Photo By Lance Cpl. Justin Roux | A Marine fast-ropes from a UH-1Y Venom helicopter during a fast-rope training exercise...... read more read more
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Marines and aircraft assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, supported Marines training with the Expeditionary Operations Training Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, during a fast-rope training exercise, May 9, 2017.
During the training event, HMLA-269 utilized a 90 foot rope to allow Marines training with EOTG to fast-rope to the ground below the aircraft safely. When conducting these types of insertions a 90 or 120 foot long rope is used. The Marines where thick gloves to protect their hands from being burned when sliding down the rope; this trait is imperative to this insert method, because it allows the Marines to have control over the speed in which they fall to the Earth below.
The fast-rope master course was originally developed to give the Marine Air-Ground Task Force a quick certification for them to deploy in order to reinforce an embassy and deploy forces on foreign soil where the need for humanitarian assistance is necessary, said Capt. Adam Aikens, an assistant operations officer assigned to EOTG.
“I think this is the fifth or sixth master course the Marine Corps has had since last year,” said Aikens. “Since its development, we’ve been able to certify well over 100 fast-rope masters in addition to [the Marines we’re training today].”
Marines assigned to EOTG for the exercise were not the only ones to receive quality training during the event. HMLA-269 aircraft were able to work on landing, hovering, and pattern maneuvers.
“Pattern work is what we would do for an ingress profile if we were actually doing this for a real mission,” said Capt. Justin Lovell, a pilot with HMLA-269. “We [demonstrate] what it looks like and it provides us the training and proficiency we need to maintain as well.”
By participating and supporting training exercises such as this the pilots and air crew aboard the aircraft are able to seize the opportunity and improve upon their techniques and performance when inserting troops via this method. During this time, the crew is able to also improve upon their communication with the troops being supported by the aircraft assigned to the squadron.
“I love this stuff, I think it’s great,” said Lovell. “It’s a lot of fun to get out there and do fast roping with these guys. [When conducting training such as this, we] get to meet the guys we support all the time. You don’t always get to see them face-to-face, so it’s good to go out there and see them and get to see the results directly as they slide down the rope.”
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2017 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 233971 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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