FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- A long-standing relationship between Army aviation and its contractor team at Fort Rucker, Alabama, has reaped dividends for the Department of the Army in providing the maintenance, logistics and sustainment readiness required to provide the best-trained aviators to combat brigades.
Since 1955, the government has relied on what is known today as the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile
Command's Aviation Center Logistics Command (ACLC) at Fort Rucker. This government and contractor team ensures the Army's fleet of helicopters is always ready to complete the Army Aviation Center for Excellence training mission.
That's a major 24/7 accomplishment, when more than 600 helicopters in 12 different aircraft configurations can be in flight at any given time to meet Army requirements. On a typical day, more than 150 Department of the Army Civilian and military quality assurance specialists oversee the work of about 3,300 contractor employees at ACLC to support more than 500 training missions from six airfields (five at Fort Rucker and one at Fort Benning, Georgia), 72 remote training sites, 17 stage fields, three remote refueling stations and one firing range.
They also order upwards of $2 million in inventory to ensure 54,000 aviation parts are always in stock, and perform more than 60 maintenance test flights or related activities daily. In addition, the government team completes about 5,000 aircraft inspections annually in support of more than 200,000 flight hours a year.
"This is a team of teams approach," said Col. Michael Best, ACLC commander. "Every pilot trained here has an impact on the Army's 10 combat aviation brigades. We are generating aviation readiness for the Army."
About 2,500 aviators go through the aviation training program at Fort Rucker each year, either as an initial entry rotary wing pilot or as a graduate pilot gaining additional training or transitioning to another aircraft. Twenty-five percent of all Army aviation flight time occurs at Fort Rucker.
ACLC currently oversees maintenance on a $1.98 billion, five-year aviation maintenance services contract for two helicopter fleets meeting different training missions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fleet consists of non-deployable aircraft -- TH-67 Creeks and UH-72 Lakotas -- used for training pilots in basic warfighting skills, while the green fleet consists of the Army's modern aircraft -- AH-64 Apaches, CH-47 Chinooks and UH-60 Black Hawks -- used to train pilots on advanced skills specific to each helicopter employed in today's Combatant Commands.
"We have five airfields at Fort Rucker that correspond to different airframes," said Roy Templin, the ACLC Fleet Sustainment Division chief. "ACLC has employees at all airfields, all sites and in 91 facilities to provide oversight of those airframes and to serve as the liaison between the customer -- the instructor and student pilots -- and the contractor maintenance crew."
Many of those ACLC employees bring with them an Army aviation background that includes quality control experience, which is essential when overseeing the complex quality requirements of aviation systems.
"Many worked for us when they were in the military," said Templin, who, while on active duty, served as the first executive officer for ACLC. "By coming back as civilians, we benefit from their military experience and the experience they gained when they were assigned to ACLC. They already understand Army maintenance procedures for aviation, safety, quality control and aircraft specific issues."
That experience comes in handy when maintenance issues arise. "There are always challenges, always issues you find during phased maintenance," said Wade Pasquarella, ACLC Maintenance Surveillance Branch chief. "You can't see a crack inside a firewall until you remove the engine.
"Because we have a lot of older aircraft and because those aircraft are used over and over again, we will see maintenance issues here that you don't see out in the field. And, in our new aircraft, we will see maintenance issues here earlier than you will see them in the field because our aircraft are used over and over again in the same maneuvers. That situation is compounded, too, by student pilots who are learning the aircraft. A helicopter may land and take off 15 or 20 times during one training session, and it may be used in three or four training sessions in one day. For those reasons, we see wear and tear in things you may not even see in the field. We put lots of hours on our helicopters very quickly."
During Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015, ACLC prepared to support the Army's Restructuring Initiative (ARI), which divested all OH-58 Kiowa Warriors from the training fleet; and by the end of FY19, will divest all 187 TH-67 Creeks used since the 1990s and replace them with UH-72 Lakotas. The initiative also includes reducing AH-64D Apaches with no change in mission, changing out CH-47D Chinooks for CH-47Fs, and upgrading existing fleets. During a five-year period ending in 2020, 100 aircraft a year will be transitioned in support of the initiative.
As the largest employer in Alabama's "Wiregrass Region," ACLC will continue to move forward despite the challenges of ARI and budget constraints because of the local community, which takes pride in the role that it has had in Army aviation since the 1950s.
"Ultimately, the school house and the Soldier are our customers. Wherever you see Soldier pilots flying, we're there to support them with the best maintenance," said Best.
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The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), a subordinate of the U.S. Army Materiel
Command, develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned vehicle systems.
As a life cycle management command, AMCOM assures aviation and missile readiness with seamless
transition to combat operations.
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