{"id":20142,"date":"2019-09-06T15:27:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T15:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/06\/heres-how-army-aviators-must-prepare-for-large-scale-combat-operations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:02:56","slug":"heres-how-army-aviators-must-prepare-for-large-scale-combat-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/09\/06\/heres-how-army-aviators-must-prepare-for-large-scale-combat-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how Army aviators must prepare for large-scale combat operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To continue current missions, adapt to brand new aircraft and prepare for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/04\/15\/the-army-marines-and-socom-want-these-capabilities-from-their-next-helicopter\/\" target=_blank>large-scale combat operations<\/a>, the Army is pushing its pilots in some of the toughest training challenges, both real and virtual, that they\u2019ve ever faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of that is going to come from new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/09\/11\/pilots-test-new-digital-displays-in-black-hawk-helicopters-to-replace-decades-old-analog-controls\/\" target=_blank>high-tech trainers <\/a>that developers hope to keep pace with rapid changes in the existing equipment and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/05\/08\/this-piece-of-gear-conquers-a-problem-thats-always-plagued-helicopter-pilots\/\" target=_blank>future add-ons as that gear evolves.<\/a> But other parts of training are a return to fundamentals that the gray-haired generals would find familiar \u2013 planning, executing and evaluating your own training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A group of current and retired senior Army aviators spoke Thursday at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s Aviation Hot Topic meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/08\/02\/the-army-hopes-this-black-hawk-upgrade-will-help-counter-incoming-missiles\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Black-Hawk-with-crew.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Army hopes this Black Hawk upgrade will help counter incoming missiles<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The infrared countermeasure helps better detect rockets and other threats.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the conference covered ongoing deadlines for future aircraft and ways that top leaders will continue to sustain current and future operational tempo, the subject most Army aviators are already seeing or will soon see was the focus on how to prepare for large-scale combat operations in training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advances in synthetic training environments, or ways of using virtual battlefields, either entirely immersive or a combination of augmented reality with existing scenarios, is perhaps the only way to effectively drill what\u2019s needed to fight the big fight, said Brig. Gen. Stephen L.A. Michael, deputy commanding general of the Army\u2019s Combined Arms Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe bottom line is that STE will give us the ability to replicate the challenges of large scale combat operations,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But also, all of the work around training will also have to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael said it\u2019s time for training to be treated like a commodity and \u201creturned to the commanders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He noted that a lot of new lieutenants and captains in the aviation field have not had to access mission training plans and documents, a common practice just a few decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because due to high op tempo and aviation demands, most training during the Global War On Terror missions was focused on getting the pilot as ready as fast as possible so others handled the prep work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retired Gen. James Thurman, former head of United Nations Command, Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, noted that current commanders can\u2019t just abandon their counterinsurgency skill sets in favor of future scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both have to be trained. Responding to an audience question on how that would happen, Thurman said that developing \u201cfull spectrum scenarios\u201d for the training environment would have to start at home station training. That process then has to be managed all the way through and a set of standard operating procedures that tells commanders, whether they\u2019re aviation, armor, infantry, engineers or otherwise, what\u2019s expected of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He noted that every battalion task force in the past had to be able to move to contact, conduct hasty attack and hasty defense while also sustaining the formation and doing COIN work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cArmy aviation has to be fully integrated as part of combined arms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Army National Guard, preparation for large-scale combat may be a major priority, but it can\u2019t be the only one. They still have their state duties and disaster response work to prepare for and execute, said Brig. Gen. Ray Davis, assistant director of aviation and safety for the Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Part of that preparation, though, will require a re-examination of how the Guard aviation units are dispersed across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Davis said an Army aviation task force is evaluating the challenges to how the service stations its units and looking to decrease dispersion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With units spread from coast to coast, that challenges the ability for them to come together and train, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The development of the Army\u2019s Future Vertical Lift, which will replace the Black Hawk, Chinook, Kiowa and Apache helicopters with at least two new platforms, also opens up training challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those include both the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Col. John M. Ferrell, who heads simulations at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama, said that current updates to platforms see major delays in those changes hitting training simulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That creates problems for keeping pilots up to date on the latest equipment upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new goal is to have those run in parallel in under 90 days. That means that if a helicopter gets an upgrade the training software or module will receive the same upgrade within that time frame. It\u2019s still a delay that can pose problems but it\u2019s a more workable timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>What simulations can do<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And as the Army adapts to a new way of warfare, the Multi-Domain Operations concept that\u2019s being developed across the force, the simulations that aviators use are helping but not fully solving those difficulties, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a weekly basis, Ferrell said, they\u2019re developing complex scenarios and changing instruction. But the simulations still cannot fully replicate all of the demands of the MDO environment, which will see pilots and ground units hit with a barrage of kinetic fires, electronic warfare jamming, spoofing and cyber-attacks on their networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got to train our leaders on what tools are available,\u201d Ferrell said. That will help build competency as the systems evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The colonel did stress that the training abilities do allow for them to deeply assess individual, team and unit-level performance. That helps feed back data to commanders to help meet their training and mission objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But simulations can provide things that real-life training can\u2019t, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance, helicopters can fly at much greater speed, practice long-range fires and work in environmental problems such as weather or chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attack scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Large-scale combat<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Col. Kenneth E. Cole, who recently took over as deputy commander at the ACOE, relayed that in the operational force that he just left in Europe, pilots, air crews and maintenance crews are training as a single entity for large-scale combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During recent exercises such as Saber Guardian and Swift Response, soldiers traversed more than 1,000 miles and as many as six countries to conduct their exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe takeaway there is that you can\u2019t just do that tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to train to get there, build those blocks, protect training and emphasize fundamentals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No longer can a commander or pilot show up at the National Training Center and start figuring out what they want to train while they\u2019re there, Thurman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michaels sees a clear goal \u2013 to have units arriving at their CTCs \u201cready for war.\u201d That will take combined home station training and a mentality that has training embedded in all aspects of what pilots do throughout their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTraining staffs have to be able to plan, think at the speed of war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New aircraft and challenges mean a new approach to training, leaders 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Here\u2019s how Army aviators must prepare for large-scale combat operations - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New aircraft and challenges mean a new approach to training, leaders say.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s how Army aviators must prepare for large-scale combat operations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New aircraft and challenges mean a new approach to training, leaders say.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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