HOOK, LINE AND HELO

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in their camouflage combat suits slogging along a muddy Mekong Delta riverbank they don't look like sailors of the United States Navy the sea and their ship are miles away yet Navy men they are and the quick matter-of-fact commando raid they carried out here is a routine mission in modern naval warfare commandos and computers in today's Navy there is a connection because long before the commando team reached its jungle rendezvous for ambush this computer played a part in putting them there it fed a paper ribbon into an electronic brain which fed a flight syllabus into an instrument trainer which taught the fundamentals of helicopter flight to the pilot who flew them in if people would start our pre-flight by checking over the cabin area here the pocket is and we begin on our console which is thinking of a question mark pattern and on the trainer right here operate with the cyclic stick and a cyclic stick along today's Navy still sails the seas but it also flies here at the Naval Air Station Ellison field Pensacola Florida fledgling pilots Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard earn their wings of gold in 11 weeks of intensified training the helicopter is their bird each student is a qualified aviator with at least 160 hours of fixed-wing flying behind him each instructor is a veteran of both fixed and rotary winged flight they know their business and the men they train learn well we learned that the helo can do a lot of jobs like carrying external cargo we take it in simple steps though like lifting concrete blocks just to get the feel and coordination manipulating this amazing contraption [Music] I'll never forget that first vertical landing it's almost like gliding down in a parachute except you're in the driver's seat and doing my square patterns a few feet above the ground it takes a lot of concentration and coordination to fly that close to the deck [Music] they teach us how to get in and out of confined areas - we got to land the helo on a hole in the woods that barely looked big enough for a Volkswagen flying backwards is quite a sensation at first but you get used to it I think the biggest thrill in my chopper training was the day I brought off my first simulated rescue they were timing me I admit I was a little nervous they flew out to the boondocks and well we spider old Joe down there in a clump of trees I brought the bird in pretty wild like and poured it to a nice steady hover right over him he climbed into the sling and we started hauling him aboard I thought at the time this could have been the real thing in that case I'd really be saving a buddy's life made me kind of glad that I chosen helicopter driving for my Navy career the real thing is not far off from Ellison these men will fan out to other bases marine and Navy alike where they will join an operational squadron and put their new skills to the test in a specialized helicopter mission when you report to your respective commands you will be assigned diverse and demanding tasks and also expected to rapidly acquire skills and new and more complex aircraft helicopter field is still in a growth stage in the future for a young man fortunate enough to enjoy training in this type of aviation is virtually unlimited but whatever your decision regarding a military versus a civilian career the next few years as members of the Naval Aviation team will be among the most vivid and rewarding in your life you've worked hard to get here I wish you smooth sailing lot's of luck moored in the ocean's depths an explosive mind awaits an unsuspecting prey in world war 2 mine warfare became a prime strategy in the naval operations of the Allied and Axis powers the underwater mine is one of the most insidious of all the weapons conceived by man it's devastating charge can obliterate a ship and its crew with sudden blinding fury the task of detecting and destroying these deadly devices is the concern of every maritime nation since the early 1950s the United States Navy has devoted painstaking research to develop the most effective mine countermeasures the helicopter has proven to be one of the best antidotes once a moored mine is detected its mooring cable must be cut allowing it to bob to the surface where it can be blown up by gunfire to effect the severance of these moorings submerged explosive cutters are a part of a moored mine sweeping system which is towed by the helicopter when one of them snares a mooring cable the explosive charge in the cutter drives a guillotine to sever the mooring cable and the mine surfaces vessels normally employed in minesweeping operations are vulnerable they must pass over a mined area ahead of their sweep gear but the helo streaming its gear at a safe distance behind has no surface contact and is out of the mine environment the helo plays several roles in today's mine countermeasures missions it can support and extend the sweeping operation of surface vessels it can fly as lead sweep to decrease surface vessel exposure or it can do the job alone carry stream tow and retrieve its own specially designed lightweight sweep gear a self-sufficient airborne hunter of the death-dealer lurking somewhere down under this Seabourn Marauder when it's hostile is one of the most formidable threats to any naval power she can prowl anywhere alert for the strike eluding visual detection the submarines proficiency as a destroyer of ships and coastal defenses is today sharpened by its capability of carrying long-range missiles which can fling nuclear destruction to virtually any place in the world this challenge has demanded a new system of defense and counter-attack the Navy has met the challenge with the anti-submarine warfare or ASW task force a coordinated hunter-killer team which includes an aircraft carrier destroyers attack submarine US fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters whenever the open sea lanes or coastal waters of the free world are menaced by hostile aggression the ASW task force goes to work its nucleus is the aircraft carrier which functions as flagship communications center and home birth for the unit's aircraft [Music] again the helicopter is assigned a variety of duties when a tanker falls alongside the mother ship to pump fuel aboard and transfer any necessary supplies or personnel a chopper flies watchfully behind the Navy calls it angel [Music] in her up see and high winds this operation of underway replenishment can be hazardous a man to follow the boy if he did the angel is there to swoop down pluck him from the sea and return him safely to the deck at sea the unexpected is the order of the day and careful maintenance of the fleet's aircraft keeps them in round-the-clock readiness for any emergency or routine call to action when a SUP is detected by any member of the task force and its presence is radioed to the carrier's combat Information Center the copters and their crews are ready to participate in the final search and attack sir seven one zero reports sinker zero for 0-60 miles take off times at 1500 the sow right now affairs two seven zero magnetic forty miles which puts it right about in the center of area Lotus here you'll be relieving chick six one and six to on station each element in the ASW force is equipped with echo ranging sonar to track and localize the enemy and each carries armament for the kill [Music] the helicopters were their unique ability to hover and lower their sonar sensors below the water's surface a particularly effective team members in the final pursuit when the target is pinpointed for the attack they're going to standard search faison I your target should be about two fives [Music] clothes on our contact bearing three to five or six thirty don't avoid contact zero four or five 3,000 yards from the gang Fehn everybody control this is Ching five five to you for a drink often this sea and air Fox and Hounds chase can take the task forces aircraft far from their carrier and their source in theme to the helo this pose is no problem if one needs to refuel it can dart to the nearest destroyer tickets drink while hovering and return to station [Music] [Music] my son our contact bearing three one five range 370 classifies possible sub on target tractor you don't break dip stand by conducting tact on three threes mad contact which is confirmed by six three sooner [Music] my tea rockets have hurled a succession of United States astronauts hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth has thrust them to the moon with promises of space probes in this century to other planets in our galaxy these vaulting space safaris into the unknown have made science fiction of fact in our time taking man at speeds and to altitudes that were but dreams to past generations in the exploration of the universe they also serve will fly low and slow the helicopter does its part to at the critical climax of a succession of Mercury Gemini and Apollo missions when the command module burns through the atmosphere and parachutes that last even thousand feet the helo has been there to retrieve the astronauts and bring them to the recovery carrier and their well-earned red-carpet reception the helicopter is the Navy's busiest aerial taxi not only for VIP space explorers but for any officer or enlisted man who has a need to go from ship to ship or from ship to shoulder from the South China Sea to the gulf of tonkin from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific the ships and men of our Navy and Marine Corps are deployed in the defense of democracy combat vessels troop transports aircraft carriers intelligence ships in one part of the world they may be fighting a bitter war in another they may be patrolling a potential trouble spot or the tour of duty may be training to ensure constant battle readiness of men and machines this vast Armada ranging the open seas to all points of the compass requires an endless supply line of food ammunition medical supplies mail equipment and other high-priority cargo to the men their ship or battle zone beachhead or jungle outpost is their home away from home beans and butts the necessities and habits of a man must be served bullets and bandages the realities of his hazardous job - must be served in today's Navy this task of supply and resupply is carried out by one of the most efficient cargo transport systems in the world it's a system that pumps material in a never-ending flow over a far-flung network from mammoth dockside warehouses aboard supply ships which rendezvous with the fleet where the supplies are offloaded and flown to their final destination in this mission it is again the helicopter this time in the role of flying truck which functions as the final air link in the network by hair deliveries are made quickly and simple without delays [Music] even that long for tie with family and loved ones the letter from stateside arrived sooner than it normally would [Music] world war ii created new obstacles for the fleet's amphibious forces the beachhead assault was won and from these obstacles new techniques were spawned the conquest of an onshore enemy held stronghold from the sea is today a much swifter and safer maneuver than it was in the bloody days of Iwo Jima Anzio and Tarawa a new doctrine of amphibious warfare is in force it has evolved out of the lessons learned from history and forged in the heat of former defeats and victories it is a doctrine that uses new technology new tactics and bold innovation with a better chance of victory and the protection of human life this fact was never more clearly defined than through the performance of helicopters in the beachhead assault missions of the Vietnam War based on lph carriers OPH for landing platform helicopters the helos airlift Marines and their suppliers from ship to shore eliminating concentrated waves of landing craft and support ships at the water's edge [Music] [Music] the helicopter-borne troops are not exposed to the vagaries of beach conditions and shore defenses instead of slugging their way across the beaches they rely on speed and surprise to land in relatively undefended areas they can set down far inland getting well behind the enemy widely dispersed objectives as far as 100 miles from the carrier can be seized for the Marine there is no climbing down landing hence no long hours of waiting in assault boats tossed about on heavy seas no worried about tides or Shoals or mines there is no Beach holding and the helicopter I view of the countryside gives the troops are rare visual introduction to the terrain they will be operating on the Marines disembark fresh and all ready for action the units are organizationally intact and able to operate immediately as a team they have come ashore ten times as fast as would have been possible by assault boat or amphibious gear [Music] [Music] [Music] in war the inevitable moments and get here and the mounting toll of dead and wounded wrenches the countries of mankind it is unfortunately the price of freedom that price however would be a lot greater if it were not for the helicopter and the skillful and courageous crews in flight the number of wounded whose lives have been saved by these aerial ambulances probably will never be known but for the Sailor who lives today because he was swiftly airborne to medical station or operating room by the ever-present hero the number it is enough for him to know he is one of them and so you as helicopter pilots will be very shortly in a position to fly search-and-rescue particularly if you're going to Southeast Asia I have a tape that will play at this time describing in detail an actual rescue event of a day may day may day by train 505 targets presently a26 547 files a channel 40 he checked he does now Big Brother Big Brother Big Brother this is nice range 507 playmate nitrate 505 shuts down at 265 degrees 47 5 channel 40 what's your profession over this is a pic mother at night we're presently zero degrees six miles at channel 44 seating to seen it now [Music] [Applause] [Music] pretty good condition bigbrother 9-0 [Music] [Music] okay [Music] [Music] [Music] there is the story about a man then in high command who told a government committee in 1940 that he questioned how the Navy would ever find any practical use for the Helen hider three decades of naval history have supplied the answer [Music]