Door-gunner
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A door gunner is a crewman tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed
armament A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law e ...
aboard a military
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
. The actual role will vary depending on the task given on a particular mission. For certain aircraft a door gunner would use a fully automatic Gatling gun placement. On many larger aircraft such as military planes a turret is used along with heavy cannons.


Origins

The concept of the ''door gunner'' originated during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, when
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s were first used in combat in large numbers. The original personnel who served as early door gunners aboard CH-21, UH-34, and
UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Bell Huey family, Huey family, as well as the first turb ...
helicopters in Vietnam, were enlisted men, with a designated and specially trained '' crew chief'' serving as both the aircraft's maintenance manager and a door gunner. Normally, a second enlisted soldier served as a second door gunner (such as on a UH-1, and UH-34, which both used two gunners – one on each side of the aircraft). Later, as the war progressed, the door gunner position sometimes used a non-aviation rated/trained soldier or marine, that volunteered for door gunner duties. For the majority of the Vietnam War, the principal weapon of the door gunner was a
medium machine gun A medium machine gun (MMG), in modern terms, usually refers to a belt-fed machine gun firing a full-powered rifle cartridge, and is considered "medium" in weight (). Medium machine guns are light enough to be infantry-portable (as opposed to ...
(MG), initially, a M1919A4 .30 caliber MG, and soon thereafter, the M60 7.62mm MG became the standard helicopter door armament system. Initially however not all helicopters were armed or outfitted with a dedicated MG for door armament. For example, the very first U.S. Army helicopter units, flying CH-21 helicopters, that began flying combat missions in Vietnam in 1962 didn't. Therefore door gunners on Vietnam photographs are sometimes seen using an
M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States carbine, caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine chambered in the .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) cartridge that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and t ...
, an M14 rifle, or an
M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...
, as their only weapon. HH-43 door gunners used the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. Initially, the door gunner's MG weapons were mounted on swiveling mounts (on a pintle mount) in order to retain and steady the door armament weapon. As the war progressed, using
bungee cord file:Bungee Cord PICT6882a.jpg, Bungee cords equipped with metal hooks A bungee cord (sometimes spelled bungie; also known as a shock cord or an ocky strap) is an elastomer, elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usua ...
s to suspend/retain the MG became a common practice, as the newfound maneuverability of these "bungeed" weapons allowed for increased
firing angle Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...
s. However, some door gunners simply continued to hand-wield the weapon for a maximum level of maneuverability of fire. This practice was commonly termed as using a ''Free 60''. Door gunners were normally restrained for safety within the aircraft, by either using a standard lap belt, or if the gunner wanted freedom of movement within the aircraft while still being retained, he used a ''monkey harness'', which was a GI safety harness worn on the torso, and anchored to the aircraft floor, or cabin wall. The monkey harness allowed a door gunner great movement, including to lean outward on the helicopter skids, to get a better firing angle. The door gunner position was not a particularly popular one, due to the exposed position of manning a machine gun in the open door of a helicopter. According to popular legend, the door gunner on a Vietnam era Huey
gunship A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support. In modern usage the term "gunship" refers to fixed-wing aircraft having laterally-mo ...
had a life span of 5 minutes. This was obviously exaggerated but displays the hazards of this particular military job at the time. Today, helicopters like the
UH-60 The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift military utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted a design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) ...
have two machine guns firing out of two windows located behind the
pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...
. The
CH-46 The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is an American medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Develo ...
,
CH-47 The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...
and
CH-53 The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is a family of American heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The Sea Stallion was originally developed in response to a request from the Unite ...
have an additional gun that is fired from the rear ramp. The UH-1 (still in use by the
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...
, as the UH-1Y) is still manned as it was in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, with the gunner firing from the open cabin door.


Modern door gunners

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
door gunners now provide stand off security against attack by small craft.
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
crew chiefs in UH-60 and CH-47 units serve as gunners in addition to their maintenance duties. Today, the term "door gunner" usually applies to those personnel that are not qualified Crew Chiefs and thus don't fly operationally (the exception would be maintenance personnel that are on flight status for test flight purposes in the aviation maintenance company within aviation battalions; in this case, these personnel do not fly often). The modern door gunners are normally drawn from support soldiers within the aviation battalion, detailed from his company to one of the flight companies within the battalion. Upon notification of an upcoming
deployment Deployment may refer to: * Military deployment, the movement of armed forces and their logistical support * Software deployment, all of the activities that make a software system available for use * System deployment The deployment of a mecha ...
to a hostile fire zone, an aviation unit is allowed to select and train personnel assigned to the unit for the duration of the deployment (flight status is terminated upon completion of the deployment). They normally undergo a specified training period (normally referred to as a "progression") and then assume part-time or, in some cases dependent on the needs of the companies and the battalion as a whole, full-time flying duties. Duties range from preparation of the machine guns (typically M240 model weapons), performing in-flight observer duties, and assisting the crew chief with maintaining the aircraft. After completing a certain number of combat missions Army door gunners are eligible for the award of the
Army Aviation Badge The United States aircrew badges, commonly known as aircrew wings or simply as wings, are qualification badges that are awarded by five of the United States Armed Forces to personnel who serve as aircrew members onboard military aircraft. The ...
.
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...
door gunners are now called Special Mission Aviators (AFSC 1A9X1). These SMAs fly on HH-60G Pavehawks, CV-22 Ospreys and UH-1N Hueys. SMAs replaced the former position of Aerial Gunner and Helicopter Flight Engineer, combining all duties. Besides manning the machine gun, they are responsible for weight and balance, take-off and landing data, preflight, radios, defensive systems, scanning, hoisting, deploying ropes and must be proficient in NVG operations. Helicopters from the U.S. Coast Guard
Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron The Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) is an Armed helicopter, armed United States Coast Guard helicopter squadron (aviation), squadron specializing in Airborne Use of Force (AUF) and drug-interdiction missions. It is based at Ceci ...
(HITRON) use door gunners armed with
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
rifles to disable suspect vessels.


Equipment

Most door gunners use some sort of machine gun such as the M60 or the M60D (a modification of the basic M60 for aircraft),
M240 The M240 machine gun, officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240, is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 has been use ...
,
M2HB The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...
, or more recently, the General Electric
M134 minigun The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electric ...
.


Image gallery

File:VietnamCombatArtCAT04JamesPollockDoorGunner.jpg, Door Gunner, by James Pollock, U. S. Army Vietnam Combat Artists Team IV (CAT IV 1967). Pen and ink drawing of Vietnam era door gunner. Courtesy National Museum of the U. S. Army. File:Doorgunner01a.jpg, A UH-60 Black Hawk door gunner in Iraq (2005) wearing the HGU-56/P Maxillofacial Shield made by Gentex. The shield improves communication and protects from rotor wash effects. File:Doorgunner CH-53GS.jpg, A
German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
door gunner mans an M3M on board a
CH-53 The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is a family of American heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The Sea Stallion was originally developed in response to a request from the Unite ...
helicopter. File:US Navy 050204-N-5345W-013 An Aviation Warfare Systems Operator takes a photograph of an unidentified oil tanker.jpg, US Navy door gunner in 2000, in response to the attack on the USS Cole Navy door gunners now provide stand off security against attack by small craft. File:US Navy 071212-M-4213L-014 During flight, the crew chiefs, Sgt. J.R. Murphy, left, and Staff Sgt. B.W. Boroff, both attached to Helicopter Light Attack Squadron (HMLA) 367, look over the horizon with their .50-cal machine gun a.jpg, USMC UH-1Y door gunners. GAU-21 .50 cal machine gun (left), GAU-17/A 7.62mm gatling gun (right). File:Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker with XM197 20mm cannon.jpg, XM197 mounted behind AU-23 Peacemakers side doors.


See also

*
Tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or au ...
*
Nose gunner A nose gunner or front gunner is a crewmember on a military aircraft who operates a machine gun or autocannon turret in the front, or "nose", of the airplane. This position could be operated by someone who was a dedicated gunner, however, it was ...
*
Loadmaster A loadmaster is an aircrew member on military transport aircraft or civilian aircraft (with cargo ramp) tasked with the safe loading, transport and unloading of aerial cargoes. Loadmasters serve in the militaries and civilian airlines of many nat ...


References


External links

* {{Internet Archive short film, id=gov.archives.arc.2569887, name=Big Picture: Shotgun Rider Combat occupations of the late modern period Military aviation occupations Helicopters