In the skies over Afghanistan, Army Reserve soldiers selected from the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group have revived an old Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircrew trade: the air gunner. Flying as helicopter door gunners, these soldiers are the first Canadian air gunners to go in harm's way since 1945.
Gunners have flown as aircrew since the First World War, and rose to their greatest prominence during the Second World War with the Halifax and Lancaster heavy bombers. A Lancaster crew included two gunners, one on top of the fuselage and one at the tail, and the Halifax carried three, with a nose turret as well as the tail and mid-upper positions.
In recent times, technology has replaced the air gunner in fixed-wing aircraft. Rotary aircraft are another matter, however, and the deployment of the CH-146 Griffons and CH-147 Chinooks to Kandahar has brought gunners back as integral members of helicopter crews. Helicopters flying missions in the outback of Afghanistan need gunners to protect the aircraft and their crews and cargoes. The gunner aboard a Griffon tactical helicopter also defends the transport helicopters and road convoys the Griffon escorts.
"Normally, in Canada, we operate CH-146 Griffons with a three-person crew: the aircraft captain, the first officer and the flight engineer," explained Captain Joe Rehberg, the deputy operations officer of the Canadian Helicopter Force Afghanistan. "It is the job of the flight engineer to control and operate the machine-gun on the Griffon back in Canada. Now, we are using an actual Army gunner on the machine-gun, giving us more flexibility and the maximum protection that is required for the aircraft, crew and passengers."
The term "door-gunner" comes from the placement of two machine-guns in the doors of the Griffon, and three in the doors of the Chinook. In both types of helicopters, flight engineers handle the guns not operated by the door-gunner.
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