investigated each of the remaining shoot-down incidents.  In all areas, wreckage was preserved to the fullest extent possible pending the investigation. By combining this painstaking process with interviews of surviving crewmembers, witnesses and the chain of command, the ASDAT assembled a very accurate picture of what actually occurred in each incident. Armed with this knowledge, the team then analyzed the enemy and friendly tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) in use and recommended solutions to limit future occurrences.

Informing Leaders and Soldiers

The ASDAT briefed each incident to every aviation brigade’s chain of command and to as many aircrews as possible. In the final analysis, any modification a commander made to his unit’s TTPs were now made based upon accurate information about enemy weapon systems and capabilities. 

After all of the incidents were investigated the team out-briefed LTG Ricardo S. Sanchez, the CJTF-7 commander. LTG Sanchez requested the ASDAT write an urgent mission needs statement (MNS) for the CJTF-7 C3 addressing the materiel solutions to send to the Army G3. The MNS went on to the materiel acquisition personnel at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and to the Program Executive Officer for Aviation in Huntsville, Ala., for action.  LTG Sanchez directed that before newly arriving units could fly in Iraq, unit personnel must first receive the same ASDAT briefing that he had received. The briefings were presented to the 1st Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Div., the Marines and other key Army leaders.

As did S.L.A. Marshall, the ASDAT was able to “point out” to warfighting commanders involved in the chaos of battle what had actually happened. From the ASDAT’s observations, commanders were able to devise new TTPs and stay ahead of the enemy. Additionally, our materiel-acquisition personnel, now armed with actual knowledge from the investigations, are working materiel solutions to these problems. 

The Future of the ASDAT

The ASDAT  affords commanders in Iraq with the means to make sound decisions based upon facts rather than speculation.  This is making a significant difference in the Army, Department of Defense and coalition’s efforts on the war on terror.  The Army needs a structured team of subject-matter experts capable of handling all shoot-down contingencies and organized so that the Army’s warfighters will have immediate access to the information gathered from their conclusions and recommendations.  The Army will bring ASDAT to the next level and form it as a permanent organization.

High Speed Vessels and Rotary Wing Aviation in Korea: Demonstrating Capabilities to Support Army, Joint and Combined Operations

The landing of a U.S. Army Black Hawk on the flight deck of the Army vessel Joint Venture on March 25, 2004, marks the first time in 30 years that an Army aircraft conducted flight operations aboard an Army sea-based vessel.

During the mid-1960s a Navy seaplane tender ship was recommissioned by the Army as its first floating helicopter maintenance facility and named it the USNS Corpus Christi Bay. It operated in Southeast Asian waters during the Vietnam War until deactivation in 1975.  In 2002 the Army, in conjunction with the Navy, leased the wave-piercing catamaran Joint Venture, an experimental high-speed vessel (known as HSV-X1), for over-the-horizon ground force projection experimentation.

The 17th Avn. Bde. recently participated in joint and combined operations training with the Joint Venture while participating in Foal Eagle, a U.S. Forces, Korea, exercise.  Fifty kilometers southwest of Seoul, off the coast from Pyeongtaek, Joint Venture supported flight operations training of UH-60 Black hawks from Company B, 1st Battalion, 52nd Avn. Regt.

Flight operations training involved the soldiers of the Joint Venture, naval flight-deck operations personnel from the USS Essex, two Navy HH-60 crews from the USS Kitty Hawk, and aircrews from Co. B, 1st Bn., 52nd Avn. Regt., 17th Avn. Bde.  Each Army aviator performed five landings and departures to establish or extend ship-landing qualifications for a six month period.

Shipboard Landings.

The Foal Eagle exercise served as the initial flight-operations training aboard the Army’s new high-speed vessel. It also demonstrated the Army’s ability to employ the vessel in support of Army, joint and combined air operations. In the ever-evolving contemporary operating environment, the combined use of HSVs with aviation affords the Army with expanded capabilities to increase its ability to support the joint warfight. 

Our aviation soldiers are doing a great job for the Army and the nation serving around the world. Aviation is an integral element combating the global war on terrorism. The nation is proud of what you are doing. Keep up the great work. 

ABOVE  THE BEST!!! 

BG E. J. Sinclair is the commander of the U.S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center and chief of the aviation branch.