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Naval
Forces News - USA |
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US Army AH-64E Apache Guardians started qualifications with Amphibious
Assault Ship USS Peleliu
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AH-64E Apache Guardians from 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th
Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division,
conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the amphibious assault
ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) off the coast of Hawaii, July 19, as part of
the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014.
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The deck
landing qualifications, a first for the E model of the Apache, are one
of several maritime training events the Apache unit participated in
to take advantage of terrain not available to them in their home station
at Fort Carson, Colorado. (U.S. Army photo by Chief Warrant Officer
3 Mark Leung, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade/Released) |
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According to Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Gottschling,
a company instructor pilot with 1-25 ARB, before the deck landing qualifications
and other maritime training could take place for the pilots, instructors
were trained and certified through the U.S. Army Evaluations and Standards
Department.
“With all the deck training, the reason it’s interesting
and different is because the Apache is a land-based piece of equipment,”
said Gottschling. “By training us how to do the ship landings
on a larger ship, it enables us to forward project our force by doing
the cross training with the Navy and the Marines.”
A primary goal of the joint training is to build greater maritime flexibility
for the Pacific joint commander to utilize when determining capabilities
during mission planning.
This is the first time the E model of the Apache has conducted deck
landing qualifications, and the event was even more historical as this
is the first time any Apache model has deployed to Hawaii or participated
in a Rim of the Pacific exercise.
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The amphibious
assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) is underway in close formation as one
of forty-two ships and submarines representing 15 international partner
nations during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. (U.S. Navy photo by
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Shannon Renfroe/Released) |
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The last built of the five ships in the Tarawa class,
USS Peleliu (LHA5) provides the Navy/Marine Corps team with one of the
largest, fastest, and most versatile ships in the history of the amphibious
warfare, capable of launching a coordinated air and sea attack from
one platform. The primary mission of Peleliu is to embark and deploy
a balanced payload of combat-ready Marines, along with their equipment
and supplies needed for an assult, and land them ashore by helicopter
and amphibious craft. This two-pronged capability of vertical launch
from a carrier-type flight deck and amphibious operation with much greater
speed and flexibility than previously possible.
Displacement 39,967 tons fully loaded
Size Length: 820 ft, Beam: 106 ft, Draft: 25.9 ft
Main Machinery Two combustion engineering boilers; Two Westinghouse
turbines w/ 70,000 shp; two shaft. bow thruster w/ 900 horsepower
Speed 24 Knots
Range 10,000 miles at 20 knots
Armament Two MK 49 RAM launchers; Two Phalanx 20mm CIWS mounts; Three
.50 caliber machine guns; Four 25mm MK 38 chain guns
Compliment 1065 officers/enlisted
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