The AH-1W

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This is the Marine Corps' AH-1W "Super Cobra" attack helicopter. It's an impressive piece of hardware. It carries all kinds of weapons, and is typically used for close air support. My cousin Tim tells me "everything we do is based on supporting the Marine on the ground with a gun." In the next 30 days, the Marine Corps will hand Tim the keys to one of these bad boys and teach him how to do just that. Between now and then, Tim gets to attend SERE training. That's Survive, Escape, Resist, Escape training. Sounds like not a lot of fun, but compared with other things he's done, I'm sure he'll do fine.

I attended Tim's winging ceremony this weekend and it was a real eye opener into the life of a Naval Aviator. In short, I am amazed at what these guys do, and so far they've only been in training helicopters. They learn the basics of flight in a T-34 airplane, then they fly the "mighty sea ranger" bell trainer helicopters. The "mighty" part is their own sarcasm of course. They have nicknames for the other helicopters too - things like "God's Chariot" and "The Battle Frog." This training can take a year or more and involves a lot of testing and flight time. They learn to use night vision goggles, for example.

The graduates of the program this weekend entered the ranks of the 29,000 other Naval Aviators. That's not the current count, mind you. In the history of Naval Aviation, there have only been 29,000 sailors and marines to earn the title of "Naval Aviator." That's a pretty short list when you think about it. Tim is #29586 or something like that. Nice. There were 24 in this weeks graduating class, and they have a graduation like this every couple weeks.

Now they all get to go fly Hueys and Chinooks and Cobras (among others). Let me tell you they are all very excited about this. Tim requested the Cobra, and that's what he got. He wanted to fly them out of California too, but they're sending him to North Carolina instead. It is the Marine Corps, after all - you can't get everything you want. Naval Aviators walk with a certain swagger. I'm not sure if that's an official part of the training or not, but they do it very well. Considering what they do and what they've accomplished, I think they've earned it. If I were the marine on the ground with a gun, I'd feel pretty good about knowing that these guys are just a radio call away.

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