More helo Q&A

[Gatordev]

From Loadtoad:

Does the HSL community do "real world" type stuff?
(fly around with live torps/hellfires in front of the fleet looking for surface ships.) Obviously you are not actually sending rounds downrange but are you doing more than just practicing your mission?

Also, do the HSL communities help out when hurricanes/tsunamis hit or is that mostly HS/HC/HSC bubbas flying the support? Will the Romeo be able to help or is it too heavy?

 

[Gatordev]

Does the HSL community do "real world" type stuff?
(fly around with live torps/hellfires in front of the fleet looking for surface ships.) Obviously you are not actually sending rounds downrange but are you doing more than just practicing your mission?

It's kind of a loaded question, because w/ a few exceptions, Navy helos in general don't shoot. They don't get put into positions where they're utilized that way. My HSL exposure was during the war and right after, so everyone in the Gulf was flying w/ Hellfires and a GAU. I don't know if they fly w/ missiles on the rail anymore (I'm sure someone here can chime in), but you'll at least carry the M-60/-240/GAU-16.

But here's where it gets weird. Other than sniper ops, I put more rounds down range doing Counter Drug ops then my buds did in the opening days of the war in the Gulf. There just aren't many targets available to match our Navy nowadays, at least none that want to play right now, which is probably a good thing. There's also rounds going down range on CD Ops from the helo, so it does happen. They're not in anger, but they get the point across (and that's all that needs to be said).

But to answer your question, when on deployment, you may do training missions in concert w/ daily ops, but generally you're doing the mission assigned. That goes for all the communities. What that mission is obviously depends on the tasking and the type of helo.

Also, do the HSL communities help out when hurricanes/tsunamis hit or is that mostly HS/HC/HSC bubbas flying the support? Will the Romeo be able to help or is it too heavy?

They do indeed. I had a couple of friends who were doing their thing during the Tsunami relief. I also know guys who were pulling people out of New Orleans all day every day. I don't know about the Romeo, but you can always make it lighter. There's things you can remove if necessary. Not a normal thing, but when it's needed, just like in the Bravo.

Sorry for bombarding you with so many questions! Your info is greatly appreciated.

No problem. If you don't mind, this is good stuff for a thread. If I have your permission, I'll start one up w/ your questions above. Let me know.

 

[Gatordev]

Moved and opened.

 

[llnick2001]

I just got back from the gulf on Lincoln (we have an HSL det on board with us) and they often flew with hellfires on the rail. They did a lot of ASR both for the strike group and for oil platform defense type stuff (as did we (we being HS)). Both of us also participated in multiple straights transits. I guess the short answer is yes, they actually did the mission, but no, they didn't get to kill anyone.

 

[Rubiks06]

It's kind of a loaded question, because w/ a few exceptions, Navy helos in general don't shoot. They don't get put into positions where they're utilized that way. My HSL exposure was during the war and right after, so everyone in the Gulf was flying w/ Hellfires and a GAU. I don't know if they fly w/ missiles on the rail anymore (I'm sure someone here can chime in), but you'll at least carry the M-60/-240/GAU-16.

But here's where it gets weird. Other than sniper ops, I put more rounds down range doing Counter Drug ops then my buds did in the opening days of the war in the Gulf. There just aren't many targets available to match our Navy nowadays, at least none that want to play right now, which is probably a good thing. There's also rounds going down range on CD Ops from the helo, so it does happen. They're not in anger, but they get the point across (and that's all that needs to be said).

But to answer your question, when on deployment, you may do training missions in concert w/ daily ops, but generally you're doing the mission assigned. That goes for all the communities. What that mission is obviously depends on the tasking and the type of helo.



They do indeed. I had a couple of friends who were doing their thing during the Tsunami relief. I also know guys who were pulling people out of New Orleans all day every day. I don't know about the Romeo, but you can always make it lighter. There's things you can remove if necessary. Not a normal thing, but when it's needed, just like in the Bravo.



No problem. If you don't mind, this is good stuff for a thread. If I have your permission, I'll start one up w/ your questions above. Let me know.

The Romeo in theory is modular so they can make it lighter but as far as how practical that is well have to wait for 71 to get back to tell us.

 

[Gatordev]

The Romeo in theory is modular so they can make it lighter but as far as how practical that is well have to wait for 71 to get back to tell us.

As of 2005-ish, I was told that most of that modularity was gone. Yeah, you can pull out the dome or launcher, but the same is true in the Bravo. It's a pain in the ass to pull out the launcher and is done so for longer term missions (SAR support, MIO/VBSS, etc).