Apache Pilots

[JungleJett]

I have a 1985 issue of Rotor & Wing that has a pretty good spread on what was known then as the Hughes AH-64 Apache. I also have a 1992 edition of Air Force magazine that has a story about the Apaches that fired the first shots of the Gulf War I. (Why is an AH-64 in an Air Force rag, MH-53's lead them into combat.)

They are somewhat free to the first AH-64 pilot that PM's me. All I ask for in exchange, is a unit patch for our life support.

 

[GoingHot]

(Why is an AH-64 in an Air Force rag, MH-53's lead them into combat.)

The mission could have been executed without the 53's, however, they served two important functions, navigation and CSAR. Back in 1991 few people had even heard of GPS, and the few systems available did not work very well. There were only a few GPS satellites in orbit.

The Air Force had an Inertial Navigation System (INS) on the MH-53 and we had a P.O.S. Doppler Navigation System. The Doppler of that time only worked well if you could keep it updated in flight. This is hard to do over the desert or water. Also, the MH-53 is their CSAR bird. By being on the mission, it was available to pick up any crews that may have found themselves on the ground without a ride home.

 

[Deuce130]

It also made the careers of a few MH-53 pilots in AFSOC. It was also a pretty cool mission at the time, though some of today's Pave Low pilots have stories that make this one look pretty vanilla.

 

[GoingHot]

It also made the careers of a few MH-53 pilots in AFSOC.

It didn't hurt the Aviation Battalion Commander either. Today, he wears 4 stars on his uniform.

 

[Hobit]

GoingHot,
Were you in D!CK's Bn then? If so, is it true he threatened to charge the pilots $$$ if anymore HDU's got broken... right before he stepped on one?

 

[GoingHot]

GoingHot,
Were you in D!CK's Bn then? If so, is it true he threatened to charge the pilots $$$ if anymore HDU's got broken... right before he stepped on one?

No, I was in another Bn, (back-up for the mission). But I heard the story from some of their pilots.

 

[Cobra]

Yep, the ex 1-101 commander will someday make a great politician as a civilian.

I remember severely showing up some of his active duty homeboys at a gunnery shoot over a decade ago. This guy walked up to the podium telling us reservists that with some hard work and dedication we would someday be as good shooters as his active duty subjects. Shortly thereafter, I recall his aid leaning in whispering to him that it was the reserve pukes who had the overall best gunnery scores for the shoot not the active homeboys.

Talk about the nano-second rebound response of "how about them cowboys, shift in topic speech." Funny as hell then as it is now!

Yep, I remember the good ole King Fad parking lot days as a active duty puke later to be reservist besting young active duty types but relinquishing that honor so that the old man's OER looks good for the later four star days!!!!

 

[Pistlpetet]

A friend of mine who was in 1-101 when Dick Cody was the Bn CDr, told me that he also knocked a PNVS off the front of an aircraft with a rotorblade.

 

[Richard Gozinya]

A friend of mine who was in 1-101 when Dick Cody was the Bn CDr, told me that he also knocked a PNVS off the front of an aircraft with a rotorblade.

He surely didn't hit any AAA sites on the Normandy mission.

Dick

 

[Birdstrike]

The mission could have been executed without the 53's, however, they served two important functions, navigation and CSAR.

Three if you count making it a purple op.

I work in the Building. Cody must get his ACUs hand-made because they don't come that big off the rack.