"Fighter Management": the latest euphemism for ensuring that your aircrews get enough rest that they dont make poor decisions or have delayed reactions that result in a horrible fiery, shrapnely, 'splody end.

The requirement for a plan comes from AR 95-1. Which just states that the BGD commander in conjunction with the Flight Surgeon (And the aviation safety office/er because they need to do something) need to come up with a plan and publish it in an SOP.

There is some guidance that the Army's Safety Center puts out but it's all kinda moot because the AV branch put out a Standardization SOP that trumps any local SOPs. (Taking power away from BDE COs, but making it the same everywhere in the Army)

Who actually gets to claim fighter management hours? Basically everyone in a CAB.
There used to be a line about "only when performing aviation duties", but that got complicated. Is flight planning AV duties? Maintenance? Crossing guard?

So now errybody gets it.

The note is key: "While falling asleep in the cockpit is an obvious hazard, the effects of fatigue that lead to mishaps are typically more subtle. When a soldier does not receive adequate rest they are more likely to lose focus and make mistakes."

So what are the hard numbers? In broad strokes an aviation soldier can work 12 hours then must be afforded 10 hours off duty. These times start with the arrival at work and end upon being released for the day.

The chain of command can authorize extensions to this on a case by case basis. The risk associated rises, and the # of times it can be done get more stringent as you climb in rank. However, the full bird (Colonel) is pretty much able to do whatever the hell they want.

While off, a soldier CAN be bothered (phone call or conversation) less than 30 minutes without any problems. If it's over 30 minutes the command team has to restart their rest cycle, or begin the individual's duty day right then and there. (There are consequences)

Every 14 days of 12hrs on 10hrs off a soldier "should" recieve 24 hours off duty. This is not regulatory, but it's really hard to force a crewmember to fly if they feel unable to perform their duties.

Now for the flying hour limitations. In one day I can fly 8 hours of day, or 7 hours of mixed (Day, NVG, Weather) or 6 hours of NVG pure, or 3 hours of MOPP 3 or 4. Remember, everything is waiverable, but this is the starting point.

Ok now you staff weenies trying to get out of work. "The following ranks, O-4 and above, W-4 and above, and E-8 and above in BN/BDE Staff or Special Staff will manage their own fighter management duty periods."

In my experience fighter management doesnt really get ignored. Crews will watch out for each other and call people out who are staying at work too long. We cover down for people who need a break and "encourage" people who are pushing limits.

Medevac is a whole other beast because of its "on call" nature. 25 hours on and 24 hours off (with an overlap for shift change). 14 days then you are mandated a 24 hour rest period. If they launch then they need 8 hours of reset (even if still on call) to be still on duty.

If they launch again in that 8 hour reset. They can be burned, forcing the 2nd up crew to come in and assume duty early while the original crew gets their reset. We are banking on the calls stopping at some point because if they continue medevac will go "black".

There will be no crews available to fly without an 8 hour reset period. Obviously this is a rare occurrence and an FSMP is MTOED 3 full crews.

Which works great until you spread a Medevac company suuuuuuper thin to cover an entire country.

Aviation, while not hard, is very unforgiving of mistakes. Helicopters even moreso. They are aerodynamically unstable and require constant inputs just to remain straight and level in flight. It can be exhausting in certain modes of flight (NOE, NVG, High Threat, MOPP).

Add to that, helos are 20000 rapidly rotating parts flying in close formation around an oil leak. AND they require roughly 3 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time. You begin to get a sense of why well rested team members are important to the properly functioning CAB.

Alright so we covered the who, the what, the why, and the how. I'll leave with this. Army AV joined to fly for the troops. We want to do our jobs. We love our jobs. And we will fly ourselves to death without guidelines. They are as much for us as for the product we give you.