Army aviation aircrewman course

“We used to have lots of small courses so we’ve combined them all into one nine month course and renamed it the Aviation Aircrewman Course,” explained Major Julian Cattonar, senior instructor of Army’s Aviation Trade Wing.

Based at the Army Aviation Training Centre in Oakey, southwest of Brisbane, Aviation Trade Wing is a unit attached to the School of Army Aviation responsible for all aviation trade training including aircrew (recently renamed from loadmaster), groundcrew aircraft support and groundcrew mission support.

Aviation Trade Wing uses a civilian owned and operated Bell 412 for all ab-initio training during the basic phase.

This role was previously undertaken by Army’s recently retired UH-1H Iroquois.

“The change to using the 412 for us has meant a lot of updates to our mass briefs and publications because we’ve had to delete the word UH-1H and insert 412,” said MAJ Cattonar. “But the training concept itself hasn’t changed, it’s just a different platform. ” Up until the commencement of the new aviation aircrewman course structure, four trainees were enrolled on each course with courses commencing quarterly.

“This year we have increased the training capability up to five per course,” said MAJ Cattonar.

The aviation aircrewman course comprises three phases, basic, transition (on to type), and tactics.

The basic phase introduces trainees to hoisting operations using the winch, external load lifting with the cargo hook, aircraft clearances with obstacles, and how to act as a crewmember on board an aircraft.

For hook training operations the trainees practice with water filled drums and concrete blocks to simulate different load types and weights.

“For the basic phase we have a combination of military and civilian instructors provided by both us and Boeing for instructing in the back of the aircraft. ” Where possible Aviation Trade Wing has configured the rear cabin of the 412 to be similar to the UH-1H, minimising the differences for instructors (the 412 is essentially a twin-engined, four-blade evolution of the UH-1H).

The basic phase takes about 11 weeks to complete before trainee aircrewmen move on to the transition phase allowing a new abinitio group to commence the basic phase.

The transition phase sees trainees move onto the S-70A Black Hawk where they begin learning more advanced aircrew techniques.

“It’s a little bit faster now because they’re on the Black Hawk itself and that’s where we start getting them into the operational training as well. ” The 412 operates the same type of hoist system as fitted on the Black Hawk, reducing the amount of training during the transition phase.

“The design of the new training management package for aviation aircrewman will accommodate any aircraft type operated by the Army. So for us the aircraft is a change of variable. The training output will still be the same, it’s just the variable being the platform that changes,” explained MAJ Cattonar.

“Obviously if you’re teaching hoisting operations on a Black Hawk they will be different to a Chinook, it will be different to an MRH 90, but the outcome is still the same. ” The tactics phase, which has been a new addition to the new aircrewman course, is designed to better prepare trainee aircrewmen for their operational responsibilities.

“Tactics training is something the Land Command units used to be responsible for as part of the unit’s training and assessment plan, but we have incorporated a large chunk into the ab-initio aircrewman course so at least the trainees are more mission focused and mission ready when they get to the units. ” The introduction of a new loadmaster virtual reality simulator to aircrewman training has reduced slightly the practical training required.

Designed by Bohemia Interactive, Army purchased the loadmaster simulator last year. The UK and US armies are looking favourably at acquiring the simulator as well for their aircrewman training.

“The simulator doesn’t take away for the requirement to conduct practical training with an aircraft in the air.

What it does is enhance the training system in that we can provide a lot of the remedial training and a lot more tutorial assistance on the simulator so it increases trainees’ confidence and increases their skill sets as far as recognising what to look for in the air. Effectively, it’s enhancing the training concept with the flow-on effect being a better graduation rate,” concluded MAJ Cattonar.