What basics - curious on your thoughts? A night TERF done right can get a lot of basics.
For the record, I think your perspective/experience doesn't match the average helo community pilot. And I mean that it a good (and mildly jealous) way. I also think that a portion of the HS, now HSC, T&R (again, talking AC, not RC) focuses on stuff that you guys may do regularly (that's always a spirited conversation) more so than say the HSL/HSM side. So all that said, I come at it from the expeditionary HSL/M mindset, which includes an inordinate amount of MAS/SCAR/Section Attack training consisting of target tasking, but then it's never done in real life. I understand that some of the same fundamentals are applied for investigative tasking with the air wing now, but so much energy is spent on "30 seconds time on target" when the majority of what's actually done is moving a sensor around to various areas and monitoring.
Meanwhile, something like a TERF flight includes many of the fundamental pilot stuff, which is what I meant by basics. Airwork, CRM, landings in unprepared terrain, etc. But from the HSL/M perspective, that's just not really done (for multiple reasons, many of them completely reasonable). So now you have to do those specific mission tasks, AND find hours and time to keep your crews proficient with the pilot basics.
Do we need to be prepared for the yellow horde? Sure, but I've been told about how we need to be prepared for the yellow horde for years now, but the flight hours keep getting fewer and fewer for the basics.
As for guns - what is the point of a weapon if you aren't proficient in live fire? Close defense needs JAGs and NCEA on crew served weapons to solve the problem - not engineers.
No argument from me there. I've continued to say that I don't understand why we keep bolting new guns/missile systems to the airframes but don't up the NCEA. But I know I'm preaching to the choir....and to someone who probably has a pretty healthy NCEA right now.