SENSO - The last enlisted tactical jet aircrew in the US Military
"The Viking initially had a crew of four consisting of a Pilot,
Copilot Tactical Coordinator (COTAC), acoustic Sensor Station Operator
(SENSO), and Tactical Coordinator (TACCO). All crew members are seated
on ejection seats, and the pilot's controls include a control stick in
place of the traditional wheel.
"Only one group of enlisted personnel flew in tactical
jets. They were the sensor operators (SENSOs) aboard S-3B "Vikings."
(The ES-3A is not considered tactical because it carries no weapons.)
The reason why the SENSO's billet called for an enlisted person is that
an enormous amount of training is required to analyze acoustic data, and
the skills are perishable, so you have to keep training in them constantly.
There's just not enough time in an officer's training pipeline to go through
all that.
"It was the SENSO's job to operate acoustic and non-acoustic
sensors in support of the plane's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission.
Their acoustic training was the whole reason for their being there, but
about 90 percent of their real-world mission is non-acoustic.
"For example, they might start searching for a submarine
by looking for a periscope, then the sub dives and the plane drops sonobuoys
and go acoustic. The SENSO, who rides in the left rear of the S-3B's four
ejection seats, then analyzes his incoming acoustic data and reports it
to the tactical coordinator (TACCO) in the seat to his right. The TACCO,
a naval flight officer, directs where the pilot should fly, what search
pattern to use, and coordinates any weapons release. Meanwhile, the enlisted
SENSO continued to feed him updated information as they refine the search.
"The S-3B Aircraft is currently manned and operated by an aircrew
of three, consisting of a pilot, Copilot/COTAC, and Tactical Coordinator
(TACCO). The Sensor Operator (SENSO) position has been deleted along with
the deletion of associated ASW equipment."
Source: GlobalSecurity.org
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Jetman,
seated in the SENSO seat, c. 1994 somewhere at sea.
During the first part of the S-3 Viking's history, the fourth seat was
designated for a permanent enlisted aircrew, the Anti-Submarine Warfare
Operator (AW).
The S-3B's high-speed computer system processes and displays information
generated by its targeting-sensor systems. These systems include; Inverse/Synthetic
Aperture Radar (ISAR/SAR), infrared (IR) sensor and an Electronic Support
(ESM) system.
Along with the passive acoustic sonar tracking system, these targeting
and detection elements of the aircraft called for a specialist operator,
the AW. AW's primary duties aboard the S-3 were interpreting these signals
and maintaining safety of flight operations.
Operational
Concept. The S-3B Aircraft is manned and operated by an aircrew
of four. The aircrew consists of a pilot, Copilot Tactical Coordinator
(COTAC), acoustic Sensor Station Operator (SENSO), and Tactical Coordinator
(TACCO). The S-3B Aircraft carries surface and subsurface search equipment
with integrated target acquisition and sensor coordinating systems which
can collect, process, interpret, and store ASW and ASUW sensor data. It
has a direct attack capability with a variety of armament. -- NAVY TRAINING
SYSTEM PLAN FOR THE S-3B AIRCRAFT N88-NTSP-A-50-8310D/D JANUARY 1998
CDR Logsdon pinning on
the Navy / Marine Corps Commendation Medal (Combat device
authorized) to two AWs after the 1992 WestPac which included Somalia.
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