Thread by @BrynnTannehill

I made the mistake of reading the comments. I suspect many of the blue-check comments dumping on the National Guard are either Russian disinformation, or getting their information from their outlets.

I have enough experience here to comment semi-intelligently. 1/n

https://twitter.com/NCNationalGuard/status/1841976269941952920

First off, I've been a rotary wing aviator on and off since 1999. I'm currently a UH-60L pilot at MEDEVAC US ARNG unit. We just did a major disaster preparedness drill in April.

What's being said about the Guard denigrates some VERY good people. 2/n

First off, the Guard draws from the state's own population. This is North Carolinians trying to help North Carolinians.

They're also people who wand to be there: it's an all volunteer force. 3/n

Aircrew in the guard effectively works two jobs: their regular day job and a lot of extra hours getting in their aircrew proficiency hours and training. These guys bust their butts to be ready for this, for only a little extra pay. IOW: they do it because the want to. 4/n

Through it all, they have to deal with old equipment, dilapidated facilities, limited access to spare parts, while competing with the commercial industry for maintenance personnel.

The training budget is only a fraction of what it needs to be. 5/n

Having just come off fire season, they will fly their aircraft into the ground to get the mission done, and work stupid hours to keep them flying (which is hard when they're 35 year old Army cast-offs). At any given time, only a fraction are flyable on a good day. 6/n

So when I look at the UH-60 sorties rates, I see them flying as much as they can with the equipment and people they have.

Plus, the people playing armchair quarterback have never done this.

Example: HURREVAC. 7/n

What the military does when a hurricane is inbound is they fly out aircraft to safer locations if they can't fit them in hurricane-proof hangars, or they might flood.

It's unlikely that the hangars in NC were designed for this. 8/n

So, you generally don't have military helicopters flying rescue missions the instant the weather is vaguely VFR again. They're flying back in from areas away from the path of destruction. CPs are being set up, and arrangements being made for where they will operate out of. 9/n

The MEAL Team 6 types here don't quite get that there needs to be a modicum of Command and Control and logistic support from wherever they're operating out of. You can't just plop yourself down at a random airport and start flying missions. 10/n

There's also airspace management as a factor. The FAA establishes Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) around disaster areas, and particularly where DOD / State / Federal aviation assets are being used as part of the efforts. 11/n

This isn't political: if you're slamming the professionals who volunteer to do this, and especially if you have no experience with these things, please kindly cease and desist.

Stirring up hate against the people doing their best to save their countrymen is unbecoming. 12/n

P.S. Worth noting that they're using hoists, meaning there's nowhere nearby safe to land. Hoisting is a slow, tricky, demanding, and somewhat dangerous operation. That's why MEDEVAC units practice it a lot. But it's still slow, and they only have ~2-2.5 hours of fuel. 13/n