Air Force Heli Guard Units

[Ad_Astra]

Could someone enlighten me on what it’s like to fly AF helos in the guard? I only see a few units that do it. What would it be like to do that part time? Does that require a lot more time to stay current? Could you have a civilian airline career with a helo guard unit? Thank you!

[LimaLowdown]

It's my understanding that the only guard helo units are rescue squadrons. They spend a lot of time sitting alert, and the ops tempo seems to be 4-5 months every 2 years. Unless you are in Alaska, you will probably only average 100 hours a year (someone correct me if I'm wrong here) unless you have a deployment. Only one dude out of the many I've met does an airline gig while flying helos, although that doesn't mean you can't do it, I think they just like flying helicopters and doing the mission more. 

The airframe is tired, but the mission is awesome. I think most dudes that want to go airlines fly helicopters for a few years then switch to a fixed wing squadron. 

[kona4breakfast]

Guard helos are all rescue squadrons. The mission is great, provided you actually get to do it. 

Currency is the same as anything else and is driven by regs. Proficiency takes reps, which takes years but you'll be in the same boat as everyone else. FYSA, I flew 200 hours this past year, though that was mostly due to initial qual and seasoning. I averaged 150 hours a year in the Army guard as a part-timer. 

Given the flying hour projections I'm seeing due to the 60W fielding, I highly recommend a civilian flying career.

 

 

[RedStng65]

What are the USAF’s annual minimum flight hours? Annual instrument mins? Do Guard folks usually have to submit waivers for not meeting them?


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[Pedro 6-1]

Guard helos are all rescue squadrons. The mission is great, provided you actually get to do it. 
Currency is the same as anything else and is driven by regs. Proficiency takes reps, which takes years but you'll be in the same boat as everyone else. FYSA, I flew 200 hours this past year, though that was mostly due to initial qual and seasoning. I averaged 150 hours a year in the Army guard as a part-timer. 
Given the flying hour projections I'm seeing due to the 60W fielding, I highly recommend a civilian flying career.
 
 

Are you saying the hours would be down due to switching to the whiskey?


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[kona4breakfast]

@RedStng65 I assume you aren't AF. We don't have minimum flying hour requirements. Certain events have currency requirements. Proficiency is theoretically gained through the maintenance of currency. In the end it's an pain in the ass for the schedulers and makes for a ton of thrash on the schedule. 

@Pedro 6-1 Yes. Air Force ending procurement of HH-60W combat rescue helicopter in FY23 - Breaking Defense

[Pedro 6-1]

[mention=81253]RedStng65[/mention] I assume you aren't AF. We don't have minimum flying hour requirements. Certain events have currency requirements. Proficiency is theoretically gained through the maintenance of currency. In the end it's an pain in the ass for the schedulers and makes for a ton of thrash on the schedule. 
[mention=82142]Pedro 6-1[/mention] Yes. Air Force ending procurement of HH-60W combat rescue helicopter in FY23 - Breaking Defense

Well that’s interesting, I figured they would be all over a new helicopter. Unless they’re saying they will need a new new helicopter if we’re talking about flying against Russia and China. But I wonder what that means for guys like me who want to fly that eventually.


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[Lawman]

Well that’s interesting, I figured they would be all over a new helicopter. Unless they’re saying they will need a new new helicopter if we’re talking about flying against Russia and China. But I wonder what that means for guys like me who want to fly that eventually.


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Considering the number of plans calling for ARSOAC and AFSOC to provide leverage of capes to PR the Air Force is realizing what it already knew 20 years ago when it tried to acquire 47s. The greatest LimFac to PR being provided by H-60s is the H-60. The second greatest being the 130 they need to drag with them to get anywhere useful in a fight against a foe with IADS and long range precision fires capability. That’s a reality to the challenge if you’re talking China, or going deep into a Middle Eastern country roughly 3-4 times the size of Iraq to pick up those 2 dudes in the middle of nowhere.

With the timeline to Future Vertical Lift, the Air Force is likely doing exactly what the Marines did when they passed on E/F Hornets. They are gonna slug along with what they got, and let the big revolutionary change be the real procurement target vs spend a lot of money on a new but marginal capabilities improvement and then have to justify replacing “new helicopters” in a decade when there really is something better.


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