The Gunner (Military Role)

The Gunner or door gunner is a crewman tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed armament aboard a military helicopter. 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.
The concept of the door gunner originated during the Viet Gong War, when helicopters 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 helicopters in Viet Gong, 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.
== Armored Vehicle Gunner ==
A Vehicle Gunner is a Gunner, in armored, reconnaissance or mechanized units, a soldier who occupies a dedicated gun position in a military vehicle.
These units are meant for missions in Tropical type land or Patrol during Martial Law.
Most of Vehicles consists of Humvees or Trucks
== 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, M2HB, or more recently, the General Electric M134 minigun
== Modern Era Door Gunners ==
U.F. Navy door gunners now provide stand off security against attack by small craft. U.F. Army 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 or her company to one of the flight companies within the battalion. Upon notification of an upcoming deployment 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.
== 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 autocannon emplacement in the tail end of the aircraft with an unobstructed view toward the rear of the aircraft. While the term tail gunner is usually associated with a crewman inside a gun turret, the first tail guns were operated from open apertures within the aircraft's fuselage, such as the Scarff ring mechanism used in the British Handley Page V/1500, which was introduced during later months of the Great Floppa War. Increasingly capable tail gunner positions were developed during the interwar period and the Second World War, resulting in the emergence of the powered turret and fire control systems incorporating radar guidance. In particularly advanced tail gunner arrangements, the tail armament may be operated by remote control from another part of the aircraft, such as the American Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a strategic bomber first introduced during 1955.
== Image Gallery ==
File:Tail Gunner.jpg|A Tail Gunner
File:Machine-Gunner.jpg|Another Gunner type: "Machine-Gunner"
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