Aussie pilots to fill helicopter vacancies

[cec]

Aussie pilots to fill helicopter vacancies




By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 17, 2007 9:58:17 EDT

In the coming months, four Royal Australian Navy pilots will arrive in the U.S. for a new duty assignment — to serve as co-pilots aboard Coast Guard helicopters.
The Coast Guard and the RAN cemented an agreement May 24 for a unique “loaner” program, one that will put RAN pilots in cockpits in San Diego, San Francisco, Miami and Cape Cod, Mass.
The pilots will serve with the Coast Guard for three to four years. Two will fly the HH-60 Jayhawk; the other two will be assigned to the HH-65 Dolphin, officials said.
All will train to become aircraft commanders.
“We came up with a great deal. [The RAN] was looking to relieve a bottleneck in their program and, we, with our projected growth in aviation, have shortages projected,” said Rear Adm. David Pekoske, assistant commandant for operations.
All four pilots hail from the same unit, 723 Squadron based in Nowra, Australia. They are trained on the Eurocopter Squirrel and S-70B-2 Seahawk, a version of the Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk, and normally do logistics operations.
The loaner program will allow the RAN to retain pilots and maintain their skill sets even without positions for them, U.S. and Australian officials say.
“From an operational perspective, we’ll be giving them additional skill sets — search and rescue, aids to navigation,” Pekoske said.
Lt. Ben Wenban, 25, of Orange, New South Wales, was the first to arrive in the U.S. When he touched down in Boston in late May in summer whites — a uniform of white shorts, long white socks and white shoes — he received curious stares, but he’s rapidly settling into the routine at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, he said.
“It’s a beautiful area. I don’t think I should have come to a nicer place in the United States,” Wenban said.
In late June, he’ll deploy to Mobile, Ala., for two months of training on the HH-60 Jayhawk platform.
When he returns to Cape Cod, he’ll be inserted into the regular co-pilot rotation.
“The weather here is said to be very extreme. Combining doing the operational work with the harsh conditions, I think it’s going to be a good experience,” Wenban said.
In Australia, Wenban’s squadron did mainly logistics support work and maritime patrolling.
At Cape Cod, he’ll likely participate in search and rescue, homeland security, law enforcement and maritime interdiction missions, as well as some aids to navigation work.
“I’m very excited to do search and rescue. It will be extremely challenging but rewarding at the same time,” Wenban said.
Like all pilots, Wenban and his mates will take on collateral duties, too, such as flight scheduling, flight standards or flight safety positions.
‘We need to fill cockpits’

In the next decade, the Coast Guard will expand its aviation program, adding new aircraft including at least two RU-38B Twin Condor reconnaissance planes, as many as 30 CASA-235 maritime patrol aircraft and six HC-130J aircraft.
Although the expansion is limited to fixed-wing aviation, Coast Guard pilots are cross-trained in both fixed wing and rotor aircraft. Thus, the service needs additional pilots as the new programs come online.
“We need to fill cockpits. We have a projected shortage on pilots over the next six to 10 years,” said Capt. Mike Moore, former chief of aviation forces.
Mindful of its tight budget, the Coast Guard jumped at a chance to bolster its pilot ranks without paying additional salaries. Plus, the loaner program gives the Coast Guard and the RAN a chance to work together and forge ties for future cooperation, officials say.
“This is a small community; you’re likely to see each other again,” Pekoske said.
The Coast Guard has pilot exchange programs with the United Kingdom and Canada. However, the agreement with Australia is more of a loan: The Australian pilots will receive their salaries and allowances from the RAN while training, and operations will be financed by the Coast Guard.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Pekoske said.



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[sfga6970]

This sounds like a great idea. If it goes well, I'm sure it will expand.