Bell OH-58 Kiowa

Yeah, I think Soviets having access to a recce formation could be very, very interesting.

Um, and I think that would be something that could really harass, you know, lightweight infantry formations or, or, or scout formations.

Humvee formations could be very, very fun.

If they get hit with a 105, the, a Humvee tends to just disintegrate.

As a British player, I love that the transports and the tanks now have side 18 against HEAT.

As a Soviet player, I don't like that.

But my favorite thing, and I'm really glad they actually did and I have no downsides for it, is the new scout helicopters having the ability to push back ambushes, kinda li- uh, like scouts did in V3 for Flames of War, and the fact that they also have the ability, if they're hovering nearby enemies, they take away gone to ground.

Kinda like how, uh, eyes and ears used to work in V3.

I prepared for this space flight by training to be an Army officer.

I spent 15 months in combat flying Kiowa Warrior helicopters

... position those arms.

And moving on to step 14 for the measurement.

And the, at the time we had four different, uh, advanced airframes.

When, when I went through there was the Kiowa Warrior, which has since gone away.

Uh, they've, they've retired the Kiowa Warrior.

And then there was the Chinook, which is the CH-47.

That's the big, you know, dual tandem rotor system.

We're up front.

OH 58.

I mean, all our pilot TFOs sit next to each other.

We do have a repeater in the back, but it's not for doing anything.

And I was like, oh, fuck.

And I look up and there's a Kiowa like nose, nose attitude at my fucking forehead.

I'm like, Watson, run.

I threw the grenade over the hill.

Because every instance that I've had with a helo as a platoon, isolated platoon element, they were the shit.

Nice.

I'm talking Kiowas, Apaches, even the fixed wing, even the AC one thirties.

And we had a couple F 18s do Winchester flybys like below us on, on other missions.

What are the lessons of 9-11? What have we learned how to do better? Or are we doing anything better? I'm glad to have Amber Smith with us from the America First Policy Institute.

She's a former U.S. Army Kiowa warrior helicopter pilot and mission commander in the 101 Airborne Division.

And she flew multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Amber, it's good to have you on the show.

and did all the tests, did all the interviews, and ended up getting selected to become a helicopter pilot and joined the Army in 2003.

What kind of missions did you fly in Afghanistan and Iraq?

If you're not familiar with the Kiowa Warrior, it's an OH-58 Delta.

It's a light attack reconnaissance helicopter.

It's about an hour away.

I'm like, "That sounds great." So I go and fly with him in the OH-58, and first time I've flown with doors off, I'm like, "Man, this is, like, this is awesome.

It's like a Jeep." You know? "This is cool."

Jeep is a good way to describe that.

You know, it's nothing full-time.

They're, they're a part-time unit.

Uh, we fly an OH-58 and an OH-6.

Cool.