Volume 6, Issue 1 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org

• “Welcome Al Major”

• “Welcome Randy Zahn”

• “Annual Meeting Update”

Rick Roll

• “Christmas Box Sponsors”

• “Bell T-407s for Iraq”

SGT Chad Menegay

“Promises Kept at USAACE”

BG Crutchfield

and much much more!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Happy New Year! My guess is that many of you, like me, have

become somewhat jaded by the New Year’s Resolution tradition. We do just fine with the midnight New Year’s Eve celebration, the

champagne, the morning Rose Bowl Parade, football games, black-eyed peas, and a nice

celebratory dinner or supper with appropriate toasts, but the resolution thing can be a bit much, especially after decades

of good intentions followed by complete relapse. Now, if you happen to be among the happy few who actually make your resolutions happen, congratulations! Speaking for the rest of us, been there, done that, and

have the t-shirt folded away in the collection drawer. Rather than generate a list of CHPA resolutions for the coming

year, I’d prefer simply to share our outlook and expectations for 2011. As CHPA dips its toe into a new decade, we face some leadership challenges

to create opportunities for growth and greater visibility; for supporting our deployed troops and their children; for maintaining our legacy.

With the New Year, your CHPA board is re-energizing itself with fresh perspectives as directors

rotate off their terms of service and are replaced by incoming volunteers. At our December 2010 board meeting, we interviewed Al Major, a former 187th Assault Helicopter Company alumnus. Al was

subsequently voted onto the board with great enthusiasm. He brings a wealth of fixed and rotary wing background to CHPA, including aerial operations in Vietnam, the Middle East, South America, the

Caribbean, and Alaska. Al recently completed his service as Chair of HAI’s Safety Committee. Welcome, Al! I urge you all to watch for other new qualified directors coming on-line in the coming

months.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the bang-up job Rick Roll is doing as Coordinator for our 2011 Reunion & Business Meeting. Since last spring, Rick has been engaged in the often thankless task of

riding herd on the battalion of cats otherwise known as the critical mass of details surrounding our annual gathering. Assisted primarily by cat wrangler Pete Woodruff, Rick has ably attended to the variety of

housing, events, venues, and many other details that will come together as we return to Fort Rucker on 20 – 23 October 2011. Save that date! Rick has negotiated some special surprises for us, compliments of the

super staff at Fort Rucker. Watch the web site for details. So, for you hard-core resolution-makers among us, I wish you resolve, self-discipline, and success.

For the rest of us, let me wish each of you a belated very best for a healthy, happy, and productive 2011.

May 2011 bring us radically lower unemployment, fiscal stability, no inflation, lower oil prices, and a renewal of our national spirit.

We intend for CHPA to forge ahead this year, hopefully with your help. Make your plans to join us at Mother Rucker in October.

Duty, Honor, Courage . . . Never Forget!

Presenting! President’s Message Hi guys!

Hope this finds you all

well! As usual, we’ve been

working hard on lots of great things for our CHPA members.

We had Quad-A last month and it was a huge success. We welcomed many new members

(THANK YOU!) and visited with lots of current members.

While there, CHPA was recognized by the Texas

National Guard for our contributions and support. Special thanks to Mrs. Christine

Gilbreath who has been wonderful to work with and

thanks to COL MacGregor and the TX NG for taking the time

to say thanks! On behalf of CHPA, I can say it was a true honor!

We’ve also been working

to finalize the agenda for our

Annual Meeting in New

Orleans. One of my friends, Mrs. Theresa Wright, has

generously taken the time to assemble an informative article on must-see locations and

interesting things to do in New Orleans. LTC and Mrs. Wright

have generously offered to meet us for a leaders’ recon in

August, after I get back from Haiti, so we should have even more good ideas on things to

do. Be sure to make your hotel reservation now! The deadline

for getting the CHPA special rate is August 23!

January 2011

Volume 6, Issue 1 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org

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Submit Your Photos!

CHPA has a growing collection of photos, from flight school class

pictures to action photos to helicopter shots from around the

world …

If you would like to contribute to the collection please click here to upload!

Ed Note: Al Major is the newest member of the CHPA Board of Directors. Please join us

in welcoming him aboard. Al Major was a UH-H and AH-1G pilot/aircraft commander in

Vietnam from 4/69 to 11/70, accumulating just over 1600 combat flying hours. He holds the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and 53 awards

of the Air medal. He also has over 13,500 flying hours accumulated in 42 years as a pilot. Al is dual-rated, holding Airline Transport Pilot certificates for both helicopters and airplanes, multi-engine land. He has worked world-

wide, conducting many varied aviation applications to include helicopter EMS, offshore oil and gas

support, and desert STOL operations in the Middle East. He has also worked in the Andes in Argentina,

and in Trinidad, as well as the high Arctic in Alaska. He is currently the Director of Operations for a US Department of Energy flight operation based in Portland, OR, where he has worked for the past ten

years. In that capacity, he flies King Air 350’s and Bell 407’s. On the veteran side of things, Al is a Life member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association,

and of course, a pilot member in good standing of the Combat Helicopter Pilots Association. He is also a

member of the 187th Assault Helicopter Company Association. He co-hosted the 187th AHC reunion of over 200 attendee’s in Portland in 2007. Lastly, Al is a member of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society.

Al just finished a two-year stint as the Chair of the Helicopter Association International Safety Committee. As the Chair of that Committee, Al was a non-voting member of the HAI’s Board of

Directors. Al brings broad-based business experience to the CHPA Board of Directors, conducting day-to-day operations at the Department of Energy’s Bonneville Power Administration, which is a large nuclear/hydro-electric power transmission organization. This federal power marketing agency operates

without congressional appropriation. Al was born in Michigan, but has resided in the west since 1976. The Pacific Northwest has been

home since 1992. Al is married with two grandchildren! Please join us in welcoming Al to the Board of Directors where we’re all sure he will prove to be a

tremendous asset.

Welcome Al Major

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CHPA’s Corporate Sponsors

Marpat Aviation

Robertson Aviation

M1 Support Services

AM Air Services

DS2 Defense Support Services

Thank you

Sponsors!

Randy Zahn has been flying most of his life. He started his flying

career in high school when he began sky diving (to bribe his folks into letting

him take flying lessons). He obtained his private fixed-wing license in 1968 before entering the Army in 1969, where he was a graduate of WOC Class 69-

41. Randy flew AH-1 Cobras in highly decorated C Troop, 1/9th Cavalry

in the III Corp Military Region of Vietnam. After his tour he was assigned to the AH-56 Cheyenne NET team at Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ. When the program was terminated his unit was redesignated and transferred to Fort Ord,

CA, but most of his time was spent at Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation (now Fort Hunter-Liggett) assigned to Combat Developments Command.

Randy has continued his flying career and has flown more than 50 different types of airplanes and helicopters in over 45 countries throughout the world. He holds ATP ratings from the FAA, CAA and

JAA as well as Commercial licenses from Peru and Indonesia. From the Amazon jungle to Alaska to the North Sea, Randy has accumulated over 14,000 hours of flight time. He also continued his military career

and at one time was the only Army aviator assigned to the US Navy at RAF Edzell in Scotland. After more than 41 years of duty in the active Army, the Reserves, WI National Guard and the IRR, Randy officially retired in 2010. Randy said, “Flying C23’s in Iraq just didn’t seem like the way to go at that

point in my life!” He is the author of his Vietnam memoir Snake Pilot, and in 2006 returned to Vietnam with The

Military Channel to participate in a documentary in their popular Goin Back series.

Randy continues his career as Chief Pilot for a commercial helicopter operator in San Diego and

also flies a UH-1B Huey gunship for Wings and Rotors Museum in Murrieta, California. Randy makes his home with his wife of 20+ years, Kim, and sons, Brent and Kyle, in Temecula, CA. Brent recently graduated from Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.

.

4

A Belated Welcome to Randy Zahn

Now is the time to get your nominations

in for this prestigious award. The

requirements for nomination can be found

on your website at www.chpa-us.org.

Announcement of the selection will be

made in the July issue of The Swash Plate.

Robert N. Tredway Award

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First, let me wish every CHPA member a very Happy New Year! 2011 will be an extra special year for all of us because we will be holding this

year’s reunion at “Mother Rucker,” the home of US Army Aviation. For many of us it will be a true “homecoming” because we, at some point in our Army flying careers,

passed through Ft. Rucker’s famous aviation schools as students, instructors, or, as I did, both. For those of you who flew helicopters for the other branches of the US

armed forces, your visit to Rucker will give you the chance to explore the US Army’s methods of training its combat helicopter pilots and we will be inviting the liaison aviators from the other

service branches, stationed at Ft. Rucker, to join our reunion festivities.

Planning for the reunion is well under way so it’s time for you to mark your calendars and set aside October 20th through the 23rd to attend our get-together. The Hampton Inn in Enterprise, AL has been

booked as our reunion headquarters and all of its rooms have been set aside for our group. The PR staff at Ft. Rucker is planning to “roll-out-the-red-carpet” for us and we’ll be enjoying simulator rides, tours of the

NVG labs, a static aircraft display and much more. Rucker will also provide a high-ranking officer to bring us up-to-date on all that is going on in Army Aviation.

We expect this reunion to have the largest attendance in the history of the CHPA and the reunion

committee is working very hard to make it a very special experience for all of you. We will publish additional registration information in up-coming “Swashplates” so for now, all you need to do is set aside

the 20th through the 23rd of October so you can be sure to join your fellow combat helicopter pilots at

the home of Army Aviation: Mother Rucker!! In the meantime if you have any questions or would like

to volunteer to be on our reunion committee, please contact me at: rroll@chpa-us.org.

CHPA will be in attendance at the 2011 Heli-Expo in Orlando and we invite you all to drop by our booth for a visit. Bring a friend who might be interested in your organization’s activities. As always, Heli-

Expo is the place where everyone who is anyone in the rotorcraft industry meets to keep abreast of advances in the industry, both civil and military. We’ll publish the booth information as soon as it’s finalized so plan on stopping by for a chat. We always enjoy meeting our members and talking about our

great programs.

Annual Meeting Update Rick Roll

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L-R Nathan Adamczyk, John Lauer, Joseph Steinberg, Thomas Boehm, Spencer Brown and LTC (Ret) Pat Glass

The 2010 CHPA Holiday Boxes for the Troops program got off

to a late start but was still a great success, providing boxes of Christmas

cheer to deployed aviation servicemen and women in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The project is dependent on the generous sponsorship of members and non-members alike and the efforts of those who purchase

the contents, pack the boxes and fill out the requisite forms to make sure the boxes are delivered on time to the correct individual.

To everyone involved, from sponsors, to those who provided

individual specific addresses to the guys involved in getting the boxes packed, transported and mailed we offer a hearty thank you for a job well done.

Our generous sponsors this year were:

Carol Barager Jay and Liz Loar Rusty and Lynn Bourgoyne Loren McAnally

Nancy Bradley Jon Mitchell James Burket Sue Morford Anthony Field Elizabeth Prescott

John Fore Mary Schnierle Jessie Freeman Mike and Molly Traynor

John Glotzbach Russell Wingate Don and Nancy Hane Rick Yood

Ed Hughes

The young men who pitched in and got the boxes packed and ready for mailing are pictured above.

They are all cadets from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. They are Nathan Adamczyk, John Lauer, Joseph Steinberg, Thomas Boehm and Spencer Brown.

The distinguished gentleman on the right is the honcho of this effort, LTC (Ret) Pat Glass. On behalf of CHPA, and our deployed service members, thank you all for your generosity and

your support. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying a wonderful and prosperous New Year.

Share the Swash!

Please feel free to forward this issue

of “The Swash Plate” to your colleagues, potential members, and

other interested parties!

We sure appreciate those of you who

continue to tell your friends about CHPA!

Click here to tell some more!

Tell Your Friends About CHPA!

Christmas Boxes Project

Volume 6, Issue 1 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org

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Iraqi Army GEN Babakir Zebari, commander of Iraq’s armed forces and Ministry of Defense chief of staff, delivers a speech at a ceremony commemorating the delivery of three Bell T-407 helicopters to the Iraqi Army Aviation Command at Camp Taji December 15th.

U.S. Air Force BG Scott Hanson, director of Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air Force, and commander of the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing, delivers a speech at a ceremony commemorating the delivery of three Bell T-407 helicopters to the Iraqi Army Aviation Command at Camp Taji December 15th.

The Iraqi Army Aviation Command

showcased the arrival of three new Bell T-407 training helicopters with a ceremony

and aerial display at Camp Taji December 15th.

“This is a landmark occasion for the Government of Iraq,” said US Air Force BG Scott Hanson, director of Iraq Training and

Advisory Mission-Air Force, and commander of the 321st Air Expeditionary

Wing. “These T-407's are critical to building a modern, dependable capability in the Iraqi

Army Aviation Command.” These helicopters are to be used to

train Iraqi Army pilots as a prelude to an expected delivery of Armed Scout Helicopters by the end of next year, Hanson said.

“Beginning training today with these aircraft, [Iraq’s] Army aviation will accelerate self-sufficiency and aircraft

sustainment,” Hanson said. “The United States is committed to supporting Iraq’s

journey in democracy,” said Iraqi Army GEN Babakir Zebari, commander of Iraq’s armed forces and Ministry of Defense chief of staff. “These helicopters will greatly boost our work to

maintain security and fight terrorism.” Armed Scout Helicopters are equipped with Intelligence,

Surveillance and Reconnaissance and data-link capabilities; and armed with a .50 caliber machinegun and 2.75-inch rockets.

“The armed scout helicopter represents a significant leap in technology for army aviation,” Hanson said. “This will greatly enhance the ability to integrate air power into joint

operations.” The Iraqi Army currently has two newly-qualified

instructor pilots who, along with their United States Forces-Iraq advisor counterparts, will soon begin the process of developing

a cadre of instructor pilots to establish a self-sustaining program to support Iraq’s Armed Scout Helicopter program.

Bell T-407s Arrive in Iraq SGT Chad Menegay

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Helicopter Overwater Survival Training Water Survival Instructor Bob Wood helps flight school students WO1 Jason Sargent, 2LT Sarah Brakefield and WO1 Clint Moore practice breathing with a scuba apparatus in August 2009 during HOST training in Bldg. 6830 at Fort Rucker. All flight school students now fall under B CO, 1st BN, 145th Avn. Rgt. to help leaders better manage training. Photo by Emily Brainard

Continued on Page 8

In April 2009, Defense Secretary Robert M.

Gates and GEN Martin Dempsey, US Army Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General, visited

the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker to assess the center's flight training program and

the installation's supporting infrastructure. After touring Fort Rucker and meeting with

USAACE and garrison leaders, flight students,

instructor pilots and aircraft maintenance personnel, the secretary concluded his visit by meeting with national

and local news correspondents at Cairns Army Airfield. "I've recommended the president add an

additional $500 million to increase the throughput of pilots and maintenance crews for our helicopters, for our

rotary lift capability," Gates told reporters. "That will help us train more instructors, help with the infrastructure, probably get some additional airframes and, at the end of the day what's most important, get us more well-trained pilots that can support our

warfighters." What resulted from Gates' visit was a fiscal commitment by the Department of Defense for more

than $310 million to increase flight student throughput at Fort Rucker given the increased demands for Army Aviation capabilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world. Special Operations

Aviation would receive additional funding separate from the $310 million earmarked for USAACE. Nearly two years after his visit, the additional funding promised by Gates and authorized by the

Office of the Secretary of Defense Resource Management Decision 802 has paid great dividends in

increasing USAACE's capacity to generate relevant combat power for the operating force. To meet the operating force's demand for trained and qualified Army Aviators, Army Aviation was

directed to incrementally increase the number of flight students from 1,200 in fiscal year 2009 to 1,463 in FY12, and 1,558 by FY15. However, given the complexity of interrelated factors, any increase in student

input required additional and corresponding increases in classroom seats, instructor pilots, training aircraft, hangar and ramp space across the five Fort Rucker base fields and a greater refuel and aircraft maintenance capability. The increase in flight training operations meant more airspace congestion and an

increased demand for air traffic services throughout the 32,300-square mile local flying area, and the center's 17 stage fields and 38 remote training sites.

Since 2009, USAACE committed more than $92 million for construction of maintenance facilities and additional classrooms across Fort Rucker.

A majority of the funds went to hangar and maintenance facility renovation at the center's four base fields (Hanchey, Cairns, Shell and Knox Army Airfields). Additionally, funding allowed the center to renovate existing classrooms, bringing them up to TRADOC's Classroom XXI standards that provide a

state-of-the-art environment that leverages the latest technology to assist in making training more effective and efficient.

One of the greatest resource challenges facing USAACE was the number of available instructor pilots. Although the 110th Aviation Brigade remains critically short of instructor pilots with military

manning at 74 percent, RMD802 funding allowed for the hiring of 56 additional civilian contract IPs.

Promises Kept at USAACE BG Anthony G. Crutchfield

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Concluded on Page 9

With the support of the Army National Guard Bureau, USAACE used the Contingency Operation

for Active Duty Operational Support to bring in additional volunteer IPs from the Army National Guard to augment the flight training program. Under CO-ADOS, Reserve Component Soldiers volunteer for active duty assignments for up to three years to support various training requirements pursuant to Title 10

authority. CO-ADOS has been a win-win for the flight training program at Fort Rucker and for the IPs who

volunteer. To date, 32 ARNG IPs from 20 states have volunteered for the program and will remain at Fort Rucker for at least 24 months pursuant to available funding. Fort Rucker was also able to fund 19

additional Air Traffic Control specialists, also mobilized under CO-ADOS, to support the increase in flight training operations.

The Army's Human Resource Command and G-1 are currently working with USAACE to fill Fort

Rucker's IP authorizations to 85 percent. This will bring USAACE to 100 percent aggregate assigned when combined with IPs assigned when combined with the CO-ADOS and contracted IPs. Adding

additional aircraft to Fort Rucker's training fleet was another challenge for the command. Prior to spring 2009, the center's training fleet consisted of 60 AH-64 Apaches, 77 UH-60 Black

Hawks, 25 CH-47 Chinooks, 36 OH-58D Kiowa Warriors, all dedicated to advanced aircraft flight training and 183 TH-67 primary training aircraft. With the support of a number of Army Reserve, ARNG

and active duty units Army wide, the Army redistributed 24 AH-64s and 21 UH-60s to augment the center's training fleet. Funding also allowed contracted maintenance to support an increase of 100 flight hours-per-airframe per year (up from 500 hours) that would correspond to the increased demand in

student input numbers. With the incremental increase in IPs, available training aircraft and Aviation maintenance and

classroom capacity, the command began to slowly increase the number of flight students in mid-2009 by increasing the student capacity of the Initial Entry Rotary Wing common core classes. A typical IERW

class in 2008 included 52 students and yielded an annual total of about 1,200 IERW graduates. With the multitude of improvements made possible by RMD802 funding, by April 2011, IERW classes will have 60 students and will generate 1,267 flight students in FY11 and reach a steady state of 1,558 graduates in

FY15. While the Aviation Center is on a solid glide path to increase the number of flight graduates over

the next few years, output alone is only half of the equation needed to train and sustain the flow of highly qualified Aviation professionals to rapidly meet the demands of commanders worldwide. The other half,

and equally complex, involves eliminating the backlog of flight students currently in the training pipeline. Upon completion of the Basic Officer Leadership Course, flight students undergo Helicopter Over

Water Survival Training and Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion Level-C training prior to beginning

IERW common core flight training. Upon completion of IERW, students move to advanced aircraft training in one of the four advanced aircraft (Apache, Kiowa Warrior, Black Hawk or Chinook). This is

where backlog occurs due to a number of factors including aircraft availability, weather, instructor pilot availability, classroom scheduling and even student availability.

In some past cases, students spent up to two years at Fort Rucker when actual flight training instruction only demands nine to 12 months depending on the advanced aircraft training the student received following IERW common core.

In August 2010, the command established a Student Backlog Tiger Team from experts across the command to define the problem(s), collect data, assess current policies and procedures and develop viable

solutions to eliminating the current backlog. The team is looking holistically at flight training from before students arrive at Fort Rucker to after they graduate and depart. Since spring 2009, USAACE managed to

reduce the backlog by 46 percent. To date, the team has made a number of recommendations that, once implemented, will

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serve to completely eliminate the backlog sometime between May and September. To us, sooner is better

than later. When I became the Army Aviation branch chief and commander of USAACE and Fort Rucker in

August 2010, I made the elimination of the flight training backlog no later than September 2011 the

command's highest priority. Again, we are on track to meet this goal based on the incredibly hard work being done by soldiers, civilians and contractors across USAACE and Fort Rucker.

It was the leadership and oversight of former USAACE and Fort Rucker commander Maj. Gen. Jim Barclay and his team who set the gears in motion nearly two years ago that got us where we are

today. In September 2009, Barclay told a group of local business leaders that the easy part in this was getting the check and depositing it in the bank.

"The truly challenging part," he said, "was putting together an excruciatingly detailed plan and

synchronizing it across the entire Aviation Center of Excellence so that every tax-payer dollar was spent wisely and with the greatest return."

With his vision and dogged determination, the USAACE team took the ball into the "Red Zone." I believe we can get it into the "End Zone." We are determined to do so.

While it may appear that we are "first and goal" there is still hard work to be done. My guidance five months ago was that flight training standards would not be lowered. That guidance will not change.

Our branch's reputation, forged by the professional men and women who form Army Aviation, has never been stronger because we remain a standards-based profession. That cannot change even with the tough decisions that will follow in the upcoming months.

We will also maintain a cost-culture awareness in everything we do that will allow us to accomplish the mission at best cost rather than at any cost. As our Army moves into fiscally uncertain

times, Army Aviation currently has sufficient resources to continue training, support world-wide operations and respond to new threats or crisis. But, we recognize that there will be no excess.

The promise made by Gates and OSD in April 2009 was honored. The return on that investment will ensure Army Aviation meets the demands of commanders worldwide, today and in the years to come.

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CHPA is building quite a collection of patches from our members for display at our venues at HAI, Quad A, and VHPA. Several of our members have given us patches, including those shown here which we put on display when we set up our booth. If you have any patches you’d like to share send them to us at:

CHPA • PO Box 15852 • Washington, DC 20003

Got Patches?

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History of the CHPA Logo Rhea Rippey

A number of people have inquired about the design

elements used in our CHPA logo. I’d like to share the story of how the various symbols came together to represent our

organization. Our logo was designed by Peter Honsberger, a well-

known designer who worked for decades in advertising agencies and design houses before opening his own design firm in the late 1980s. In recent years, Peter’s interests have evolved into book

publishing with the establishment of his company, Cold Tree Press (www.coldtreepress.com).

Because of his sterling professional reputation and our long mutual association as members of Nashville’s creative

community, I recommended Peter for this project because I knew him to be a patriotic American who many times had articulated a deep and abiding respect for our military forces, especially its helicopter

pilots. The logo emerged out of discussions between Peter and various Founders over a period of time

leading up to the establishment of CHPA. In addition, I provided Peter with military web site URLs, US

military graphic materials from WW II Army Air Corps nose art through contemporary unit insignia from all services, and other background reference materials. Finally, Peter drew from our personal discussions

that ranged over aspects of combat, equipment, procedures, tactics, and so forth. Given the decades that helicopters have been utilized by US forces in combat (the earliest known

example was in India-Burma theatre during WW II), and given that CHPA members represent all military services who continue to fly constantly evolving equipment across a range of different tactical environments, it became apparent that no realistic depiction of a single aircraft type or artifact would

apply to the entire membership. We both agreed that he needed to think in terms of symbols and common, related elements rather than specific aircraft, armament, ordnance, power train, or any other realistic

details that might tie the organization to a specific service at a particular point in our history. Peter’s abstract solution involved a mixture of colors that represent all US service branches, and

elements that represent various aspects of the helicopter combat experience. The greenish-tan circular bands represent colors found on vehicles and uniforms normally associated with Army & Marine Corps forces, while the blue-grey found in the reticule (cross-hairs) suggests colors commonly found on Naval

ships, aircraft & Air Force equipment. The black field represents both night operations and the stark reality of combat, while the red “lightning bolts” symbolize blood, tracers, and explosions common to

battlefields everywhere. The center reticule connotes combat weaponry and the concept of pinpoint accuracy & coordinated

action demanded by fully integrated combat operations. The four jagged rotor blades represent the ragged, adrenaline-packed nature of helicopter combat ops, while the red lightning bolts emphasize blade movement and suggest the emotion, danger, and explosive action involved in combat.

I hope this information is helpful in understanding the process behind Peter's interpretations, and his creative use of abstract symbols to communicate our common experience.

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Call on Us!

Contact Quick Reference President – Rhea Rippey Buzz Covington president@chpa-us.org bcovington@chpa-us.org Call us! VP Administration – Vacant Rick Roll 800.832.5144 admin@chpa-us.org rroll@chpa-us.org Fax us! VP Membership – Rusty Bourgoyne Randy Zahn 719.687.4167 membership@chpa-us.org rzahn@chpa-us.org Write us! Secretary – Robert Frost Al Major CHPA secretary@chpa-us.org AMajor@chpa-us.org PO Box 15852 Washington, DC 20003 Treasurer – Loren McAnally Vacancy treasurer@chpa-us.org Remember! Feel free to contact us any HQ – Jay Brown Vacancy time.

HQ@chpa-us.org

It’s a brand new year and that brings with it annual reunions of military organizations all over the country and calendar. One of the challenges of pulling together any gathering is getting the word out to

those who might be interested in attending, or who may know someone who would be interested in attending, but they’re not in your membership database or address book.

If you know of such a gathering, here is one way to advertise your get together and notify current and former helicopter air crewmembers that are a great source for spreading the word. And it could not be easier. Simply send us an email with the pertinent information and we’ll publish it here in The Swash Plate.

Remember to include everything folks would need to know to register and attend or just ask questions. We’ll need your name and contact information, just in case we have questions. We’ll also

need contact information for that knowledgeable individual who can answer questions regarding your reunion as well as reunion location, date(s) and hotel information and any logo you want to include.

Also, include any special information our readers might need to know such as limitations on attendance or schedules.

The email address to let us help you get the word out is hq@chpa-us.org. Remember to give us some lead time so folks can have a chance to plan their travel and to give you time to maximize your audience.

As always, we stand ready to help you make your reunion a tremendous success. Use the Contact Quick Reference below for contact information for anyone on the Board of Directors who will be happy to

assist.

Reunions and Gatherings