FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Safety is paramount to success for the Soldiers and civilians of 1st Battalion, 223rd Aviation Regiment, said battalion leaders.
That success has, once again, been honored with the unit receiving the prestigious Order of the Daedalians, Lt. Gen. Allen M. Burdett Jr. Army Flight Safety Award for fiscal year 2010.
A trophy and award are presented annually to the Army Aviation training unit adjudged by the Training and Doctrine Command commanding general to have the most effective aircraft accident prevention program.
The battalion has won the award in nine of the last 11 years.
"This is a reflection of the battalion doing everything to the highest of standards," said Lt. Col. Joseph Matthew, 1st Bn., 223rd Avn. Regt. commander. "The emphasis and reiteration of safety and providing the Soldiers with the tools, resources and guidance to maintain a high tempo, but remain safe while doing our job is how we've been able to be successful."
According to CW3 Larry Karmine, 1st Bn., 223rd Avn. Regt. safety officer, the unit maintained its safety record flying more than 105,000 programmed flight hours in support of 27 different Programs of Instruction, utilizing eight different airframes to train more than 2,310 pilots.
"For the past eight years, the battalion's military pilots have experienced zero Class A through C Aviation accidents as a result of human error," said Karmine. "Class A through C Aviation accidents involving human error per 100,000 flight hours declined from 3.81 to .95. That's a result of the environment that's been created here."
According to Karmine, the .95 accidents involving human error per 100,000 flight hours is 600 percent below Army Aviation's accident rate for fiscal year 2010.
"These instructor pilots here are teaching people who don't even know what the controls are called yet," he said. "The instructors are able to work with them and teach them without doing any real damage to the aircraft, outside of normal wear and tear. The award is a testimony to their skill and teaching abilities."
Karmine, who took over the safety officer position in December, said the credit for implementing the current safety plan used by the battalion goes to its previous safety officer, CW3 Chris Jones, who recently permanently changed stations to Afghanistan.
"When I came in, the work had already been done and I just picked up where he left off," Karmine said. "I didn't have to add anything or change anything because he had put together a solid program and had done such a good job of maintaining a high standard."
The battalion coordinates and conducts flight instruction and operations at Cairns Army Airfield and Knox Army Heliport to provide the Army and its allied forces with professionally trained CH-47 and Mi-17 Aviators, instructors, maintenance test pilots, maintenance evaluators and non-commissioned flight engineer instructors. It also conducts flight training and evaluations of Army Initial Entry Rotary Wing common core POIs and the quality assurance of the Instrument Flight Examiner and C-12 Fixed-Wing qualification courses.
The battalion also provides general Aviation and crash rescue support to the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and conducts aeromedical evacuation throughout the southeastern U.S.
"There are two things a good instructor pilot needs to be effective: patience and passion," Karmine said. "Once the students know how much you want them to succeed, they want to succeed. The reward for the instructor pilots is seeing the students get their wings at the end of training."
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