US Army selects SRT helicopters

SRT Helicopters, the world's leading provider of high risk operational services and training, recently conducted a mountain flying and pre-deployment training course for the US Army's 12th Combat Aviation Brigade (12th CAB)

The Brigade's Standardization Pilot found the SRT training to be very beneficial and very challenging. "Based on my personal experience with this course, I believe that specific mountain training courses, such as the one conducted by SRT, are invaluable training opportunities and should be mandatory for any unit preparing to operate in mountainous terrain, especially when the loss rate and their causes are examined in Afghanistan where the terrain and environment are involved in many more losses than enemy action."

Training consisted of classroom academics on the effects of altitude on human and aircraft performance, the influence of weather patterns on local winds, mountain terrain analysis and its effects on local winds, and flight techniques and procedures in the mountains. Over the five days of training, each student flew an average of 2.4 hours per day, starting from an initial operating altitude of 3,000 feet and culminating in multiple approaches at 10,000 feet. Each student made in excess of 20 approaches at varying altitudes during the course.

According to Christian Gadbois, President and CEO of SRT Helicopters, "Daily After Action Reports (AAR's) were conducted to discuss and evaluate the performance of each student as well as to provide SRT with instant feedback on whether the training was meeting the needs of these specific students. Our experienced mountain instructor pilots continuously monitored student progress and adapted their training regimen as required."

SRT Helicopters, based in Bakersfield, California, is a full service helicopter company that specializes in providing high risk operational services and training for private business; military, and local, state, and federal agencies. SRT's training staff is comprised of working professionals who regularly respond to real-world missions, which ensures that the company's training methods and curriculum are current, relevant, and designed to address real-life operational scenarios. SRT training is customized to meet each customer's specific mission requirements, which may include initial and recurrent pilot training; CRM/human factors for aircrew and management personnel; technical rescue training, including hoist operations and maintenance; incident management and incident command training; special operations, including airborne use of force; and operations in austere environments.

Source: SRT