Joint Shipboard Helicoptor Operations: 30 September 2008

by Stanley McChrystal

Joint shipboard helicopter operations (JSHO) rank among the most challenging types of joint operations. JSHO require US Army, US Air Force, and special operations personnel operate alongside US Navy (USN), US Marine Corps (USMC), and US Coast Guard (USCG) personnel in unfamiliar work and living spaces, with equipment not specifically designed for shipboard capability, and in an operating environment which is characterized by tightly constrained space and an unforgiving nature. It is incumbent every soldier or airman embarked understand their responsibilities during the many evolutions that transpire during each ship's daily routine and the challenges those evolutions present to their unit's daily operations. Unlike some joint operations where the Services are assigned operational areas and interact with each other on the margins (via communications channels, across boundary lines, etc.), JSHO require continuous interaction, coordination, and teamwork to accomplish the simplest of tasks. When planning JSHO, joint force commanders (JFCs) must consider a number of factors, the foremost of which are the impact such operations may have on the overall joint operation. Among these considerations are the mission tradeoffs associated with the displacement of naval aircraft; the removal of the ship from its place in the expeditionary ship and/or embarked unit mission capabilities resulting from emission control or hazards of electromagnetic radiation to ordnance requirements, wind limitations, and/or location requirements. While the mission tradeoff impact of embarking other Service helicopters on small air-capable ships is rather straightforward, JSHO aboard an aircraft carrier or amphibious aviation assault ship is more difficult to assess because these ships are complex, multi-mission platforms. Further, the choreography required for high deck density operations necessitates meticulous planning. This publication provides doctrine for planning, coordinating, and conducting joint shipboard helicopter operations from US ships with flight decks.

126 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2013

About the author

Stanley Allen McChrystal (born August 14, 1954) is a retired United States Army General. His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A). He previously served as Director, Joint Staff from August 2008 to June 2009 and as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008, where he was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but also criticized for his alleged role in the cover-up of the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident. McChrystal was reportedly known for saying and thinking what other military leaders were afraid to; this was one of the reasons cited for his appointment to lead all forces in Afghanistan. He held the post from June 15, 2009, to June 23, 2010.

Following unflattering remarks about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials attributed to McChrystal and his aides in a Rolling Stone article, McChrystal was recalled to Washington, D.C., where President Barack Obama accepted his resignation as commander in Afghanistan. His command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan was immediately assumed by the deputy commander, British General Sir Nicholas "Nick" Parker, pending the confirmation of a replacement. Obama named General David Petraeus as McChrystal's replacement; Petraeus was confirmed by the Senate and officially assumed command on June 30. Days after being relieved of his duties in Afghanistan, McChrystal announced his retirement.

In 2010, after leaving the Army, McChrystal joined Yale University as a Jackson Institute for Global Affairs senior fellow. He teaches a course entitled "Leadership," a graduate-level seminar with some spots reserved for undergraduates. The course received 250 applications for 20 spots in 2011 and is being taught for a third time in 2013.

McChrystal co-founded and is a partner at the McChrystal Group LLC, an Alexandria, Virginia-based consulting firm.

McChrystal's memoir, My Share of the Task, published by Portfolio of the Penguin Group, was released on January 7, 2013. The autobiography had been scheduled to be released in November 2012, but was delayed due to security clearance approvals required from the Department of Defense.

McChrystal is the son of Mary Gardner Bright and Major General Herbert J. McChrystal, Jr., and was the fourth child in a family of five boys and a girl, all of whom would serve in the military or marry military spouses. His older brother, Colonel Scott McChrystal, is a retired Army chaplain, and is the endorsing agent for the Assemblies of God.

McChrystal married his wife Annie in April 1977, and the couple has one adult son, Sam.