National Guard pilots get Lakota helicopter training

Fourteen student pilots representing National Guard units from Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia are receiving training over the next two weeks on the newest variant of the UH-72A Lakota, the Security and Support Mission Equipment Package.

The S&S MEP aircraft provides long range electro-optical sensors and the ability to record and down link data, which has already significantly aided the National Guard in its Homeland Security, Counter Drug, and Border Patrol missions. Training for the S&S MEP takes place in the Madison County Executive Airport in Meridianville.

"We have a standardized program, a training guide that has been approved by the National Guard as well as the Product Office PM," Tony Soto, an S3 support contractor and assistant director for flight operations with the UH-72A Lakota Product Office, said. "We walk through each one of the specific systems on the S&S aircraft. Our academic instruction includes instruction that covers the actual sensors, infrared theory, and we also provide instruction on the moving maps, SkyQuest monitors and how they all integrate into the actual airframe."

Soto, a standardization pilot and safety officer, said each class goes through a total of 40 hours of academic instruction. Each student pilot will also receive 14.2 hours of flight training. "This includes day, night or NVG (night vision goggles), depending on what their qualifications are," Soto said. The first week consists of academic and some day flight training; the second week consists of all night flight training. "At the end of the first week, we will give them a check ride before they can go into night flight training," Soto said.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Patrick Fisher, one of the student pilots undergoing training, said the class is set up for versatile instruction for both very experienced pilots such as instructor pilots, and those who do not have as many flight hours on the aircraft.

"It's a very complex system," Fisher said. "Initially there is a steep learning curve to it, understanding the system and the intricacies of it."

An instructor pilot himself, Fisher has about 750 hours flying the Lakota and has had numerous deployments to the Southwest border.

Before students come for the S&S instruction, they usually go through an Original Equipment Manufacturer training for aircraft qualification. IPs go through instructor pilot training at EADS in Columbus, Miss., then they come to Huntsville for S&S training. "Eventually all the pilots that come through will be train-the-trainers," Soto said.

After completing the course, the pilots will fly their new aircraft with which they have been training back to their home stations. Maryland will receive one S&S MEP (their third), West Virginia will receive its first, and Kentucky will receive their first two aircraft.

"The knowledge of the instructors, the information that has been put out is really valuable according to the feedback we have received," Soto said. "Most importantly, they get to do the hands on while they're doing the academics which really reinforces the instruction. Plus, they are away from their home stations, so there are no distracters here."

There are six instructors in the S&S MEP program, all of whom are support contractors with S3. Most of the instructors are previous counter drug detachment commanders. "There is a vast level of experience with sensors and counter narcotics on our team," Soto said. The instructors hold various levels of experiences as maintenance pilots, safety officer and standardization pilots.

A versatile aircraft capable of performing other important missions such as disaster relief, humanitarian, and search and rescue, the UH-72A S&S MEP is equipped with the latest technological advancements including a turreted L-3 Wescam MX-15i EO/IR and laser pointer; EuroAvionics EuroNav V RN6 moving map system, two SkyQuest 8-inch, touch-screen displays; a video management system, digital video recorder and data downlink system; plus additional avionics and Sierra Nevada Tactilink Eagle data communications equipment.

The helicopter is also equipped with a 30-million-candlepower Luminator LS16 searchlight that is mounted on the aft starboard step and slaved to the MX-15, and the same Goodrich 44301 series rescue hoist that is included in the Lakota's medevac MEP. All of the aircraft's components are commercial-off-the-shelf.

"It's a very capable system, and it has definitely proven itself down on the border," Fisher said. One of the crew chiefs in his unit holds the record for 136 captures in one night working with the Customs and Border Protection.

Seventy-two S&S MEPs are currently fielded to 31 National Guard units across the U.S. The last of the 107 total aircraft to be fielded is slated to go to the Arizona National Guard in fiscal year 2015.