The United States Air Force has activated a new helicopter squadron at Joint Base Andrews for the first time in 60 years, beginning a transition that will introduce the HH-60W Jolly Green II alongside the base’s long-serving UH-1N Huey fleet.
The 5th Helicopter Squadron was formally activated on 27 August and will operate alongside the existing 1st Helicopter Squadron as the US Air Force brings the HH-60W into service for round-the-clock operations in the National Capital Region.
Until the activation, the 1st Helicopter Squadron had been the Air Force’s only rotary-wing unit in the National Capital Region for six decades.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Bonilla, who became the first commander of the 5th Helicopter Squadron, said in the US Air Force release: “The vision is very straightforward. We aim to rapidly and safely integrate the HH-60W into the missions here in the National Capital Region and establish a premier rotary-wing organization that supports our nation’s most critical missions, without any pause in operations.”
During the next several years, the new squadron will train aircrew and maintainers, establish operational and maintenance procedures and begin receiving HH-60W aircraft. The 1st Helicopter Squadron will continue operating the UH-1N throughout the transition, maintaining the immediate-response mission and supporting daily operations while the new unit builds towards full operational capacity. The U.S. Air Force expects the 5th Helicopter Squadron to reach full operational capacity in 2030. Once the new squadron is able to carry out the mission fully with the HH-60W, the 1st Helicopter Squadron will begin its own transition from the UH-1N to the newer aircraft.
The HH-60W is intended to provide greater speed, range and carrying capacity than the UH-1N, according to the Air Force. The service also points to updated navigation, secure communications, weather equipment, sensors and survivability systems among the capabilities incorporated into the aircraft.
Colonel Kevin Geoffroy, commander of the 316th Operations Group and an HH-60W pilot, said: “The Huey has been part of this mission and this community for generations. Today, we are standing up the 5th Helicopter Squadron — a unit that inherits a proud, storied legacy. We will honor that legacy by delivering excellence as we modernize our fleet at Joint Base Andrews for the future.”
The 1st Helicopter Squadron has supported immediate-response contingency operations in the National Capital Region since 1969 and has flown the UH-1N since 1971. Three of the Hueys currently serving with the unit also flew during the Vietnam War, according to the Air Force. The squadron’s duties include maintaining a continuous response capability for national security requirements while conducting training to keep crews ready for contingency operations.
Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Minner, commander of the 1st Helicopter Squadron, said in the release: “Our 24/7 mission continues while we prepare the next generation of Airmen and aircraft to continue the legacy of excellence. The incredible professionals of the 1st Helicopter Squadron are ready to respond whenever the National Capital Region needs us.”
The HH-60W was developed as the US Air Force’s new combat rescue helicopter and is based on the Sikorsky H-60 family. At Andrews, the aircraft will be used for the National Capital Region mission rather than being limited to its combat rescue role. The Air Force said the type can also support civil search and rescue, medical evacuation, disaster response, humanitarian assistance and rescue command-and-control missions.
The new squadron takes its lineage and heraldry from the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron, which operated between 1944 and 1956. That unit’s history included early helicopter operations. In 1946, Lieutenant Wilton Bowman flew a YR-5 past Andrews while travelling to a nearby air show, an aircraft that Airmen at the time reportedly described as a “whirling oddity”.
The 5th Helicopter Squadron will now spend the period to 2030 building its personnel, maintenance structure and HH-60W fleet while the 1st Helicopter Squadron continues the existing UH-1N mission in parallel.
