Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Aron Montano | 241121-N-VD554-1077 NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. – Vice Adm. Dan Cheever,...... read more read more
NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. – Forty-one naval officers and enlisted personnel graduated from three different Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) courses during a joint ceremony held on Naval Air Station North Island, California, Nov. 21.
The graduates completed one of three WTI courses; SEAWOLF, which focuses on the MH-60S Sea Hawk, SEAHUNTER, which focuses on the MH-60R, and SEAWOLF’s Mine Counter Measures (MCM), which also focuses on the MH-60S. Those graduating included 24 pilots, 15 aircrewmen, and two intelligence officers, all representing the Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) and Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) communities, with each graduate receiving their respective “patch” during the ceremony.
“Over the last 12 weeks, you have faced one of the most challenging and rigorous courses in our Navy,” said Vice Adm. Dan Cheever, commander, Naval Air Forces. “As helicopter pilots, aircrew, and intelligence personnel from both the HSC and HSM communities, you represent the cutting edge of maritime warfare.”
The WTI course is a graduate level, 12-week course hosted in Fallon, Nevada, that develops graduates into tactical and technical experts on their aircraft’s systems, weapons, and tactics, techniques, and procedures. WTI’s returning to the Fleet are expected to instruct, educate, manage risk, and develop aviators for sustained combat operations at sea.
Capt. Dan Thomas, NAWDC department head for SEAWOLF, delivered remarks highlighting the accomplishments of the graduates from the three WTI courses and addressing their contributions to naval aviation and rotary wing operations.
“The WTI candidates standing here today have endured robust training environments, at a graduate level mindset, that forces tactical level decision making in the grey, which is the hard stuff,” said Thomas. “The result is highly trained and aggressive tacticians that are familiar with all facets of rotary wing warfare in order to dominate our enemies in combat.”
The SEAWOLF Rotary Wing Weapons School consisted of 13 total flight events and 326.8 total flight hours. The course focused on weapons employment of fixed forward firing rockets, the 20mm canon, crew served .50-caliber and 7.62mm weapons, combat logistics, strike coordination and reconnaissance, close air support, combat search-and-rescue, maritime interdiction operations, special operation forces support, and maritime personnel recovery.
SEAHUNTER’s 210 total flight hours was coupled with another 224 total flight simulator hours, spread among 10 and eight total flight events respectively. Mission areas were mountain flying, antisubmarine warfare, strike coordination and reconnaissance, long range maritime strike, electronic warfare, weapons employment, and surface to air counter-tactics.
The MCM WTI course was comprised of 35 flight hours and included operations with the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System, MK-18 operations with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit THREE, and destruction of mines with MK-65 neutralizers from the Airborne Mine Neutralization System. Additional training heavily focused on planning engagements with the greater Naval Mine Warfare community.
“The path to earning the WTI patch is challenging, and the work required to demonstrate the tactical ability to expertly employ the MH-60 in all mission areas is significant,” said Cmdr. Thad Rusinek, department head for SEAHUNTER at NAWDC.
The complex flight events integrated with both U.S. and allied components, including U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83, P-8 Poseidon assets, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, U.S. Air Force 34th Rescue Squadron, Royal Australian Navy, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SWAT Team. Collectively, the courses expended thousands of rounds of ordnance and demonstrated tangible interoperability in pursuit of greater lethality across the Naval Aviation Enterprise.
For more information on Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, visit https://www.airpac.navy.mil/Organization/Naval-Aviation-Warfighting-Development-Center/
| Date Taken: | 11.21.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2024 18:08 |
| Story ID: | 486134 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 560 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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