Opis
On this episode of the Critical Angle Helicopter Podcast, we sit down with former OH-58 Kiowa and AH-64 Apache Pilot, MAJ Stephen Irving (US Army Retired).
We start off talking about his start in the US Army, going through green to gold after being enlisted, and his transition into an officer and aviator. Stephen flew the OH-58 Kiowa for most of his career, having to transition to the AH-64 Apache after the Kiowa was phased out of the Army. His first deployment was during OIF 2 in Iraq and he would go on to deploy four more times. He recounts several events of engagements in the Kiowa and what the scout pilot mission was all about and things get really interesting. I hope you enjoy!
00:00 Intro
01:30 Joining the US Army right out of high school
04:15 When he decided he wanted to be a pilot
06:43 Green to gold, options to becoming an officer
08:55 Going to Cornell for ROTC
15:05 Getting orders to report to Ft Rucker for flight training
24:09 Choosing to fly the Kiowa
27:10 Reporting to first Kiowa unit
28:40 Going to Iraq for OIF 2
36:06 The thermite on the weapon cache story
42:30 Engaging enemies from the left seat after an IED attack
51:07 Shooting a handheld grenade launcher out of the helicopter
54:59 Lobbing smoke grenades out of the helicopter into buildings
57:47 Coming across an ambush in waiting for a Navy SEAL base up the road
01:06:17 Flight schedule for deployed Kiowa pilot
01:08:58 The retirement of the OH-58 Kiowa
01:11:24 Reporting to Ft. Rucker again for the AH-64 Apache course
01:16:32 Final deployment with the Apache
01:21:31 Transitioning to civilian life with Army SkillBridge program
01:28:38 Crew resource management in the cockpit
01:31:43 Outro
All military footage provided courtesy of DoD public use Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
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