Who is Sergeant Carlos Oliveira?
News Article / March 31, 2014
Name: Sergeant Carlos Oliveira
Years in the Canadian Armed Forces: 23
Occupation: Flight Engineer (FE)
Unit: 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron (THS) based out of Edmonton, Alberta, but under 1 Wing Kingston, Ontario
Unit Position: High Readiness Flight Warrant Officer and Unit Standards FE
By Second Lieutenant Catherine Keyser
Sergeant Carlos Oliveira has spent 23 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), serving in both the Reserve and Regular Force all across the country.
His career has been quite diverse. He joined in 1991 as an airframe technician for the Reserve Force, and six years later joined the Regular Force as an aviation technician (AVN) at Borden, Ontario. In 2004, he requested to transfer to the flight engineer trade, and was posted to 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa, Ontario.
He is currently posted to 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton, Alberta, where he holds the position of both the High Readiness Flight Warrant Officer, and the Unit Standards Flight Engineer.
He has earned great respect in the flight engineer trade as he is an extremely hard worker who others are willing to follow. This is exemplified when the Royal Canadian Air force benefited from his skills and experience when he became a flight instructor in 2008.
“I’ve gone coast to coast by helicopter, met a lot of interesting people, seen how vast the country is, and through it all, I am glad I joined the Canadian Armed Forces,” said Sergeant Oliveira.
Sergeant Oliveira has always been intrigued by mechanics, and it was his excitement for fixing things that led him to join the military as an airframe technician in 1991.
After gaining the required technical experience working as an AVN technician, he decided to transfer to the flight engineer trade. He wanted to combine the rewarding aspect of maintaining and repairing aircrafts with the thrill of flying and has enjoyed being a flight engineer ever since.
Tactical aviation flight engineers play an essential role to helicopter operations. Sergeant Oliveira currently works on the CH-146 Griffon helicopter, a tactical aircraft with a wide range of abilities and usage in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). He is depended upon to ensure the aircraft systems are functioning before flight. He supports the two pilots during the missions, and is the source of mechanical knowledge when the situation dictates.
Flight engineers are also required to obtain certain qualifications that are specialized to the type of mission the helicopter is to perform. Such duties include hoisting, operating the Nightsun (a large spotlight used in search and rescue and counter drug operations) and door gunnery. The latter is particularly important when deployed in hostile environments, as the Griffon helicopter is utilized as an escort aircraft, protecting the other aircrafts and their personnel during flight. The machine guns that can be equipped to the Griffon helicopter are the C6, GAU 21 and the Dillon M134.
Sergeant Oliveira deployed on Operation Palladium in Bosnia (in 2001 and twice in 2003), Operation Hurricane at CFS Alert (in 2000, 2002 and 2006) and Operation Podium in Vancouver (in 2010).
“After deploying to Bosnia, I realized how lucky we are in Canada to have great roads and shoulders to pull over, without the threat of mines,” he said. “The deployments taught me how to work under stressful conditions, and gave me a better understanding of teamwork and comradery.”