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CAMP PENDLETON, Ca. - One thing that sets the Marine Corps apart
from other branches of the military is their creed that every Marine
is a rifleman. Each Marine demonstrates their skill with an M16-A4
service rifle or an M4 carbine during annual qualifications, but
there are some job fields that require abilities with slightly
larger weapons.
Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter
Squadron 169 (HMLA-169), Marine Aircraft Group 39, conducted weapons
proficiency training aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton,
California, Sept. 17, 2015.
Unlike the annual rifle
qualification, this training was conducted in a UH-1Y Huey
helicopter, and instead of M16s, they shot M240D and GAU-17 machine
guns as well as laser guided rockets with the Advanced Precision
Kill Weapons System.
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Donnelly, Idaho, native, Sgt. Elizabeth Azcuenaga, an enlisted aircrew training manager with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 (HMLA-169), Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, prepares to fire a GAU-17 machine gun aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 17, 2015. Azcuenaga fired the weapon from the door of a UH-1Y Huey during a weapons proficiency range designed to help new pilots and crew chiefs become more effective with their respective weapons systems. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Caitlin Bevel)
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“Today we did introductory exercises for both the crew
chiefs and the pilots,” said Sgt. Elizabeth Azcuenaga, an
enlisted aircrew training manager with HMLA-169, MAG 39.
“We're just getting them warmed up to the basic attack
profiles.”
The training consisted of repeatedly
attacking a specified target using different methods of
approach. These attack profiles employ each of the weapons
systems on the aircraft appropriately.
“Training like this is vital,” said
Azcuenaga. “If the crew chiefs and pilots don't get the
practice they need at the basic level before a more tactical
situation, it puts both the guys on the ground and in the
air at risk.”
One Huey pilot, 1st Lt. Daniel Wilde,
had only been with HMLA-169 a few months before
participating in this training.
“I did a couple of runs
like this back in the training squadron, but I pretty much
doubled my rocket shots today,” said Wilde. “I'm looking for
training value and the best way to get that is through
repetition.”
Azcuenaga described the exercise as a
building block and Wilde agreed that there is no substitute
for experience.
“The senior guys have the exact same
posture every time and they can just eyeball the shot
without using the rocket redical,” said Wilde. “They can
literally just sit in their seat and know where their
rockets are going to hit.”
The proficiency these
Marines are working to develop could help save the lives of
Marines in a vast array of deadly scenarios.
“I chose
the Huey because we do the double mission,” said Wilde. “We
have the power and the space to do assault support and pick
up the guys on the ground, but we also get to shoot.”
Wilde added that for him, the next step is to go into
more detailed mission planning, but he's only just getting
started. Since the unit was commissioned in 1971, HMLA-169
has conducted countless successful missions from the Gulf
War to the War on Terror. They flew more than 200 combat
sorties in 10 days during Operations Desert Shield and
Desert Storm without loss of aircraft or personnel. HMLA-169
has excelled in past conflicts and will continue to do so in
the future.
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Caitlin Bevel
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
The U.S. Marines
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