-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
Where do carriers get helos to cover CQ and other at sea periods sans Air Wing
- Thread starter nugget61
- Start date
They had a helo airborne whenever there were T-45's CQ'ing. A H-60 guy can tell you about what kind of detachments they send. I only saw two helo's total if I recall correctly.
Part of the airwing will be a helo detachment who's sole (primary) mission is SAR, particularly for the CQ det of -45s.
It's not necessarily from the air wing's helo squadron. For example, this past CQ period on Truman an HSC squadron covered the VTs at the boat. That way the helo squadron from Truman's air wing didn't have to go up and cover it.
Bottom line, they'll take an helo squadron that's available to cover an evolution like that, doesn't have to be from the CAG that is attached to the boat.
A particular east coast HSC (exp) squadron has taken most, if not all, the CQ dets from the HS squadrons. A CQ det is usually a four bird det.
Which makes sense, especially since the boat leaves from the same spot. Of course, it doesn't always work out that way.
Carriers will go to sea quite often without an Airwing embarked. After overhaul work, they will do some sea-trials to make sure they have all the bugs out of the systems.
Once the Strike Group starts workups, the Airwing will embark in various amounts, depending on where in the workup cycle the Strike Group is, for example the first exercies might only have abouy 60% of the aircraft, but all the personnel embarked.
When carriers go out for CQ (VT or FRS) then it will usally have 3-5 helos on board. These will do the SAR for the CQ period. Fleet squadron get the extra fun of doing these at-sea periods. I would say the majority of CQ periods have been covered by the Airwing HS/HSC squadrons, but some of the expeditionary HC/HSC squadrons have covered periods over the years.
Pretty much any time a carrier goes to sea the CO wants to have at least two helos (one to fly and one as a back-up) embarked. It makes life a lot easier for the ship if a man overboard happens, embarking or returning the harbor pilot and for anything else that may come up like logisitcs missions. I've been on carriers that have gone to sea without a helo embarked, but since at-sea time is now at a premium due to compressed turnaround cycles, if a carrier goes to sea, it will be covering some requirement that will require a helo on board.
Once the Strike Group starts workups, the Airwing will embark in various amounts, depending on where in the workup cycle the Strike Group is, for example the first exercies might only have abouy 60% of the aircraft, but all the personnel embarked.
When carriers go out for CQ (VT or FRS) then it will usally have 3-5 helos on board. These will do the SAR for the CQ period. Fleet squadron get the extra fun of doing these at-sea periods. I would say the majority of CQ periods have been covered by the Airwing HS/HSC squadrons, but some of the expeditionary HC/HSC squadrons have covered periods over the years.
Pretty much any time a carrier goes to sea the CO wants to have at least two helos (one to fly and one as a back-up) embarked. It makes life a lot easier for the ship if a man overboard happens, embarking or returning the harbor pilot and for anything else that may come up like logisitcs missions. I've been on carriers that have gone to sea without a helo embarked, but since at-sea time is now at a premium due to compressed turnaround cycles, if a carrier goes to sea, it will be covering some requirement that will require a helo on board.
For the East Coast guys, are they getting the HSC bubbas to cover the U/W SAR dets because they're right there in Nawfolk anyway? Seems like, if you're not doing airwing-centric training, it'd make more sense to grab some dudes that are literally right down the street from the Boats, than have guys haul up from Jax/Mayport. But we all know 'sense' got nothing to do with it.
...it'd make more sense to grab some dudes that are literally right down the street from the Boats, than have guys haul up from Jax/Mayport. But we all know 'sense' got nothing to do with it.[/QUOTE]
You hit the nail on the head with that, since we've made the trek from Jax to Norfolk on numerous occasions for a CQ det. We usually take 2 aircraft if it's only a CQ det.
You hit the nail on the head with that, since we've made the trek from Jax to Norfolk on numerous occasions for a CQ det. We usually take 2 aircraft if it's only a CQ det.
If only there was some dedicated squadron that could cover CQ dets. I wonder if anyone ever thought about that... oh wait, they did, and now it's gone.
They did? Which one?
My first three guesses are: a reserve squadron, a reserve squadron, and a reserve squadron.
My first three guesses are: a reserve squadron, a reserve squadron, and a reserve squadron.
Yup. HS-75. Kind of like having two dedicated SPECWAR squadrons, then killing one, and then realizing we probably need two.
What is the rational for having those speciality squadrons in the reserve vs. active (I get the impression reserve flying is a somewhat full-time job)? Is active-Navy meant to be more homogenous, so the more heterogeneous / specified / special-use (not used often?) units are reserve components?
Or does it simply come down to pilot experience (the counter point being, why not just have requirements for specialized active-duty units)?
Well, DoD-wide, it was a conscious decision after Vietnam, when the refusal to call up the Reserves and Guard was a big deal. The specialized units were structured so that it was pretty much impossible to go to war without a big activation. Downside is that you wind up grinding down the Reserve during a prolonged war, as we've seen in Iraq.
As far as CNAF and the Reservistas and why those particular missions, I dunno. All the VAW squadrons used to do counter-drug dets between cruises, for example but now it's just VAW-77, who do Narco as their fulltime job.