Pilot’s career on flightpath of his dreams

Watching the might and power of military aircraft at an air show as a child sowed the seed for a career in Army aviation for a young Andrew Amos.

CAPTION: Army pilot Captain Andrew Amos stands bedside an armed reconnaissance helicopter Tiger at 1st Aviation Regiment at Robertson Barracks, Darwin. Story and photo by Flight Lieutenant Nicholas O’Connor.

Fast forward 10 years, and 1st Aviation Regiment’s Captain Amos pilots Army’s attack helicopter, the armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH) Tiger.

Captain Amos said he knew from a young age growing up in Innisfall, Queensland, that he wanted to be a military aviator.

“A big catalyst in making the dream a reality, however, was the Avalon Airshow,” he said.

“Army allowed me to bridge my interests in both the aviation path and the roles the Army performs.

“It’s hard not to pursue a life in the skies when you are surrounded by some of the most modern military helicopters and jets in the world.

“Now, as an Army pilot, I am tasked with executing multiple mission sets, from armed reconnaissance to strike and close air support. It’s a challenging and highly demanding job, but equally rewarding.”

Captain Amos joined the ADF at18 and is now studying a bachelor of business part-time.

While his military career is still in its formative phase, he said conducting a live-fire activity from HMAS Canberra during Indo-Pacific Endeavour last year had been a career highlight.

“We were lucky enough to have most of the ship able to observe the activity, which for most spectators is probably the closest you can get to a live-firing attack helicopter,” Captain Amos said.

“It also provided us a great opportunity to showcase what we do on a daily basis and offer some context to the operators on the ground as to what our weapons effects are and how we go about achieving them in a tactical environment.”

Captain Amos said he looked forward to a long and rewarding Army aviation career.

“In the next few years I will start my transition to AH-64E Apache. There are a lot of exciting challenges ahead with introducing such a modern and complex battlefield helicopter into service whilst maintaining ARH Tiger as the current and ready attack helicopter platform.

“No doubt that will be a big task for everyone here at the unit and it is very much the focus for the future.”

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