Mogadishu hero says army aviators need more training.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana

As one of the Army's elite Night Stalker helicopter pilots, Michael Durant flew some of the most dangerous missions imaginable. He prepared for battle in conditions few others could bear.

For Durant, training in his Black Hawk helicopter was more than just part of the daily routine. "Practice defined the lives of the Night Stalkers. ... They practiced everything, even crashing," Mark Bowden wrote in his highly acclaimed account of the 1993 battle of Mogadishu, "Black Hawk Down."

Durant survived a treacherous helicopter crash during what became known as the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3, 1993, U.S. Army Rangers and Delta commandos were sent to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord in Mogadishu. Durant's Black Hawk was shot down by a Somali rocket-propelled grenade. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war for 11 days.

Despite serious injuries, Durant survived, in large part, thanks to the intensive training he underwent during his years with the Night Stalkers. "I felt like I was as prepared as I could have been," he said.

Durant has spent much of his time since his retirement, almost two years ago, advocating better aviation training for Army pilots. He works as an executive with Sterling, Va.-based NLX Corporation, which makes military trainers and flight simulators.

Durant noted that as a military contractor, he isn't "the customer anymore," but his past military experience "gives you an idea of what those requirements really are. It goes beyond the written word, because there are still a lot of things that need to be interpreted," he explained.

Among the problems that the Army should address, Durant told National Defense, is a decline in the number of practice flying hours for young aviators, who will likely end up fighting in rough areas of the world. There has been a shortage of advanced simulators that can provide realistic training so pilots can be better prepared for unconventional combat, he said.

"The average Army pilot today does not have the number of flying hours in the actual aircraft--as we did," Durant stressed. Durant retired with approximately 3,700 flight hours, with 1,400 of them using night vision goggles.

Army pilots also need to improve their preparation for landing in rough and sandy terrain. The only way to do that is through simulation, Durant said.

In Afghanistan, "we recognize that was a shortcoming in the overall training," he said...