UH-72 Missions

The U.S. Army’s training partner

In 2015 the U.S. Army re-purposed the UH-72A Lakota to begin supporting and sustaining the Initial Entry Rotary Wing – Training (IERW-T) mission at Fort Novosel. This role ensures all new U.S. Army Aviators receive initial rotary wing training, instrument procedures, warfighter skills, and emergency procedures prior to transitioning to their combat advanced aircraft. Since becoming the primary trainer for the U.S. Army Aviation School’s training mission in 2020, the Lakota has trained more than 1,350 students annually and flown in excess of 125,000 flight hours. To date, the Lakota has trained more than 8,000 students and accumulated nearly 600,000 flight hours.

In addition, the U.S. Army’s Combat Training Centers employ the UH-72A as observer and controller and opposing force aircraft in support of their realistic combat and threat training scenarios for Joint and Combined Arms Forces. The Army rotates more than 140,000 soldiers annually through its Combat Training Centers (CTCs). The CTCs are located at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA; the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, LA and the Joint Multinational Readiness Center at Hohenfels, Germany. The CTCs are renowned for providing leaders at all levels effective training and skills to successfully fight and win our Nation’s wars. 

The U.S. Navy Test Pilot School operates the UH-72A Lakota as its primary trainer for experimental and developmental flight test training at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Approximately 24 test pilots are trained annually to perform acquisition testing of future aircraft to meet the Navy’s operational needs.