04.11.07

Cantwell Demands Answers from Air Force on Fairchild Rescue Helicopters

Cantwell asks for Air Force plan and how Air Force will make up severe training deficit created by removal of helicopters

WASHINGTON, DC - Wednesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) continued her efforts to keep four vital search, rescue, and training helicopters stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. To get answers for the Northwest and for military personnel who depend on these helicopters for training, Cantwell asked the Air Force what it plans to do with the helicopters and how it intends to make up for the loss of crucial training opportunities the helicopters provide to thousands of aircrews each year.

"Before we even consider eliminating these essential helicopters, we need to take a hard took at just how we would replace the many indispensable training opportunities they provide," said Cantwell. "Stationary, indoor hoists and platforms are no replacement for the training missions currently performed from a moving helicopter over the inland Northwest's rugged terrain. Training opportunities like these should not be on the chopping block and I expect the Air Force to deliver a solid plan."

The president's 2008 budget contains no funding for the four Fairchild helicopters operated by the 36th Rescue Flight. The 36th Rescue Flight, part of the U.S. Air Force Survival School at Fairchild, provides hands-on training to Air Force personnel and assists search and rescue operations through the entire Northwest. In a letter sent Wednesday to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne, Cantwell outlined the many irreplaceable training opportunities provided by the helicopters, and asked the Air Force for its plan to ensure continued training opportunities for Air Force personnel.

"It is imperative that we ensure our air crews receive safe, realistic, and quality training," wrote Cantwell. "At this time, it is unclear to me that the Air Force has developed plans for the 36th Rescue Flight and to effectively train thousands of aircrews each year without the use of live helicopters."

The 336th Training Group, which includes the 36th Rescue Flight and its four UH-1N Huey helicopters, operates the Fairchild Air Force Survival School. The Air Force survival school trains 6,500 Air Force students each year in survival, evasion, resistance, and escape. It is the main Air Force survival training school in the country. The 36th Rescue Flight includes 18 Air Force personnel and employs approximately 23 contract workers. In its role as part the survival school, the unit helps train airmen at Fairchild and the school's field locations in the Colville and Kanisku National Forests. Students receive training in helicopter operations, live rescue hoists, parachute drops, and combat rescue procedures. The unit aids civilian rescue operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. It also provides 24-hour extraction and evacuation for Air Force personnel injured in remote training areas and locates students lost after being dropped off for survival missions.

 [The text of the letter follows below]

 April 11, 2007

The Honorable Michael W. Wynne
 Secretary
United States Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670

Dear Secretary Wynne:

At a recent Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, you told senators that implementing the Air Education and Training Command recommendation to remove four training support UH-1N helicopters from Fairchild Air Force Base may present "too much risk that we need to mitigate." As you work to restore funding to the 36th Rescue Flight (RQF), I urge you to closely consider the invaluable training the helicopter squadron provides to Air Force personnel.

The 36th Rescue Flight is an important program that has been successfully integrated with the Air Force Survival School. Its primary mission is to assist the Survival School in providing specific, hands-on helicopter training to aircrews. I am concerned that without the helicopters, the 36th RQF will no longer be able to provide mission-critical instruction such as rescue hoist training, Para drop demonstrations, and combat rescue procedures.

The helicopters support Air Force Air Education and Training Command requirements approximately 70 percent of the time they are in use. In fact, of the 1,512 hours the 36th RQF logs annually, 976 hours are dedicated to training missions. Removing the helicopters will severely limit the amount and quality of training aircrews receive.

It is my understanding that the Air Education and Training Command has laid out some preliminary plans to continue training at the Survival School without the live helicopters. Under this proposal, the Course Training Standard requirement of "live" helicopter hoist training would be revised and training would be conducted using static hoists. With current infrastructure, the 36th RQF would be able to make up only 100 of the training hours currently provided by the helicopters using a hoist simulator. While the indoor hoist gives students a basic familiarization with the devices, it cannot simulate the movement, wind blast, and feeling of being pulled into a helicopter 40 feet above ground.

In addition, the Air Education and Training Command included funding requests in the fiscal year 2008 budget to replace parachute and vector training currently provided by the live helicopters. Purchasing an Integrated Fire-Forward Air Control Trainer to support high and low combat vector training would also limit students' ability to use the radio, compass, and survival gear, and still man the aircraft. Furthermore, obtaining an aircraft through a contract within the community or scheduling Joint Airborne Air Transportability Training missions is unreliable and may not guarantee that the proper training is available.

It is also important to note that a training program based on simulators will reduce the amount of time students spend in the local environment. One of the primary reasons the Survival School relocated to Fairchild Air Force Base in 1966, was the region's thousands of acres of rugged terrain with varied climates for training in a limited area without high travel expenses.

It is imperative that we ensure our air crews receive safe, realistic, and quality training. At this time, it is unclear to me that the Air Force has developed plans for the 36th Rescue Flight and to effectively train thousands of aircrews each year without the use of live helicopters. I look forward to seeing the plan and discussing it with you at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

cc: General William R. Looney III, Air Education and Training Command