Hi, I leave for boot camp in march and have a question about AET's or AMT's deploying on a cutter. Are they attached to the ship for a cruise or a period of time and how is being on a cutter different from being at an air station? Being deployed wouldn't bother me, I would just like to learn a little about how it works. I think I would like to request AET A school when I have been in long enough to.
Are they attached to the ship for a cruise or a period of time and how is being on a cutter different from being at an air station?
No you are not attached, you can move around as much as you want. The difference between a cutter and and an air station is that the cutter moves while the air station rarely does.
Sorry, couldn't pass it up. In reality, if you go to a cutter as an AET or AMT, you will go as part of an Aviation Detachment. The detachment is usually five or six people including pilots, AETs and AMTs.
There are a couple of ways deployments aboard a ship are completed. Usually, you will get on the ship just before it leaves on patrol and stay with the ship until it is done. Usually a couple of months. Or you might swap crews and only be on a couple of weeks. It really depends on your unit, the specific mission, and the needs of the cutter.
Cutter deployments indicate that you assume being at an H-65 helo unit. Very seldom do the Crackhawks (H-60's) go aboard cutters (OK, OK, I'm guilty of bias!). If you get tagged to be in a fixed-wing billet(HC-130 or HU-25 or HC-144), you'll see cutters as you fly over them to drop parts or be an MPA asset.
