The Bulldog Initiative

Next-Level Downed Aircraft Recovery Training

By CPT Christopher M. Vitols

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

Read Time: < 10 mins

A U.S. Army South Dakota National Guard flight medic rappels down from a UH-60 Black Hawk during hoist training with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Green Berets on Fort Meade, South Dakota. U.S. Army photo by SGT Rhianna Ballenger.

Introduction

As the Army’s primary maneuver asset in support of ground forces, Army Aviation is undergoing a massive reformation and modernization to counter near-peer adversaries. As threats develop, countertactics and gathered intelligence increase, and two constants remain: Aircraft break, and the enemy gets a vote. When responding to downed aircraft in austere and hostile conditions, Downed Aircraft Recovery Teams (DARTs) repair the aircraft to self-recover, conduct a deliberate recovery of the aircraft, or in the worst scenario, destroy it and prevent enemy exploitation.

Company B, Aviation Support Company (ASC), 3D Combat Aviation Brigade (3 CAB), has embraced the recent push for doctrinal changes and pioneered the movement for realistic and innovative DART training within 3 CAB. Through actual aerial recovery training, recreating battle damage for repairs, aircrew extraction drills, and aircraft destruction exercises, the Company B Bulldogs are prepared to respond to any downed aircraft incident. Company B/603D has developed a robust, adaptable train ing program directly supporting Army modernization. Our approach—structured around the aircraft maintenance P4T3 framework (Problem, Plan, People, Parts, Time, Tools, Training)—offers a model for aviation maintenance and ASCs across the force.

Opening Images. Downed Aircraft Recovery Team Exercises being conducted by the Soldiers of B/603D Aviation Support Battalion (ASB), 3D Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 3D Infantry Division at Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF). U.S. Army photos by CPT Christopher Vitols and SSG Dean Johnson, 3D CAB.

Problem: Training Limited by Imagination

In most CABs, DART training is limited and restricted to planning exercises with maintainers, Soldiers filling out P4T3 sheets, and connecting Unit Maintenance Aerial Recovery Kit (UMARK) ropes to a fully mission-capable aircraft. In the forward leaning maintenance companies, they also conduct convoy training, incorporating security, and react-to-contact training objectives. These fundamentals are important to expose junior maintainers to recovery concepts and serve as a baseline for the organization; however, these efforts often stop short of fully realistic recovery scenarios.

The problem herein lies: How do you practice recovering a downed aircraft without a downed aircraft? Regulations prohibit intentionally grounding aircraft, requiring creative simulation. Solutions such as aligning major component replacement training with inspections/ tasks on aircraft currently in phase (an example being engine removal and reinstall) and conducting battle damage assessment and repairs (BDAR) on scrap sheet metal exist. Tabletop and planning exercises are also good to gain repetitions conducting troop leading procedures. But how can we train for large-scale combat operations (LSCO) further, replicating the complexity, friction, and lethality of the modern battlefield?

Plan: Crawl, Walk, Run, Sprint

The B/603D mission-essential task (MET) list consists of three collective tasks common to ASCs:

1. Conduct Aircraft Maintenance Support

2. Perform DART Missions

3. Conduct Expeditionary Deployment Operations

In late 2023, Perform DART Missions became B/603D’s priority MET. Our plan was to incorporate a progressive crawl-walk-run model of training with each phase, incorporating difficult military occupational specialty (MOS) tasks, different methods of DART/BDAR, and greater mission complexity with hybrid threats. The objectives of this series of exercises were:

1. Develop DART training scenario with battalion staff

2. Achieve 6-hour mobilization time, culminating with mission brief

3. Conduct tactical convoys with security elements

4. Validate UMARK operations with the sling-load of an actual victim aircraft

5. Gain proficiency in BDAR with real airframe and component repairs

6. Train extraction and stabilization of simulated aircrew injury

7. Integrate with ground units for joint security or objective-based training

8. Execute dynamic, hybrid DART missions under LSCO conditions

To achieve these training objectives, our annual training plan incorporated a series of six brigade-level DART Exercises (DARTEX I-VI).

People: Training the Trainers and Staff Integration

The progression began with Leader’s Time Training (LTT). Noncommissioned officers introduced the UMARK kit, BDAR kit, medical training, and convoy operations. Every Soldier attended iterations of these LTTs with the mentality that any maintainer could be integrated at a moment’s notice for a DART response. We maintained this could approach with the subsequent exercises, allowing all members of the company to gain repetition in training to prepare everyone collectively.

After initial LTTs, Company B executed DARTEX I, which was a planning exercise lasting a week with three DART responses tailored for each airframe type. Engagement from the operations and intelligence sections was crucial for scenario realism. Figure 1 shows the operations and intelligence update briefs given to our DART. Combating Donovian forces and tasked with providing a standby DART, the Bulldogs supported aerial screens, air assaults, and air movements conducted during the exercise window. This initial exercise focused on following the troop leading procedures and coordinating with our battalion staff, setting the tone for every subsequent exercise and real-world DART mission that followed.

Figure 1. Friendly/enemy situational template provided by 603D S2 for battalion operations and intelligence brief for Operation Virtuous Defender (DARTEX I). Products developed by 603D ASB, 3 CAB.

Parts: Creative Training Aids

Downed aircraft recovery team exercises DARTEX III and V used the UMARK on actual airframe hulls, validating the kit and team through elevator drills and traffic patterns. The first hull was an OH-58D Kiowa static display refurbished by backshops personnel. Airframe maintainers built brackets, locking bars, and riveted every panel shut, and powertrain maintainers inspected the structural integrity of the rotor head to ensure it could withstand the UMARK stress. Figure 2 (Left) shows the OH-58D UMARK with a CH-47F in the training area at Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF), Savannah, Georgia.

Figure 2. B/603D conducts UMARK Training on OH-58D training aid (LEFT) and conducts real-world recovery of an Air Force HH-60G (RIGHT). U.S. Army photos by CPT Christopher Vitols, 3 CAB.

The second hull was a CH-47F airframe provided by Summit Aviation from Delaware. The airframe was stripped for parts to salvage and refurbish components, and only the airframe remained. The CH hull required more extensive preparation, but after verification, the UMARK CH work packages validated the 13,000-pound training load (Opening image, Left). Ingenuity and utilizing networks created these training aids, but more importantly, just starting a simple dialogue with Project Manager-Cargo sparked the process to procure them.

Time: Making Start Point (SP) Time and the Golden Hour

The incorporation of tactical convoys in DARTEX II, III, and IV, revealed a weakness in our DART responses. Using Light Medium Tactical Vehicles and up-armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles with mounted M2s and MK19 systems, we focused on the fundamentals of timeline management, sectors of fire, and interserial communi cation (Figure 3, Right).

We found that we were inefficiently and incorrectly conducting precombat checks and inspections (PCC/PCIs) while preparing for the DART convoys, thus consistently missing our SP times. Issues with filling radios for secure communications, delays when mounting weapons, and equipment serviceability plagued DARTEX II but highlighted key takeaways and lessons learned for future operations. Exercise IV incorporated a night convoy using night vision optics and opposing forces, and the team managed its timeline correctly, maintained secure communications throughout, and reacted appropriately to enemy contact.

In addition to the tactical convoys, the white cell for these exercises incorporated Army Warrior Tasks, such as providing security on the objective, moving under fire, and evaluating casualties. Using feedback from medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) crew evaluators, the teams called in 9-line reports to extract personnel from the objective (Figure 3, Left). When MEDEVAC support was unavailable, we initiated casualty evacuation and exercised ambulance exchange points (AXPs) to transfer patients to a higher role of care. Reinforcing fundamentals from PCC/PCIs to requesting MEDEVAC is important when crafting a holistic DART training plan.

Figure 3. Medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) training on objective egret (LEFT); Convoy training conducted during DARTEX II (RIGHT). U.S. Army photos by CPT Christopher Vitols, 3 CAB.

Tools: Jaws of Life and BDAR Repairs

Colloquially known as the “Jaws of Life,” the Bulldogs maintain the aptly named rescue system. Not organically assigned to an ASC and intended for emergency services, the system is designed for the extraction of personnel from wreck age. Continuing the push for innovative training, the DARTEX IV scenario consisted of three aircraft that hard landed in the pickup zone after encountering enemy fire. The first, a single UH-60M, suffered stabilator failure and damage to a tail rotor drive shaft, while damage to the two successive aircraft proved catastrophic and unrecoverable. The Quick Response Force secured the site, and the DART deemed the first aircraft recover able with BDAR and component replacement, while surviving, but trapped, aircrew members were identified in the other aircraft.

Figure 4. B/603D conducts aircrew extraction operations under instruction from HAAF Emergency Services. U.S. Army photo by CPT Christopher Vitols, 3 CAB.

Simulating the aircraft was a battered UH-1 airframe training aid and salvaged cars donated by a scrap yard in Savannah, Georgia. The HAAF Fire Department provided life-sized mannequins, “Rescue Randys,” to simulate trapped aircrew members. After dispatching the team via convoy, extraction of personnel was successful, and maintainers stabilized and transported aircrew to the nearest AXP. Figure 4 shows HAAF Emergency Services assisting Soldiers in the proper and most effective use of the tools prior to the DARTEX.

The opening image (Right) depicts DART personnel using the rescue saw to remove panels and recover simulated injured personnel. Bulldog Soldiers completed BDAR and prepared the aircraft for a notional flight back to friendly forces.

Training: Training How to Blow in Place (BIP)

What happens if an aircraft containing sensitive components and information must land near or beyond the forward line of own troops and, for various reasons, is unrecoverable? To deny enemy exploitation, destruction of the wreckage with indirect fire, precision munitions, or using placed charges may be a sound tactical decision. Stepping into the final phase, the Bulldogs completed their DART progression with DARTEX VI, a BIP (demolition) exercise.

Working with the 541st Sapper Company from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the Bulldogs conducted a BIP demolition range using salvaged cars to simulate aircraft. The engineers taught the maintainers to construct satchel charges, electromagnetic warheads, shaped charges, and how to place and detonate them safely. Then, maintenance test pilots instructed both engineers and maintainers on priority aircraft components and systems to sabotage. Figure 5 displays the destructive power and effectiveness of the charges. This exercise completed the Bulldogs’ DART progression, resulting in teams trained to repair, recover, and destroy aircraft in contested environments.

Figure 5. Blow in Place operations on simulated aircraft (DARTEX VI). U.S. Army photo by CPT Christopher Vitols, 3 CAB.

Conclusion

Aircraft break, and the enemy gets a vote. In LSCO, maintainers will not only repair aircraft, they will also fight, secure objectives, extract casualties, and make critical decisions under fire. In this environment, joint operations with differing security elements will be requested, but maintainers will need to understand basic Soldier tasks as casualties accumulate. Aircraft and aircrew will fly in support of the ground force but may need recovery assets when engaging with the enemy. Knowing this, maintainers must understand that their impact is greater than just turning a wrench during a phase. Thus, proficiency in MOS tasks and an “out of the box” mentality amongst leaders is crucial for future conflicts.

The lessons learned from these DART-EXs instilled confidence and experience that proved invaluable during a real-world incident. Amid the training progression, an Air Force HH-60G executed an emergency landing in Okeechobee, Florida, after sustaining damage to its blades and an engine. Using the UMARK and CH-47F heavy-lift support, the Bulldog team successfully evacuated the aircraft to a maintenance facility 30 miles away (Figure 2, Right). As the first recovery mission executed by the Bulldogs in recent years, it demonstrated the value of the DARTEX series and fostered critical inter-service cooperation, which is a vital skill for the next fight.

In summary, it is the commander's onus to advance their DART programs in parallel with the Army’s modernization initiative. The DART mission is already complex, making the emphasis on next-level training vital; creative training produces innovative responses to challenges in the operational environment. Ground forces place their trust in aviation assets; therefore, aircrews and commanders must have the same confidence in their maintenance and recovery support. This level of DART readiness serves as a critical insurance policy for every mission and is fundamental to sustaining combat power and upholding the unwavering promise to leave no one behind.

Bulldogs! No Mission Denied! Marne Air!