For 50 years, Fort Rucker has successfully prepared its Soldiers and aviators to fight and win our nation’s wars.
Army Aviation continues this fine tradition demonstrating daily that we are a relevant and ready force.
    Over the past month, Army Aviation has celebrated several key milestones: the 50th Anniversary of the designation of Fort Rucker, the final training flight of the AH-64A here, and the beginning of 100 percent enrollment in Flight School XXI.

    Additionally, Fort Rucker hosted the Air Traffic Services Leaders Conference in September and prepares for the upcoming Aviation Senior Leaders Conference.


50 Years of Distinguished History
    In September 1955, at a dinner celebrating the news that Camp Rucker was to become a permanent installation, Alabama Congressman George Andrews declared, "Fort Rucker is as permanent as the U.S. Flag."
    At that time, neither Rep. Andrews, nor anyone living in the Wiregrass, had any idea how prophetic that statement would turn out to be. On Oct. 13, 1955 Camp Rucker became a permanent installation, designated as Fort Rucker.



    Over the last fifty years, Fort Rucker has evolved from a simple, temporary military encampment initially designed to prepare troops for World War II into the highly advanced Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Center of Excellence we know today.
    We currently stand at the forefront of an exciting future - a future that is certain to test our strength and resolve.
To meet the challenges of the future, Fort Rucker and Army Aviation will continue to evolve, transforming our aviation forces and training in order to remain effective and relevant in the current Global War on Terrorism or any future fight.

   

Air Traffic Services Leaders Conference
    The Air Traffic Services (ATS) Leaders Conference, Sept. 27-29, brought ATS leaders from all over the world to Fort Rucker to discuss trends, lessons learned, and to see the latest technological innovations.
The conference brought together aviation and ATS leaders from a broad spectrum across the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. Soldiers from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve attended, along with attendees from as far away as Europe, Korea and Hawaii.

    CSM Clark Gay, Air Traffic Services Command (ATSCOM), said it's important for ATS personnel to meet and discuss air traffic issues.
    "ATSCOM Headquarters has a worldwide mission to ensure the quality assurance of the Soldiers performing that function, and the training and readiness oversight of all air traffic services worldwide," Gay said.
    One agenda topic Gay stressed was maintaining and bolstering readiness through training.
    "We are in the process of linking air traffic training to the Army Force Generation Model so we can better train the Soldiers as the Army transforms and places the air traffic services company in the aviation brigade.
    "So when the brigade goes to the training centers to train for combat operations, we have Soldiers there to establish a relationship for future support in the theater of operations," Gay said.
Gay hopes that ATS leaders attending the conference learned something they can apply to the future.
    "The primary thing I hope the leaders took away from this conference is to bring about solutions for the future and to apply lessons learned to Army Transformation so mistakes are not repeated in the future," he said.

Final Training Flight for the AH-64A
    After 20 years of service at Fort Rucker, the A model Apache completed its final training missions.
    The last training flights were conducted Oct. 4 at Hanchey Army Airfield for 1LT Jeffrey Maxwell with the 8th Bn., 229th Avn. Regt., 244th Avn. Bde., Fort Knox, Ky.; and 1LT Joe Casey, assigned to the 7th Sqdn., 6th Cav. Regt., at Conroe, Texas; and for 2LT David C. Duncan, II on Oct. 6, who is also with 8-229th Avn.
All three were the last students to fly the A model.


    All AH-64A aircraft will be transferred to the Western Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (WAATS) at the Silverbell Army Heliport in Marana, Ariz.
    WAATS is the primary site for attack and aeroscout helicopter training for the ARNG and will conduct the AH-64A Aircraft Qualification Course.

 

Warrior Hall Opening Ceremony
    Flight School XXI is now in full implementation. This is an incredible milestone for our Aviation Branch and the U.S. Army. Now, students receive more flight hours and additional training in their “go to war” aircraft than the legacy course, without spending precious training time in helicopters that are no longer part of the fleet.
    Flight School XXI also includes an improved leadership curriculum, as well as specialized survival courses as Dunker training, and Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Level “C” (SERE-C) training.
    Feedback from the field clearly indicates that Flight School XXI is indeed producing more proficient and highly-skilled officers ready to be immediately integrated into combat units.
I    ncreased flight training is complimented by additional instruction in new state-of-the-art full-motion visual flight simulators in the newly dedicated Warrior Hall.
Warrior Hall, a $10 million training facility owned and operated by Computer Sciences Corporation, will house 38 helicopter simulators and will accommodate hundreds of students daily.
    Cost effectiveness is a major advantage when comparing one flight hour in the AH-64D Apache, averaging $3,000 to $3,500, to that of the simulator at about $500 to $600.
    More significantly, you can put aviators in situations that you would never risk in the actual aircraft, such as emergency procedures, and reenact situations in order to integrate lessons learned from training and battlefield situations.
    Warrior Hall will be used to train Flight School XXI students, as well as advanced qualification and instructor pilot courses.

Doing A Job Well Done
    I want to extend a job well done to Army Aviation Soldiers around the world. While continuing to make significant contributions to the Global War on Terror, Aviation Soldiers distinguished themselves by simultaneously responding to numerous catastrophes.
    Whether it was hurricanes Katrina or Rita in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, Hurricane Stan in Guatemala, or the earthquake in Pakistan, Army Aviation played a pivotal role in the relief efforts.
    The magnitude of this incredible effort is illustrated by an operational tempo of over 76 hours per aircraft for the past month—almost six times the peacetime operational tempo. Flying and maintaining aircraft to meet this monumental milestone in such challenging conditions is a prolific accomplishment. Job well done!

Aviation Senior Leaders Conference
    The Army Aviation Warfighting Center is in the midst of preparing for the Aviation Senior Leaders Conference (ASLC).
    The primary focus of this synchronization conference will be lessons learned integration (L2I). This is a key time to ensure all senior leaders discuss aviation transformation, reset/preset, and the Global War on Terrorism.
The 2006 ASLC will be held Jan. 30 to Feb. 3 in the Seneff Aviation Warfighting Simulation Center here at Fort Rucker.
    We expect great results from the conference. This is an opportunity for senior Army leaders to address any specific concerns and discuss relevant trends in Army Aviation, and ensure that Fort Rucker continues to provide the best equipment and training for Aviation Soldiers and better support the commanders in the field.
    The conference will focus on L2I; joint operations; tactics, techniques and procedures for urban operations; mobilization issues; homeland security; UAVS; Brigade Aviation Element, and observations and insights concerning transformation, reset/preset, and aviation operations around the world.

    The LTG Ellis D. Parker Aviation Unit Awards will also be presented during a luncheon on Feb. 1. The awards will be presented by retired LTG Parker to the overall winner, as well as the winners in the categories of best combat, best combat support, best combat service support, and best table of distribution and allowance battalions.

    After celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the designation of Fort Rucker, the final training flight of the AH-64A at here, and the beginning of 100 percent enrollment in Flight School XXI, the Army Aviation Warfighting Center stands ready to meet the challenges of the future. I have confidence we will successfully meet those challenges as Army Aviation has always done.

ABOVE  THE BEST!!! 

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