FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
The 159th Aviation Regiment, 5th Battalion, U.S. Army Reserves conducted Maritime External Air System (MEATS) training April 7-11 in direct support of U.S. Navy Special Boat Team 20.
The training increases the range of effectiveness for naval assets by utilizing aviation units to carry special warfare teams and their watercraft from one point to another.
"The purpose of MEATS is to provide the Navy with the capability to move their maritime assets over a longer range," 1st Lt. Kyle Selig, Bravo Company 5-159 General Support Aviation Battalion executive officer, said. "Our helicopters pick up the Navy's boats and move them closer to a point of insertion or we provide extraction for the team."
During the week-long event, the 5-159th Aviation Regiment conducted 12 training flights. During each flight, CH-47D Chinook crewmembers worked with a U.S. Navy rigid-hull inflatable boat, hooking the two craft together with slings.
"The flight engineer in the back will look through the floor hatch and direct the pilot to lower the Chinook in increments of one or two feet until the helicopter is close enough to the boat for the boat crew to hook up the front and aft slings," Selig said. "As a pilot, you have to focus very precisely on air speed and altitude."
Once the slings are connected, the Chinook helicopter pulls the 19,500 pound watercraft 10 to 15 feet out of the water.
Crewmembers in the back of the CH-47 then drop a ladder down to the boat, allowing special warfare combatant-craft crewmen to climb up into the helicopter.
In a real-world situation, after the crewmen are safely inside, the Chinook would fly to its destination, carrying both crew and watercraft with it.
For the exercise, a crewman ascends the ladder, high-fives the waiting Chinook crewmember and climbs back down into the boat.
"It's one of the most difficult missions to work with," Selig said. "But it's extremely valuable training for the Army pilots. If I can hook up a boat that's moving the water, it's that much easier to pick up a stationary artillery piece. All of the things that we do during this mission help keep our pilots and flight engineers proficient and trained in all the rest of their daily missions."
Though the 159th Aviation Regiment does not conduct MEATS operationally, the training support that they provide is vital.
"Special aviation units are oversaturated with tasks that don't allow them to practice as much as the boat teams need," said Capt. Hector Rodriguez, Capt. Hector Rodriguez, Bravo Company, 5-159 General Support Aviation Battalion commander.. "It's a challenging training mission for the crew and we take pride in the fact that we're one of the few aviation units to do this mission."
The unit also takes pride in the number of joint missions it takes part in. Due to Fort Eustis' location, the 5-159 General Support Aviation Battalion is uniquely poised to support all branches.
"We're the joint unit," Rodriguez said. "We want to be the unit that works with the Army divers, the Navy Special Boat teams, the Air Force flight doctors. It's pretty hard to find another aviation unit who works with so many joint units on a daily basis."