Month: September 2022

Source: United States Navy

NAS Whiting Field accepted the first TH-73A in August 2021 as a replacement for the 40-year-old TH-57 Sea Ranger aircraft. The TH-57 Sea Ranger provides basic helicopter training and advanced Instrument Flight Rules training to hundreds of aviation students a year at NAS Whiting Field. The current TH-57B was introduced in 1981, followed by the TH-57C in 1982, which will be phased out as the TH-73A comes onboard.

“Training students in the TH-73A has been years in the making, and I’m excited on behalf of everyone who has helped get us to this point,” said Cmdr. Annie Otten, commanding officer, Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8. “I’m especially excited that the HT-8 “Eightballers” are the ones helping transition the students and instructors to the new aircraft. We are all on this journey together, and I can’t wait to get the students up in the aircraft.”

Otten commented that the TH-73A will make student training more reflective of fleet helicopters, thus streamlining the training. Students in primary aviation training initially fly the T-6B Texan II aircraft, which has a glass display cockpit. If selected for helicopters, students move into the current TH-57, which has older digital or analogue displays.

Upon graduating from advanced helicopter training, students will then move out to fleet aircraft, which use glass display cockpits. Thus, they are required to transition several times using different technology during training. The TH-73A has glass screens that are representative of, and mirror more closely, what pilots will see in the fleet.

“The first thing we are going to see with the students is that the glass cockpit they have trained to and the scan they developed in the T-6 are going to flow to this aircraft (TH-73A), and we will see them picking things up sooner than in the TH-57,” Otten said.

Additionally, Training Air Wing Five and Chief, Naval Aviation Training personnel have been working over the past several years to develop efficiencies in the training program in preparation for the new helicopter.

“Academic engineers and multiple PhDs gave input, and we looked at the theory of learning to affect a more effective syllabus so the students can use the information,” said Capt. Jack Waldron, U.S. Marine Corps TH-57 & TH-73A pipeline officer. “For the instructor pilots (IPs) – we started to train on the Leonardo AW-119, which is a bit different than the TH-73A. We had to replicate maneuvers, validating and adjusting so there was a well-designed and well-thought-out, safe program. Our goal was to make this as safe and effective a program as we could.”

Getting to the point where (IPs) could fly the TH-73A and then begin training the students was a process in itself.

“First we had to learn to fly the aircraft so we could teach the IPs,” said Maj. Luke Zumbusch, U.S. Marine Corps, one of the first cadre of instructor pilots to convert to the TH-73A. “Our job was to validate and verify that we could teach the maneuvers safely. For example, a normal approach, steep approach, formations for the IPs who eventually teach students in the TH-73A. Validating that the syllabus flow is good, the pace and type of training and the media in which the training was presented was the instructors’ under training (IUT) job. Their job was to validate those maneuvers and profiles.”

Before students begin flying the new helicopter, they will complete a rigorous course of groundwork in virtual reality and flying simulators to get them ready for the more powerful helicopter.

“We took this time to do an entire cultural change (in transitioning to the TH-73A),” Waldron commented. “There is the concept of having iPads with access to course content and aviation-specific apps for flight planning, briefing or in-flight navigation. We’re not just changing the method of delivery, we’re changing the actual media they’re using. Virtual reality environment also provides a mixed reality environment. Students will ask questions. It’s a philosophy change.”

From start to finish, the aviation students spend approximately 38 weeks in the advanced training regimen at Whiting before they graduate and move to larger operational helicopters in the fleet, such as the H-60, H-53 and AH-1 helicopters.

“This transition will bring the next generation of Naval rotary aviators to the Fleet,” Otten commented. “For the students themselves, their time to train is fairly close to the TH-57. We’re hoping they are able to maintain that same time to train. With the efficiencies the team has built into the new syllabus, along with taking advantage of the new technology and power that the aircraft brings, I think we’re going to be able to produce a stronger student. The years of effort put into getting us to this point is probably what’s most exciting– it’s actually here.”

According to Waldron, CNATRA and Wing personnel have been planning and developing the new Advanced Helicopter Training System for five years, to include infrastructure and maintenance for the new TH-73A.

“With every transition to a new airframe there are going to be challenges,” said Capt. Jade Lepke, U.S. Navy, Commodore, Training Air Wing Five. “What we’ve seen in the end is the team has really come together. I’ve been proud and impressed with how far we’ve come with the ability to affect change and improve training. We are all working together and everyone is invested in making this training program the safest and most effective in the Navy.”

Training Air Wing Five based at Whiting Field is the largest aviation training wing in Naval Air Training Command (CNATRA). It is responsible for training 60% of primary aviation students in the T-6 aircraft, and 100% of all Navy, Marine and Coast Guard helicopter students.

Source: United States Navy

 
 
Retired Capt.  H. Wyman Howard, Jr., Anzio’s first commanding officer, fondly remembered how the ship was brought to life three decades ago.
 
“Four-hundred young men with the average age of 20 years old, 66 percent of whom had never been to sea before, ran onto Anzio and brought her alive,” said Howard during his remarks.
 
“At the commissioning, I wrote the following letter to Team Anzio: ‘This day marks the most significant milestone in the life of Anzio:  she comes alive! …” continued Howard. “Whether you fought at the Anzio beachhead, welded a piece of her steel, supervised her construction, or gave your love and support to us during 20 months of hard work, you are a valued member of Team Anzio. Thank you for all the hours, hard work, and sacrifices you made to make this day a reality.’ ”
 
The event comes just months after the ship’s 30th commissioning anniversary. Hundreds gathered to celebrate the ship’s distinguished history and military service. The ceremony’s presiding officer, Rear Adm. Tom Williams, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Two shared his thoughts about the CG 68 Sailor.  

“The operations Anzio Sailors supported when the nation called provided tremendous significance to their lives as well as the legacy of the United States Navy,” said Williams. “Long after we’d safely arrived home to our loved ones, and well beyond the day we will hang up our uniform for the last time, we will have the honor to say we sailed aboard the United States Ship Anzio, and fondly remember those days serving the land and people we love.”
 
Following Williams’ remarks, Anzio Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Greg J. Piorun, Jr., spoke to the special bond forged aboard the ship over the years.
 
“This ceremony is a culmination of over 30 years of Anzio answering our nation’s call – from her keel laying Aug. 21, 1989 and commissioning May 2, 1992, to this decommissioning ceremony,” said Piorun.
 
“We do not have time to even scratch the surface of all the stories and memories that were made by the thousands of Sailors who served in her. We are here today though, to honor all of those stories and memories. I have come to learn throughout my time in command just how strong the Anzio bond is. I’ve not seen anything like it to date and will likely not see anything like it again.”
 
Anzio was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and commissioned in Norfolk, May 2, 1992.
 
She is the second ship to bear the name Anzio and honors the Allied Forces beachhead invasion at Anzio and Nettuno, Italy, during World War II. The strategic importance of the Battle of Anzio to the overall Allied effort in Europe, however, is often underestimated. The two German corps engaged on the Anzio front were originally destined for Normandy. The success of the Allied landings on the beaches in France in June 1944 were due largely to the tenacity of the Allied forces at Anzio.
 
During its 30 years of service, the cruiser has been an important part of America’s national defense strategy.
 
The Ticonderoga-class, guided-missile cruiser deployed for the first time Oct. 20, 1994, as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Battle Group. During that deployment the crew participated in operations conducted in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf, Adriatic Sea and Black Sea. It would be the first of many Anzio deployments.
 
Over the years, the Anzio team supported Operation Iraqi Freedom, firing more than a dozen Tomahawk missiles while on station and served as the flagship for Combined Task Force 151 supporting anti-piracy efforts off the horn of Africa. The crew also picked up 10 U.S. Navy Sailors for transport and medical evaluations after being held in Iranian custody having been captured after their two naval boats unintentionally entered Iranian waters. 
 
“From the countless hundreds of thousands of miles traveled to the comradery cemented in foreign port calls, the one thing that holds true is the connections Anzio Sailors made with each other and the bonds that formed during their service together,” added Piorun.  
 
“We are here today to break from the somber nature of this ceremony in order to remember those who have come before us, revitalizing memories, so Anzio lives on.”
 
After decommissioning, the ship is slated to be towed in November to the Navy’s Inactive Ship’s facility in Philadelphia, Pa., where it will be in a Logistical Support Asset status.