Please someone mark this down. It's the first time I have ever heard a Marine say someone (esp. the Army) does something better than the Marine Corps. That candor is what we all appreciate about his postings.

I wish that candor was more prevalent everywhere; we would be a better force as a whole.

made by a Marine infantry officer remembering being pulled out of a hot LZ in Vietnam by an Army Huey pilotted by a brash young warrant while more prudent Marine aviators were holding back.

It seems the Gunner is professional enough to recognize, and admit, that the Army does good things also, and might even be better at something!

I've heard this before between a Marine ground pounder, a platoon commander, and his battalion air liaison officer, himself a Marine naval aviator and Huey skid driver - what transpired is a story for another day.

I personally agree with the Gunner concerning the troop lift capability, and the type of airframe(s) the Marines have hitched their future to may be a contributing factor - maybe it's also a mentality differance between what probably tends to be in many cases, an older Marine pilot and a younger Army Warrant?

However, before we damn'em all, take a few minutes to read about another Marine chopper pilot relatively recently:

www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44356&archive=true

have transitioned to MV-22 squadrons, where they are sidelined, part time pilots. Anyone know the ratio of pilots to birds in the Osprey squadrons? Average monthly flight time?

Other Marine pilots, like my neighbor, are resisting command pressure to perform missions at the limit of their old underpowered CH-46 aircraft. 'Can do' can (and does) get men killed.

Todays Marine Air was equipped by admirals possessed of a sea-level (or lower) mentality. The AfPak war starts at 4000 ft., and goes up from there. Army and AF pilots operating around the Helmand valley may find the air deliciously thick.

One or two comments:

1.) While I think the Osprey does well at "FOB-hopping"--hitting more FOBs in remote places in a given time period than a FW or RW aircraft can, I still doubt its ability to do "air assault landings". I hear Osprey guys claim differently, but I wonder if it's capable of landing on one wheel on the side of a mountian.

2.) I wonder if the difficulty with dusty LZ (and hot temps/high altitudes) has anything to do with the propensity of Marine aviators to land on ship decks and at larger facilities. Army pilots can almost always find dusty LZs to practice the "air assault landing" (or, at Fort Drum, snowy LZs--more or less the same) whereas Marines don't always seem to have that capability.

3.) I would also say that the optempo of Army Aviation (4 of 10 active duty AVN brigades are always deployed) also contributes to the experience of the air crews. Good for extraction from hot LZs, bad for the personal life though :)

He attributed the better performance of Army helicopters to the comparative youth of the Army pilots compared to those in the Marines. The Marines' requirement that pilots be officers skewed the population a bit older - and also made them more likely to be married with kids and a mortgage - and FAR less daring than the comparatively younger Army helicopter pilots.

The Army Pilots are a cut above anything the Marines or the Navy has as far as Helos go, the USMC still has the best CAS program I have seen though. The only guys I would say that are better than the average Army guys are the AF Medevac/Casevacs' and mostly due to those guys being less risk adverse, the Army Medevacs refused to go if it was a Hot LZ in Afghanistan and refused to go unless escorted by a gunship. Ran into that as three different bases, the AF guys were great, just had to give them a heads up and they would make it, not to mention they had PJs attached to them for CSAR and as Air Medics. If you want to see amazing helo pilots, just look up the 160th, freakishly good.

The Warrant Officer system allows the Army to produce genuine specialists. WO spend their time flying and not on administrative duties.

They sent the V-22s to Haiti, but they are just flying in circles.
----------------------------------------------
"The aircraft, which can take off like a plane or a helicopter, are conducting aerial surveys of population centers and roadways in northern Haiti.

According to officials, the intent of the Osprey mission is to help gain awareness of the current situation on the ground in some of the outlying towns and areas that have not had a U.S. military presence.

The 24th MEU is also helping with medical evacuations on helicopters."

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/82548672.html

Meanwhile, Marines offload food and water from Navy H-60 helos. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/22nd-Marine-Expeditionary-Unit/photo//100124/photos_pl_afp/762f73921ff5ee9ed3dcf30816c1cd6d//s:/afp/20100124/pl_afp/haitiquakeusmilitaryaid

Also, new fixes for the V-22.

Jan 19, 2010 - Contract issued for new V-22 cross shaft fastener design.

http://www.implu.com/federal_contracts/listing/N00019-07-G-0008%28ICDS%29

Jan 21, 2010 - Contract issued for new V-22 blade fold control unit.

https://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2010/01-January/23-Jan-2010/FBO-02047092.htm

Jan 21, 2010 - Contract issued for design of new swashplate parts kits
https://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2010/01-January/23-Jan-2010/FBO-02047148.htm

Finally, for those who say the Corps cannot buy new CH-47F chinooks because they can't operate from ships, here is a photo of an H-47 with blades folded on ship.

http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/chinook/images/MH-47_with_blade_folding_kit_master.jpg

I think it is a matter of flight time, the WO in the army always fly, and do not serve as Air LNOs or spend much time on staff.
There is also a varience on units in the Army. 160th, 159, and 101 AVN normally stand above other Divisional Avation units, I think it is a matter of flight time, as well as amount of time spent flying in combat.