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at [email protected]http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 17US MARINE Corps Marine
Light Attack Helicopter
Squadron (HMLA) 367
‘Scarface’ has retired its
final AH-1W. Tw o of the
remaining SuperCobras
performed a farewell flight
from Marine Corps Base
Hawaii (MCBH), Kaneohe
Bay, Hawaii, on March
13, making a one-and-
a-half-hour flight around
the island of Oahu before
landing back at MCBH.
Three of the eight
HMLA-367 AH-1Ws
will stay on Oahu for
preservation as static
display aircraft. The other
five will be airlifted to
Davis-Monthan Air Force
Base, Arizona, where they
will be placed in storage.
To replace the type,
HMLA-367 is introducing
the AH-1Z, the first
three of which arrived in
December. Dave AllportHMLA-367 retires its last AH-1Ws
AH-1W 165367 ‘VT-29’ from HMLA-367 ‘Scarface’ prepares to land at MCBH
after performing a farewell fl ight around Oahu. In the foreground is 163943
‘-/26’, another of the unit’s retiring AH-1Ws. USMC/Sgt Kathy NunezC-130Js ASSIGNED to
the USAF’s 36th Airlift
Squadron (AS) exercised
a new refuelling capability
during Exercise Cope
North 2018 (CN18) at
Tinian, US Commonwealth
of the Northern Marianas
Islands, in late February.
The Helicopter Expedient
Refuel System (HERS)
allows the 36th AS C-130s
to rapidly deploy refuelling
assets to an austere
environment, enabling
other aircraft to continue
humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief efforts.“The idea is to able to bring
in fuel, drop it off, store it
temporarily and put it on
different aircraft as a sort
of in-the-field staging of
refuelling capabilities,” said
Capt Andrew Kochman,
36th Mobility Response
Squadron assistant
director of operations.
The HERS has a maximum
capacity of 3,000 gal
(11,356 lit) and enables
the C-130J to quickly
unload part of its own fuel
for use on other aircraft.
“We build our fuel bladder,
our pumps and everythingthat we need to begin
refuelling out on the field,”
said Kochman. “We take on
fuel from our source, in thiscase a C-130J... Once we
have completed that task,
we are ready to start pushing
gas to whoever needs it.”MH-60S of Helicopter
Sea Combat Squadron
(HSC) 25 were among
aircraft to receive fuel.HERS refuelling capability at Cope North 2018
Above: An MH-60S, the HSC-25 ‘CAG bird’, is refuelled by HERS during exercise CN18 at
Tinian, on February 26. USAF/Airman 1st Class Juan Torres ChardonUSAF activates 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron
A NEW US Air Force F-
unit has been formed at
Nellis Air Force Base,
Nevada. The 24th Tactical
Air Support Squadron
(TASS) ‘Golden Jaguars’
was formally activated at
the base on March 2 under
the command of Lt ColTyler Niebuhr. The primary
function of the 24th TASS
is training, supporting
and performing close air
support (CAS) missions.
Niebuhr said the idea
for the squadron came
about during a conference
a couple of years ago,part of the outcome of
which was formulation of
plans to generate the CAS
Integration Group. He
said: “The intent was to
encapsulate a range of
CAS missions and culture
with the activation of a
fighter squadron, the 24thTASS, and focus only on
things like training Joint
Terminal Attack Controllers
and flying support
missions for multiple US
Air Force Weapons School
weapons squadrons.”
Capt Wayne Mowery, a
24th TASS pilot, added: “The
24th TASS is in a unique
position to use the F-16 to
specialise in CAS. As an
F-16 pilot, you’re often told
to be a ‘jack of all trades’
because we do almost every
air force flying mission. Here
at the 24th TASS, they want
us to be experts in CAS. It’s
really fascinating, because
most F-16 pilots don’t get
that opportunity to get
really good at one thing.”
Prior to its latest
incarnation, the 24th TASS
was last operational at
Howard AFB, Panama, until
being deactivated on March
31, 1991. Dave AllportAbove: USAF F-16CM 88-
0533 ‘HL’ of the 24th TASS,
wearing the tailcode of its
previous unit, the 388th
FW/4th FS at Hill AFB, Utah,
takes off from its new home
at Nellis AFB on February- USAF/Airman 1st Class
Andrew D Sarver