National Defense Magazine

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November 2003

Helicopter Pilots Will Achieve Majority Status in the Navy

by Sandra I. Erwin

The ranks of helicopter pilots in the U.S. Navy gradually will rise, as the service begins to execute an ambitious plan to double the number of helicopters deploying with aircraft carriers.

In the Navy today, out of approximately 13,000 aviators, nearly 3,100 are helicopter pilots. In a decade or so, rotary-wing aviators will account for more than half of all Navy pilots, said Capt. Don Quinn, of the Naval Personnel Command.

“Helos are our only growth industry” in naval aviation, Quinn told the 2003 Tailhook Convention, in Reno, Nev. When the Navy begins fielding two helicopter squadrons per carrier, by 2008, at least 56 percent of all naval aviators will be helicopter pilots.

Once the Navy begins introducing large quantities of new MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters into the fleet, the plan is to increase their presence from one squadron per carrier to two. One of the squadrons will be embedded with the carrier air wing. The other will become a detachment, to support the entire battle group.

Overall, the Navy is keeping enough pilots in the fleet, Quinn said. Resignations have been on a downward trend, but are projected to rise in 2004, he said. “We are still below what we need in terms of aviators.”

Aviators also are expanding their clout within the Navy, as more commanders and captains are taking jobs that typically would have been assigned to other warfare specialties, Quinn explained. “The submarine community is not making the number of 05 (commanders) and 06 (captains) they need,” he said. “The Navy still needs to fill billets. More billets are being filled with aviators.”

Another piece of good news for aviators is that the Defense Department and Congress continue to support cash bonuses for pilots who choose to stay in the service.

“We see no inclination from the Defense Department or Congress to do away with the bonus,” said Quinn. But he cautioned that bonuses in the future will be tied to job performance. “If you come up to your obligation, you get the bonus,” he said. “We want to make sure we are paying the right people.”