Building Trust in the Urban Battlefield

Training the Modern Attack Aviator

By CPT Anthony J. DiNallo

Article published on: March 10, 2026 in the Winter 2026 edition of the Aviation Digest

Read Time: < 8 mins

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael A. Corsaro, Aviation Branch Chief Warrant Officer, conducts his final flight in the AH-64 Apache. U.S. Army photo by Brittany Trumbull.

Introduction

As the Army transitions toward largescale combat operations (LSCO), the complexities of modern warfare demand a transformation in how we train and assess aircrews operating in densely populated environments. Urban warfare presents one of the most demanding operational environments (OEs) for AH-64 Apache crews, yet current training paradigms fail to adequately prepare pilots for its unique challenges. Attack aircrews in this environment are expected to make rapid decisions, employ precise munitions, and safely coordinate with troops on the ground to accomplish the mission. Current demand for this skill set is met by few experienced aviators who served during the counterinsurgency fight, but without a specified training requirement, this will soon be a lost art.

Institutionalizing Urban Operations (UOs) as a core training requirement within Army Aviation is essential to ensure that AH-64 Apache crews are fully prepared for the complexities of modern and future conflict. Designating UOs as an Aircrew Training Manual (ATM) task will formalize the development of crew-coordinated engagement preparation, precise weapons employment, and effective ground force integration, all of which are currently underempha sized, yet critical to mission success and protection of Soldiers on the ground in densely populated OEs.

Limitations in Current Training

Apache pilots are not trained to a high enough standard to earn the trust of a ground force engaged in an urban fight. This skill gap exists because pilots are evaluated only on basic gunnery skills. Minimum gunnery table requirements consist of utilizing each weapons system from varying ranges and modes of flight. While evaluation of foundational gunnery skills is essential, advanced tables stop short of challenging crews to utilize their full potential.

Consider the following analogy of a professional tennis player. No high-level athlete thinks through the form of their swing every time the ball comes at them. Instead, the competitor is focused on playing against a skilled opponent. Their swing comes naturally through muscle memory, allowing focus on finer elements of the game, such as positioning and ball placement.

A professional attack helicopter pilot should approach game time the same way as a professional athlete. Tomorrow’s war will not be won by attack pilots who met the standard of pressing the correct sequence of buttons in the cockpit. Gunnery engagements should prepare crews for the complexities of facing a near-peer threat in the most challenging OEs. While gunnery training lacks the depth to meet this demand, the addition of an UOs ATM task will help aircrews gain the confidence to utilize the full potential of the AH-64E in LSCO.

Training at the Appropriate Echelon

The proposed UOs ATM task will directly target the education and training required for weapons employment in densely populated areas. The complexities associated with UOs are largely undertrained at the crew level, making the ATM the appropriate echelon at which to focus training. Urban Operations would be categorized as a mandatory 2000-series task, meaning it will serve as a building block for performing Army Aviation missions (Department of the Army, 2022, p. 2-1). The purpose of this task is to raise the minimum required proficiency of Readiness Level 1 aviators to minimize risk of collateral damage or fratricide in densely populated environments. The task will require advanced knowledge of weapons employment, engagement techniques, and mission planning. Pilots will develop this knowledge into procedural memory by training in the simulator and the aircraft.

To develop UOs' proficiency while adapting to the LSCO training model, this task must be emphasized during ATM continuation training at the team level and below. While large-scale, long-range operations are useful for preparing aircrews for LSCO, they do not thoroughly train attack crews for the actions on the objective portion of the fight, especially when surrounding densely populated objective areas. Therefore, Apache units must emphasize UOs' proficiency during ATM continuation training at team level and below. This foundation is necessary for Apache crews to master their portion of the LSCO fight, ultimately setting conditions for success in the more complex training exercises at echelon.

Proposed 2000-series ATM task: Perform UOs (provided by the author).

Weapons Employment and Engagement Techniques

Prioritizing the urban environment will require pilots to increase their knowledge base of all weapons systems and engagement techniques. Aircrews will have limited time from target identification to weapons employment because of vertical obstacles, night vision limitations (due to cultural lighting), and enemy maneuvering to locations with collateral damage concerns (Army et al., 2022, p. 47). This added complexity requires understanding of the aircraft beyond memorized engagement ranges; crews must plan for and quickly employ appropriate munition types to get a specific desired effect on target.

Urban weapons employment should be introduced in academic classes, seen again in the simulator, and evaluated in the aircraft. Prior to their 2025 U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) deployment, Troop Alpha, 2-17 Air Cavalry Squadron, effectively implemented an urban training plan in this format. During academic classes, instructors taught the UOs planning process, stressing the importance of selecting a weapons loadout appropriate for the mission. In the simulator, crews faced complex engagements that best fit specific missile trajectories, delays, or warhead types. Training culminated in a dry gunnery table over a small local downtown area. An O/C aircraft read 10 scripted engagements to a two-ship Attack Weapons Team (AWT). In this scenario, the engagement setup differed from typical prompts that give crews specified flight profile, target type, target location, and requested munition. Instead, the AWT was challenged to rapidly identify targets, decide on the best weapon and delivery technique, and then effectively maneuver the aircraft to employ munitions while considering collateral damage (Troop Alpha, 2-17 Air Cavalry Squadron, 2024).

Ground Force Integration with Mission Planning and Execution

The proximity of friendly forces, enemy forces, and civilian population in urban environments demand a higher level of detailed integration between ground forces and aviation fires (Army et al., 2022, p. 39). Training with the ground force is critical to avoid fratricide. Air-crews must be prepared for fast-paced target handovers from a ground force engaged in close combat that is potentially relaying incomplete or inaccurate information. Attack aircrews must accurately develop the situation on the ground to safely and effectively employ munitions. Fighting for information in a rapidly developing urban combat scenario is a learned skill that attack crewmembers must master to reliably support the ground force.

To maximize situational awareness in densely populated areas, aviators and ground forces must train together with common control measures. Phase lines, TRPs, and GRGs are most effective as an operation moves through an urban environment (Army et al., 2022, p. 40). Use of these control measures is not trivial; detailed planning and repetitive execution are essential to mastering urban situational awareness. Aviation units must plan missions with ground forces as part of a UOs ATM task to ensure these skills are continuously refined. Additionally, pilots must gain experience coordinating in person with a supported force to establish standard operating procedures prior to training and operational missions.

To prepare for CENTCOM missions in support of 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Troop Alpha, 2-17 Air Cavalry Squadron, conducted a deliberate ground force integration training process. The Troop first received academic classes from JTACs to understand the engagement process and airspace considerations in congested areas. Aircrews then learned about GRG use through target talk-ons using precise language. Next, JTACs joined the Troop at the Yano Digital Air-to Ground Integration Range in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and iterated their junior controllers through target talk-ons with aircraft performing gunnery tables. The training culminated with a live-fire exercise as a ground element cleared through two different air-ground operation villages, simulating an urban environment. Embedded JTACs controlled AWTs throughout the operation, requiring crews to maintain awareness of the maneuvering friendly ground force while firing live munitions. This type of training is essential to build confidence among attack aircrews supporting ground forces in a complex OE.

Conclusion

Urban Operations represent one of the most complex and demanding environments for Army Aviation; therefore, it must become a foundational element of Apache aircrew training. Institutionalizing UOs as an ATM task will ensure that attack aviators develop the necessary proficiency in crew coordination, weapons employment, and ground force integration. The experience of senior aviators who fought in previous urban conflicts must be deliberately codified into doctrine and transferred to the next generation of pilots. To best implement a new UOs ATM task, the specifics should be developed by the Directorate of Training and Doctrine’s Flight Training Branch. This will not only establish a standardized approach to UOs training but also drive investment in realistic gunnery range infrastructure and strengthen habitual integration with ground forces. Army Aviation’s current transformation and restructuring of attack battalions presents an ideal opportunity to embed these changes into the force, ensuring that the branch remains capable, adaptable, and trusted to support the ground fight in any OE.

References