In this Episode of the Hangar Deck Podcast, the team continues the series on US Navy Squadrons HSC-84 and HSC-85 and invite Former Skipper (CO) of HSC-84, Captain Sean Butcher to join our aviation panel. We continue discussing the mission, history and future of U.S. Navy Helicopter Squadrons HSC-84 and HCS-85. These squadrons have rich histories within the US Navy and are highly regarded due to their close relationships with Special Forces.
Captain Butcher explains the history that dates back to the Vietnam War and the significance of these specialized squadrons and how relevant they are today.
Captain Butcher has 6 deployments to the Gulf region and discusses the contributions to COCOMS HSC-84 and HSC-85 have contributed. HSC-84 and HSC-85 flew over 1,200 SOF missions in OIF and are currently deployed forward as a main part of the Navy’s contribution to counter terrorism. Captain Sean Butcher specifically outlines the support that is provided to US Navy SEALS.
We have seen many budget cuts to the Navy Reserves and Captain Sean Butcher outlines the details of the plan and possible challenges.
We touch on the challenge of excess capacity in the fleet and why is congress considering cutting the complete reserve capability vice cutting some capacity in the active US Navy. The big discussion point the Captain touches on is which Special Operations Forces (SOF) stands to lose out the most if these squadrons go away.
Learn as the Captain describes a typical pilot/gunner in the squadron and the qualifications they are subjected to to include the amount of hours that the pilots typically have and the amounts of rounds the aircrewmen must expend to get qualified? Follow the efforts of Captain Sean Butcher (ret.) and his dedicated team at www.savenavyairreservesquadrons.comor on the teams facebook page.