Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs)

By Directorate of Training and Doctrine Director COL Sean C. Keefe

Article published on: May 1, 2025 in the January-March 2025 Issue of the Aviation Digest

Read Time: < 13 mins

The Directorate of Training and Doctrine (DOTD) remains committed to supporting U.S. Army Aviation transformation efforts, with a focus on developing and implementing new doctrine and training initiatives. The updated Field Manual (FM) 3-04, "Army Aviation," has recently been approved for public release by the Combined Arms Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. This capstone doctrine provides essential context for the employment and integration of Army Aviation into multidomain operations and will be published digitally on the Army Publishing Directorate website in the coming quarter. In addition to the updated FM, the DOTD is also working on the Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 3-04.1, "Aviation Tactical Employment." This publication is currently undergoing final edit approvals through the Headquarters, Aviation Center of Excellence, and is expected to be published before the end of the year. The updated ATP 3-04.1 will provide critical guidance on the tactical employment of Army Aviation assets and will play an important role in shaping the Army's approach to aviation operations.

The DOTD is also making significant progress in the development of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) training and doctrine. In collaboration with the Maneuver Center of Excellence, the DOTD is working on the final draft of Training Circular 3-04.62, "sUAS." This publication will standardize small UAS qualification and gunnery and is expected to be published in early 2026. The small UAS qualification draft will be distributed for staffing in March 2025, followed by the gunnery draft in summer 2025. This will ensure that Army personnel are properly trained and equipped to operate small UAS in a variety of environments.

Finally, the DOTD is working closely with Combined Arms and Joint partners to develop modernized airspace doctrine and training. This effort is being driven through a series of airspace symposiums, which bring together Army leaders and experts to discuss current doctrine and systems, as well as emerging materiel solutions. These symposiums will help to inform the development of new doctrine and training initiatives and will play an important role in shaping the Army's approach to airspace operations in the future.

Training Division Chief (Mr. Bo Thurman):

The Training Division is excited to announce the creation of a Digital Department of the Army (DA) Form 2028 Product Change Request form. This allows the Training Division to receive your professional feedback! As Aviation experts, your assessment of the Programs of Instruction, Lesson Plans, Individual Critical Task List, and Individual Critical Tasks is vitally important to our Training Development teams within the Directorate of Training and Doctrine (DOTD). Your specialized observations, insights, and lessons learned, which you have gained through the practical application of training each one of your Soldiers, either at Advance Individual Training, professional military education, or in the field is vastly significant and will greatly enhance future training products for your community. Once your feedback is received, the review and analysis of recommended improvements will assist us in determining operational needs, provide insight into the effectiveness of our training products, and will ensure future improvements to the division’s processes and procedures during analysis and development.

Your feedback can be captured by following the steps below:

1. Click on the DA Form 2028 link: https://play.apps.appsplatform.us/play/e/default-fae6d70f-954b-4811-92b6-0530d6f84c43/a/465f69a9-f73e-4930-8717-30dafcb2de97?tenantId=fae6d70f-954b-4811-92b6-0530d6f84c43&sourcetime=1736300199395he

2. Fill in the digital form.

3. Click on the check mark to submit.

Please be as specific as possible! The more information you provide will expedite the review process and will ensure the accuracy and quality of revised training products.

If you have questions for the Directorate of Training and Doctrine's Training Division, please feel free to contact us at: usarmy.novosel.avncoe.mbx.dotd-training-division@army.mil

The Directorate of Training and Doctrine wants to hear from ALL military occupational specialty (MOS) 15T and 15F Soldiers. We value your opinion, your experience, and your time and would like all of you to complete these surveys.

Gunnery Branch (Branch Chief: CW4 Steve Dickson):

Happy New Year!!! And with the new year comes some new members to the Gunnery Branch team. We gladly welcome SSG Bryant Dooley and SFC Geoffrey Holbrook! SSG Dooley has taken over as our un-manned aircraft systems (UAS) Master Gunner, as WO1 Kyle Hedden has departed. SFC Holbrook is filling the long-time vacant position of Master Door Gunner. Both of these high-speed Noncommissioned officers have joined the team and hit the ground running. Welcome to the team, gentlemen! As alluded to before, WO1 Hedden departed in January. His contributions to the UAS community and Army Aviation community have been tremendous, and his impacts will be felt for many years to come. We appreciate everything Kyle has done for the Gunnery Branch and wish him the best of luck in continuing his journey in the Army! Lastly, CW4 Max Wannelius has departed the Gunnery Branch to fill a temporary role while transitioning out of the Army. Thank you for your service Max, and we wish you luck in life outside of the Army.

In this issue of the Aviation Digest, I’d like to talk about the role of a Master Gunner and ask the question, “What is the role of an Aviation Master Gunner?” Typically the response to that question is that a Master Gunner manages the unit gunnery program. While that answer is correct, it is only one small part of the complete answer. Many will say that a unit gunnery program is designed to train/qualify Aviators and Nonrated Crewmembers (NRCMs) on gunnery tables so commanders can report positive unit status report numbers. However, if we analyze what the unit gunnery program main objective is, we can determine the true role of an Aviation Master Gunner. The real objective of the unit gunnery program is to increase unit lethality. Just look no further than how collective gunnery tables are focused on execution of mission essential task list (METL) tasks and not entirely on gunnery engagements. Remember that gunnery tables are not Aircrew Training Program (ATP) requirements, and while a unit ATP does build proficiency of Aviators and NRCMs on aircraft operations, the ATP does not require an evaluation of METL tasks. An ATP prepares Aviators and NRCMs for graduate-level training, which is gunnery execution and METL task execution, ultimately training, evaluating, and measuring a unit’s lethality. The true role of an Aviation Master Gunner is to increase unit lethality.

There are many ways that Master Gunners can increase lethality outside of the unit gunnery program, including acquisition of new weapon systems and accompanying training (e.g., AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System; XM1225 Aviation Proximity Explosive, or APEX, 30 millimeter; air-to-ground missile-114L7A, etc.); improving resourcing and access to those resources (e.g., improvement of home station ranges locating a range complex that supports larger training exercises, etc.); and analyzing and improving crewmember engagement techniques and METL task execution (to include during combat operations), utilization of resources, live-fire exercises, and so on. In order to have the influence to increase unit lethality, it is imperative that Master Gunners be engaged with the division and higher echelons they are serving so they can get adequate resourcing support for the forementioned methods. Master Gunners must be engaged during company and platoon mission planning exercises and during division target working groups. They must be present and engaged up and down the chain of command. The Master Gunner’s role is lethality, and anything that can increase unit lethality falls within the Master Gunner’s roles and responsibilities.

It is a new year, and with a new year comes promises of changing for the better. Gunnery Branch’s New Years resolution contains upcoming changes to lift/cargo door gunnery, UAS gunnery, the Master Gunner course, and 2023 Training Circular, 3-04.3., “Aviation Gunnery.” There will also be a high changeover of personnel beginning this May. To maintain continuity between incoming and outgoing team members, I please ask that emails sent to any of our Gunnery Branch teammates also be sent to our organizational email address, listed in the address book. This will ensure any information, requests, or questions are answered and not lost due to the personnel turnover. We look forward to this next year and excited to see what it brings. Change is coming, and we are prepared to embrace it with open arms. Happy New Year to everyone and as always, stay lethal, stay safe! ATTACK!!!

Tactics Branch (Branch Chief: MAJ Dustin Ramatowski):

Army Aviation will be updating the force on observations at Combat Training Centers (CTCs) via the “Quick-Fire” Observation tool. The Center for Army Lessons Learned developed a "Quick-Fire" observation tool (See quick response [QR] code) to provide Soldiers and units a readily accessible method to upload, share, and discuss lessons observed during operations and training. The tool works on any mobile phone and will store observations in a cloud database for further analysis.

We’ve listed some of the lessons learned observations from National Training Center rotation 24-07 with the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT), uploaded to “Quick-Fire” for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and small UAS.

CTC Trend: Relocation of FARP

Observation 1-Units find it challenging to relocate forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations. Many units train on FARP operations but very few train to relocate the operations multiple times.

Discussion-Units struggle to emplace and displace FARP operations as the threat and operations dictate. Relocating FARP operations has become vital as FARP operations become more complex when stretched across farther distances. Forward arming and refueling point operations are often one of the top priorities on the opposition’s high-payoff target list.

Recommendation-The challenges of relocating a FARP often exceeds what the distribution platoon can handle alone. There should be coordination at the battalion level to ensure there is communication, sustainment, and security to make the relocation site a success.

Best Practices:

Units’ tactics, techniques, and procedures executed over the past year that facilitate quicker relocation operations include:

• Colocate the FARP with the BCT brigade support area for an extended period and push out in support of specific missions.

• Maintain two FARPs that alternate between active and silent to provide continuous coverage during high-tempo missions while still permitting relocations.

• Execute a forward arming and refueling area* where aircraft land and trucks drive up to them. This eliminates the need to emplace hoses, but there is a greater risk for accidents.

*DOTD Doctrine and Tactics Division (DTAC) Note: (Area for Forward Arming and Refueling, or AFAR) This is a new concept that is being adopted as an alternate method of refueling and rearming. The AFAR will allow for modularity and expedience within the battlespace. The potential exists for more moving parts during operations and should be rehearsed at a home station prior to execution at either a CTC or when forward deployed as an expeditionary element.

CTC: Integration of Fires

Observation 2-Integration of fires to improve aviation maneuver and survivability.

Discussion-Aviation battalion task forces (ABTFs) typically struggle to integrate indirect fires into their planning, which limits survivability and reduces maneuverability during execution of operations. Additionally, aviation maneuver elements are often not included in the priority of fires organic to the supported BCT when executing missions in direct support of that element.

Recommendation-One of the largest struggles for ABTFs at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) is the integration of fires into the execution of missions. Aviation battalion task forces are not allocated an organic fire support officer and often either arrive without someone filling that role or with an individual who hasn’t been fully integrated into the staff to assist in mission planning and execution. This lack of fires planning and integration spans from suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) to utilization of fires in support of deliberate attack, reconnaissance, or security operations. Suppression of enemy air defense typically appears to be one of the last portions of an overall air assault plan to try and get organized in an extremely condensed and contested planning timeline. This often leads to the removal of SEAD from the plan, as it is too late to sequence between the development of airspace control measures (ACMs), ground and aviation maneuver, and the supporting fires element.

https://www.army.mil/CALL

Additionally, the lack of integration of indirect fires in support of Army Attack Aviation (AAA) mission sets severely limits potential successes of attack, reconnaissance, and security operations executed by AH-64s. Fire support for AAA is arguably an incredibly important opportunity that is not often exploited at JRTC. This leads to AH-64s utilizing organic weapons systems to engage targets, increasing their exposure to enemy air defense artillery assets and decreasing survivability and overall effectiveness. There are multiple issues that lead to this lack of integration of indirect fires and AAA. First, often the construction of ACMs either does not occur at all or is not fully developed and integrated into the ground maneuver plan. This does not allow for effective use of those ACMs by aircraft with indirect fire support. Second, supported ground forces do not fully understand the breadth and width of the AAA mission and typically task AAA to conduct very dynamic, hasty, and unplanned missions that do not allow for deconfliction of airspace between aircraft and fires in the mission planning process. When AAA is tasked down to the battalion or company level, often the BCT struggles to clear the airspace to fire targets in support of any maneuver element, AAA included. Finally, the BCT does not regularly include AAA in the priority of fire support to enable target suppression, neutralization, etc. This forces aircrews to have to work through a supported maneuver battalion or through the BCT directly to enable fires, which slows the process and can cause confusion.

Address Book: