Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/368881
A Air MoBiliTy 22 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com 2012, served for seven months in 2005 as a liaison officer and air assault planner for Canada's Special Operations Task Force under the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, and returned in July 2010 for 10 months as the officer commanding for Chinook flight with the Canadian Heli- copter Force. Previously, he explained, tactical heli- copter squadrons resided in brigades and were employed by that brigade when it de- ployed. With the introduction of the Chi- nook, "we learned from Afghanistan that we need a blend of both Griffons and Chi- nooks formed as an aviation battalion to pair with the Canadian Army High Readi- ness Task Force going out the door." As a result, the new employment con- cept calls for an Aviation Battalion consist- ing of a headquarters element from one of 408, 430 or 450 squadrons, a Griffon package of up to eight aircraft, plus main- tenance and logistics resources, and a Chi- nook package of up to four aircraft, with their maintenance and logistics support. The size of the battalion can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of a task force commander. To deliver that level of readiness, each squadron will supply subunits to one of the three headquarters-generating squad- rons to train up as the high readiness bat- talion. Throughout the year, one battalion will be in training while a second is avail- able for deployment. McKenna will detach his first subunit into that new construct in early 2015 under the leadership of 430 Squadron for the workup to declare it op- erationally ready by July 2015. "The greatest aspect of this is the ability to have high and normal readiness units ar- rayed throughout the Wing," he said. "My unique situation is I have four CH-147F subunits that will contribute to the avia- tion battalion on a cyclical basis, and I will always have one of those subunits on high readiness." The rapid introduction of new aircraft, however, has meant a steep training ramp for both aircrews and maintainers. Boeing provided the initial training to the three crews – pilots, loadmasters and flight en- gineers – previously qualified on the D model, "so the bridge was quite short," McKenna said, though still complex to learn the many new automated systems. That course will be completed in August. In October, the commander plans to transition to the first iteration of training by RCAF instructors at the squadron's facility in Petawawa. Final courseware for the air crews is still being developed in col- laboration with CAE, which is providing a training package that includes simulators and classroom resources. (The four simu- lators include a gunnery simulator – a full simulation of the door gun and ramp gun – and three flying simulators with differ- ent levels of fidelity, from full motion to a "sea can" based deployable mock up of the cockpit. All four will be networked.) McKenna said the course will likely in- volve four months and require approxi- mately 125 hours of flying time or 50 trips to be qualified on the Chinook. "Of those 50 trips, we are still determining the bal- ance of how many will be flown in the air- craft and how many will be in the simula- tor," he said. The net effect of the training schedule should be a subunit operationally ready to employ by December 2014, McKenna said. "The definition of that is a three-ship of aircraft that I can employ and sustain do- mestically or in an international permissive environment. We want to limit the aircraft in that full spectrum environment because we won't have all the countermeasures and mission kits integrated into the fleet and the training associated with those systems will not yet be completed or delivered." Once the countermeasures are integrat- ed, he expects crews to be fully trained for high threat environments by 2017. Unique industrial relations Critical to delivering both the Chinooks and the crew and maintenance training is a new partnership with industry. As providers of in-service support for the aircraft and simu- lators, respectively, both Boeing and CAE have taken up residence in the Petawawa hanger. For McKenna, the arrangement is "unique" because many of the functions that in the past would have been performed by the air force are now conducted or managed by Boeing personnel on-site, including all of the supply chain management – from parts and warehousing to even the provision of tools, previously a closely guarded function. Boeing, which has been training the first cadre of avionics technicians at Summit Aviation in Delaware, is also supporting the main Fleet Technical Training Flight (FTTF), providing a fully instrumented Chi- nook maintenance simulator and assisting the RCAF with the delivery of courseware. "Our maintainers are interfacing with their industry partners for every single aspect of their day," he said. Likewise, CAE has set up shop alongside the aircrews to develop courseware and provide services for the simulators. "It is a constant interactive process," McKenna said. "For my operational training flight, the drafting and then refinement and ac- ceptance of all of the courseware with CAE is the focus of their lives for the next year." Of note, in another twist to the partner- ship, Boeing has been contracted to deliver expeditionary logistics support, providing kits based on operations lasting 72 hours, 30 days or six to eight months that are pro- gressively more complex. From barren scrub at the edge of an air- field, 450 THS has grown to a large com- plex in just a few short years. As Major-Gen- eral Richard Foster, Deputy Commander of the RCAF, noted at a ceremony to accept the final Chinook, "it has been thrilling to watch the squadron grow at one aircraft ev- ery four weeks and witness the progress you have made in operationalizing this aircraft." For McKenna, the milestone marks a num- ber of transition points for both the aircrews and the maintainers as they now shift from accepting aircraft to delivering their own in- house training and preparing for an opera- tionally ready state. "My aviators, maintain- ers, and support trades are ready to jump in and start employing this aircraft." LCol Chris McKenna