august 2014 swash plate
DESCRIPTION
Monthly newsletter of the Combat Helicopter Pilots Association.TRANSCRIPT
Volume 9, Issue 2 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org
August 2014
From The President Milan Tesanovich
“From The President” Milan Tesanovich
“Convention Registration Form”
“Convention Schedule of Events”
“Reunions and Gatherings”
“Welcome New Members”
“1st
Bde, 1st
Cav Div Deploys” Jon Harper, Stars and Stripes
• “PTSD Health Risks” Tom Corwin, Augusta Chronicle
• “2014 Convention T-Shirts” Jay Brown
And much, much more!
Presenting!
We are fast approaching our Annual Convention being held from Sunday September 7th to Wednesday, September 10th in sunny Riverside, California. As I informed everyone last month, Life Member Randy Zahn has negotiated a Deluxe room rate of $129 per night. That rate was guaranteed to CHPA registrants through August 8th, and may still be available, depending on the hotel’s room availability.
In addition to the great room rate, CHPA has strived to make the events
occurring over the three days as affordable as possible. For example, the
President’s Welcome Reception will run from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM PDT on
Sunday, Sept. 7th. When you register with the CHPA to attend the event, please opt-in for the Chips-&-Salsa
($12), a very reasonable charge for the food and catering costs. The beverages will be a cash bar.
Please take advantage of the tour of the Wings and Rotors Museum. The price is right - it is free - but
they do ask for a small ($5) donation. When you sign up for the tour during your registration, the CHPA has
arranged for you to also have the option to reserve a very tasty BBQ meal for $25.
There are several other attractions around Riverside that you can
visit; just scan the offerings in the Schedule of Events.
The Business Meeting will take place from 10:00 AM until 11:30 AM
on Tuesday, Sept. 9th. Committee meetings will immediately follow that
from 11:30 AM until 1:00 PM.
Everyone is invited to meet for a continental breakfast on Tuesday
morning before the Business Meeting. We hope you’ll choose that option
as well when you register and enjoy the opportunity to socialize with each
other in a relaxed atmosphere.
The banquet will take place on Tuesday night, Sept. 9th beginning at
6:30 PM with cocktails beginning at 5:30 PM.
Please take the time now to finalize your travel arrangements and
complete your registration for the event. Note that hotel reservations and
Annual Convention registration must be made separately. To make your
hotel reservations go to www.missioninn.com, click on “reservations,” then
click on “groups” and enter the CHPA group code of “COMBA090714” then
Volume 10, Issue 8 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org
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Please feel free to forward
this issue of “The Swash Plate” to
your colleagues, potential
members and other interested
parties!
Share the “Swash”
The Swash!
One of the things we all know, nobody tells a better story than a combat helicopter crewmember, whether it’s the truth or “enhanced truth.” Our most entertaining and informative stories come from you, our membership. We often receive responses from our members when an article is published that opens a memory or touches a nerve, in a good way.
So where are all the story tellers out there? All you veterans of the skies of OEF and OIF with an idea for an article, or a story to tell it’s as easy as sending it in. Take a moment to lay fingers on keyboard or just put pen to paper and send them in. You can email them to [email protected] or through the US Post Office to: CHPA • PO Box 42 • Divide, CO 80814-0042
Help us help you tell the tales of your experiences and continue to preserve our shared legacy of combat under a rotor disc.
[Call for Articles]
complete your reservation. The negotiated room rate is available from three days prior to the convention to
three days after so there’s plenty of time to take in the attractions in the Riverside area. Please call the hotel
directly at 800-843-7755 to make your reservations if you desire to arrive early or leave late. Please also take
the time to inform your old helicopter friends about this annual event.
As an incentive to come and see what CHPA is all about, we are offering a one-year free membership in
CHPA to anyone who is currently not a member if that person will stay with us in the hotel for at least one
night and also attend the banquet. This option is also available to anyone who was a member in the past, but
that membership has expired.
I look forward to welcoming you all on September 7th and socializing throughout the event.
Please consider sponsoring
CHPA’s programs. You may make tax
deductible donations to support the
Goldie Fund, CHPA’s Scholarship
program, the Holiday Boxes for the
Troops, T-shirts for Heroes or the
Association. For further information
please look at Sponsorship at the
website, http://www.chpa-us.org.
Sponsorship
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COMBAT HELICOPTER PILOTS ASSOCIATION
2014 CONVENTION RESERVATION FORM
DATE EVENT COST PER PERSON QTY SUBTOTAL
(Additional Late Fee Assessed after August 28)
CONVENTION REGISTRATION FEE Member (non refundable after August 28) $30.00
(Additional Late Fee Assessed after August 28)
CONVENTION REGISTRATION FEE Spouse/Guest (non refundable after August 28) $25.00
Convention T-Shirt (Select number by Size)
S__ M__ L__ XL__ 2XL__ 3XL__ 35.00
Sunday, Sept 7 President's Reception
Chips and Dip 6:30 – 11:00 PM (Cash Bar)
$12.00
Monday, Sept 8 Wings and Rotor Museum/BBQ 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM
$25.00
Tuesday, Sept 9 Continental Breakfast (Members and Guests)
8:00 – 9:00 AM
$20.00
Annual Business Meeting
9:30 – 11:00 AM (Enter number attending)
Mission Inn Group Tour for families
9:30 - 11:00 AM
$10.00 (Under 11 free, must be accompanied by adult)
Cocktail Hour
5:30 – 6:30PM (Enter number attending)
Banquet (Belgian Salad, Entrée, New York Style
Cheese Cake) 6:30 PM – TBD (Select number of Entrées Below)
$60.00
Vegetable Wellington
Filet of Salmon
Filet Mignon
Non-refundable Late Registration
Fee (If sent after August 28) $10.00
TOTAL
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Payment Method:
Cash Check (Please make check payable to CHPA) Credit Card AMEX MC VISA
Card Number ______________________ Expiration Date ______________ Security Code ____
Signature _______________________________
Completed forms may be mailed to CHPA, PO Box 42, Divide, CO 80814-0042; faxed to 719-687-4167
or emailed to [email protected]. Remember to include your check or credit card information.
Convention reservations are due by August 28. Registrations received after August 28 will incur a non-
refundable $10.00 late fee. For any questions call 719-687-4131 or 800-832-5144. Remember to make your
hotel reservations online at www.missioninn.com; select reservations, group and enter the group code
COMBA090714 or call the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa, 800-843-7755. Mention CHPA for the preferred room
rate.
PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
Name:____________________________ Name as you want it to appear on your
badge:_________________
Spouse or Guest(s): ___________________________________________
Spouse or Guest name(s) as you want it to appear on their badge: __________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________
Address: ______________________________ City: _______________________ State: _______
Zip: _______
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2014 CHPA ANNUAL CONVENTION SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
SUNDAY, September 7: Convention registration Open: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM President’s Reception: 6:30 – 11:00 pm The charge for the reception is $12.00 per person to help defray the cost of the catering.
Beverages served as cash bar only.
MONDAY, September 8: Wings and Rotors Museum, Murrieta - http://wingsandrotors.org/about/ $5 suggested
donation. CHPA has arranged a barbecue at the museum from 11:30 to 15:00. Transportation from the hotel will be by car pool so we’ll need some volunteers. Cost for the feast will be $25.00 per person.
TUESDAY, September 9: Member/Guest Breakfast: 8:00 – 9:00 AM Continental breakfast will be available for
$20.00/person. Mission Inn Group Tour for wives and families: 9:30 to 11:00 The group Tour is $10.00 per person; children under 11 are free but must be
accompanied by an adult. Annual Business Meeting: 9:30 to 11:00. Committee Meetings: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (as posted in the welcome packet and on the
information board). Rest of the day is a free day to enjoy the hotel and pedestrian walks of Old Town
Riverside Cocktail hour: 5:30 – 6:30 with cash bar. Banquet: 6:30 to TBD - $60.00 Menu selections: Appetizer – Belgian Salad Entrée – Vegetable Wellington, Filet of Salmon or Filet Mignon Dessert – New York style cheese cake
WEDNESDAY, September 10 Hotel check out is 12:00PM but you can stay and enjoy the amenities!
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Reunions and Gatherings
Welcome New Members
Are you planning a reunion or event that may be of interest to our members? Let us help you get the
word out and support veterans groups of all sizes and locations. Just send a message with the information to [email protected]. If you have a logo, send that along as well.
Be sure to include accurate contact and registration information and we’ll take care of the rest.
50th Anniversary Vinh Long Outlaws Association
62nd, A/502nd, 175th Assault Helicopter Companies 50th Anniversary Reunion of the Vinh Long Outlaws Association at Washington, DC - Sept 18 - 22, 2014
Outlaws, Mavericks, Bushwhackers, and Roadrunners at Vinh Long, Vietnam 1964 -1972
Contact: Tom Anderson ([email protected]) Info: www.vinhlongoutlaws.com (Click: "Reunions")
CHPA extends a hearty “Welcome Aboard” to these new members, who joined in July, 2014. Robert J. Asbell Michael B. Clark Jeremy R. Cover Stephen DaCosta Keye E. Perry Michael E. Rigney Wayne M. Stewart
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CHPA continues to receive quite an assortment of patches from our members. These patches are displayed at our booth at HAI, Quad A, and VHPA. Several of you have donated patches, but we’re always looking for more. They are very eye catching and help us garner attention. So please dig through your old patches and if you have some you’d like to share, send them to us at:
CHPA • PO Box 42 • Divide, CO 80814-0042
GOT PATCHES?
So, Where Are the Stories Jay Brown
As has often been said, some of the best stories are told by military pilots, especially helicopter pilots, usually over a beer at a bar. As we’ve also said, this is your newsletter, not only to read and share, but to contribute to. We’ve shared tales of bravery and daring-do from flight school to combat zones around the world to boring stateside missions that were suddenly not so boring anymore. There was the CH-47 that spiraled down through a dark and cloudy night following a flare to deliver much needed supplies. There was the story about trying to take off for an instrument qualification check ride with seat belt and shoulder harness unfastened. There was the story of a near miss over Fort Campbell between two OH-58As that tried to share the same airspace at high airspeed below the tree line.
So, where is your story? It doesn’t have to be a literary work of art, nor does the spelling, syntax and formatting have to be perfect. I’ll take care of all that. It just has to be delivered to me at HQ and I’ll take care of everything else. And, with respect to “war stories” or TINS, it doesn’t even have to be true!!
Submit your stories to CHPA either by email to [email protected] or send them to HQ at CHPA, PO Box 42, Divide, CO 80814-0042.
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1st Cavalry Elements to Deploy Jon Harper, Stars and Stripes
Approximately 600 soldiers from the Army’s 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division will deploy to Poland and the Baltic states to help reassure European allies who feel threatened by Russian military moves, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
The troops and their equipment — which include M-1 Abrams tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers — will go to Europe in October for a three-month series of training exercises.
The soldiers, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are replacing about 600 paratroopers from the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is based in Vicenza, Italy. The “Sky Soldiers” have been conducting exercises with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since April as part of ongoing Operation Atlantic Resolve.
“These land training exercises … help foster interoperability through small unit and leader training,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said.
In addition to ground forces, the U.S. has also sent F-16 combat aircraft to Poland and participated in NATO air policing missions over the Baltics.
The exercises came at the request of host nations that fear a resurgent Russia, which annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine earlier this
year and continues to support a pro-Russia separatist movement in eastern Ukraine.
For months, the Russian military has massed forces along the border with Ukraine and provided advanced weaponry and other assistance to the rebels. In recent days, Moscow has announced its intention to send a convoy of trucks into Ukraine to deliver what it says is humanitarian aid to separatist-held areas under pressure from Ukrainian government forces.
Kiev has said it will allow Russian humanitarian aid into the affected region, but only if it is delivered by the International Red Cross. Russia wants to deliver the supplies directly.
Ukrainian and Western officials are concerned that the alleged humanitarian mission might be a ruse to enable Russia to provide more military help to the separatists.
On Tuesday, Warren warned that Russian aid convoys could be a “Trojan horse.”
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Dr. Steven S. Coughlin talks about post-traumatic stress disorder at
GRU.
PTSD Health Risks Tom Corwin, Augusta (GA) Chronicle
Post-traumatic stress disorder can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and it is not just combat veterans at risk, doctors said Monday.
Dr. Steven S. Coughlin, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health and a former epidemiologist for the Department of Veterans Affairs, provided an overview of PTSD and the risk of heart disease. The effects of PTSD can have adverse effects on a number of systems that can affect the cardiovascular system, he said.
PTSD can release stress hormones, similar to the “fight or flight response” and much like acute stress, Coughlin said. Patients with PTSD tend to have higher blood pressure levels and heart rates, particularly in response to loud noises or disturbing images, he said.
It can also lead to an increase in cell signals that promote inflammation and an overreaction of the immune system and can increase the risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease, Coughlin said. Those with PTSD tend to have higher levels of bad cholesterol and lower levels of the good cholesterol that help protect against heart disease, he said.
Studies of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam find higher levels of heart disease and risk of heart disease. A study of Finnish World War II veterans, for instance, found they were 1.7 times more likely to die from heart disease if they had been wounded or injured in action.
Some of the stress hormones also increase insensitivity to insulin and put people at greater risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, where diabetes, obesity and heart disease seem to interact to worsen health. That already affects about a quarter of the people older than 20 and about 45 percent of people older than 50, Coughlin said. A 2009 study of veterans in South Carolina found that among those with PTSD the severity of their PTSD was an “important indicator” of their risk for metabolic syndrome, he said.
About 10 percent of the US population suffers from PTSD and many were not as a result of combat, but accidents or disasters or violence, Coughlin said. That could help explain why firefighters and police officers are also at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Neal Weintraub, the Kupperman Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Science at GRU. “You’ve got to look beyond the veterans,” he said.
Volume 10, Issue 8 CHPA • The Swash Plate www.chpa-us.org
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Call on Us! Contact Quick Reference Chairman of the Board – Robert Frost Buzz Covington [email protected] [email protected] President – Mick Tesanovich Mark Hilton Call us! [email protected] [email protected] 800•832•5144 VP Administration – Rich Miller Alex Horony Fax us! [email protected] [email protected] 719•687•4167 VP Membership – Al Major Randy Jones Write us! [email protected] [email protected] CHPA
PO Box 42 Secretary – Rhea Rippey Dan McClinton Divide, CO 80814-0042 [email protected] [email protected] Treasurer – Loren McAnally Randy Zahn Remember! [email protected] [email protected] Feel free to contact
us any time. Executive Director – Jay Brown [email protected]
Convention T Shirt Jay Brown
It occurred to me that I never published what the 2014
Convention T-Shirt would look like. That was my mistake and you all have my apologies. The T-shirt for the 2014 Annual Convention will be a desert tan T shirt with this logo on the back and the CHPA logo and “God’s Own Lunatics” on the front. Ordering a T shirt and selecting the size can be done on the registration forms, both on line and print and fax for those registering to attend the Convention. If you’re planning on attending, the time is getting short to complete your registration and hotel reservations. We hope you’ll all join us in Riverside.
If you would like to order a convention T shirt but will be unable to attend the Convention, just give us a call at 800-832-5144 and we’ll take your order over the phone or you can drop us an email at [email protected]. In either case payment may be made by check or credit card.