New Fleet Flies Over D.C.

The National Guard has replaced its aging Huey helicopters with smaller, faster Lakotas.

It was once the workhorse of the Vietnam War, a helicopter with a distinct thwap, thwap, thwap that for some came to symbolize that conflict.

The Huey, reliable and solid, is being phased out -- though some say it's premature to write its obituary because it is still in use by some units. But the event held yesterday by the D.C. National Guard amounted to a retirement ceremony for its fleet of Hueys, which are being replaced by a more modern and nimble chopper known as the UH-72A Lakota.

Pilots stood around a parking lot near RFK Stadium that served as a temporary landing zone, admiring the old helicopters as if having a hard time saying goodbye. They talked about how the aircraft, some of which date to the late 1960s and early 1970s, were over the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

For the Vietnam generation, the Huey is an "icon," said Lt. Col. Maureen Bellamy, who has been flying the helicopter for 25 years. And when she goes to aviation shows, Vietnam veterans "come up with tears in their eyes" and recall how, when wounded, the sight of a Huey on the horizon meant safety.

"The Huey is a legend," said Tim Smith, the aircraft maintenance officer for the Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker, Ala. "It's been the standard of Army aviation for many, many years."

But sentimentality can't keep the birds in the air, and the D.C. Guard's fleet was worn out. It was time for an upgrade, officials said. "Some of the aircraft we have now is 40 years old," Bellamy said.

The D.C. Guard's 121st Medical Company is getting six Lakotas at a cost of about $5 million each, said Bellamy, the D.C. Guard's Army aviation officer.

If the Huey is an old reliable Ford pickup, the Lakota is more like a Porsche, said Capt. Florian Heithier. Compared with the Huey, the Lakota "is better in every way," he said.

The Lakotas are smaller, faster, more maneuverable and better for searching and rescuing. They won't be deployed to combat zones overseas because they don't have the defensive capability. Instead, they will be used by the 121st as an "air ambulance" or medevac helicopter. In cases of national emergency, such as hurricanes, they can be deployed across the country as needed.

In 2007, a Pentagon report found that in hot climates, the cockpit of the Lakota could reach temperatures that could cause some of its systems to shut down. As a result, the helicopters were modified, some with air conditioning and others with venting, and the problem was fixed, said Timothy Paynter, a spokesman for EADS, the manufacturer.

For the National Guard, acquiring some of the newest and most advanced technology is something of a coup. Guard members are often referred to as "weekend warriors" because of their one-weekend-a-month training. And they often don't get anywhere near the quality of equipment that their active-duty counterparts have

At a Senate subcommittee hearing in 2007, the former head of the National Guard Bureau, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, called the Guard "the nation's best defense bargain." But he illustrated the Guard's equipment woes by bringing an Oregon Air National Guard staff sergeant whose combat air controller equipment had not been updated since 1953.

Guard officials said the new helicopters show that the Guard, which has been called on repeatedly since the Sept. 11 attacks, is finally getting the respect it deserves. "During the global war on terror, the Guard has become more and more an equal partner," Bellamy said.