Lieutenant Kim Ji-hoon Appointed as Army Top Helicopter Gunner

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] This year’s Army Top-Heligun was awarded to Warrant Officer Kim Ji-hoon (age 38), a pilot of the 109th Aviation Battalion Cobra (AH-1S), who received the Presidential Award.

Top-Heligun is a compound word of Top+Helicopter+Gunner, meaning the best gunner among Army combat helicopter pilots.

Every year, the Army selects the pilot with the best performance at the Army Aviation Shooting Competition as the Top-Heligun of that year. Warrant Officer Kim earned the highest score in the individual shooting category at the Army Aviation Shooting Competition held last November, becoming the 22nd Top-Heligun.

In addition to being named Top-Heligun, Warrant Officer Kim also achieved the highest score in the 20mm GUN shooting category, receiving the Aviation Operations Commander's Award. This clearly proves he is the top expert in Army aviation shooting.

Since childhood, after seeing a helicopter make an emergency landing in his neighborhood, he dreamed of becoming a helicopter pilot and was commissioned in 2008 as an Army Aviation Warrant Officer Pilot (Class 178).

After commissioning, he completed the Army Aviation School Cobra pilot training course with top honors and is currently a 13-year veteran pilot with over 1,500 flight hours on the Cobra model alone.

Warrant Officer Kim said, "I feel greatly honored to be selected as the prestigious Top-Heligun in the meaningful year marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Army Aviation branch. I will continue to hone my combat skills to help build a stronger Army tomorrow and contribute to decisive victories in ground operations."

The Army Aviation Shooting Competition is a contest where helicopter pilots compete in aerial shooting combat skills. It began in 1989 and marked its 32nd event this year. Since 1999, the Top-Heligun has been selected and awarded the Minister of National Defense Award, and since 2002, the honor has been elevated to the Presidential Award.

Additionally, Warrant Officer Kim Jung-gu (age 50) of the 902nd Aviation Battalion was selected as an excellent Heligun, and the 902nd Aviation Battalion was chosen as the best attack helicopter unit.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.