Flying Helicopters Since I Was Three!

Major MacKenzie R. Paul Grew Up In Bismarck

“Hello, I’m Mac,” and with a smile that filled the room I met Maj. MacKenzie R. Paul, a pilot with the 54th Helo Squadron at Minot Air Force Base. Did she really fly helicopters when she was 3? There’s an air of confidence that makes you believe that yes, indeed, if it were possible Mac would get it done…”Being a helicopter pilot has been a dream forever. We have videos of me at age 3 saying I want to be a helicopter pilot, or a firefighter, which is still a goal, but helicopter pilot has been the dream for as long as I know” according to Maj MacKenzie.

The journey to becoming a pilot with the 54th started immediately after she graduated in 2011 from Bismarck High School. “I went to the Air Force Academy, I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2015, then went to pilot training advanced in Oklahoma, and helicopter training at Fort Rucker Alabama, Huey training in New Mexico. I was at DC for my first assignment, and now I’m here (Minot AFB)” says MacKenzie.

MacKenzie and her parents. Paul is a graduate of Bismarck High School.

Question? They still fly Huey’s in DC? “Yeah they do” shares MacKenzie “they’re painted blue with a stripe…they look really nice.”

MacKenzie relates that her day “kinda changes according to what we are doing that day. On days that we are flying we show up, do some mission planning and a brief. Then we go fly. Our mission? We are security for the missiles and security for the base.” Together we had a laugh when I related to Maj. MacKenzie that my wife and I were parked near the base looking for the well-advertised comet that was supposed to be in the western sky. When I related to her that we hadn’t seen the comet but had actually watched a Huey flying near the base she smiled and said, “even better.”

The job of the 54th Helo squadron is varied. “We do security for the convoys, and we do security for all of the missiles that are in the ground, too. Sometimes it looks like we may be flying around doing nothing, but we’re securing the missile field and making sure nothing crazy is going on out there.”

Maj MacKenzie flies 3-4 times a week. “It’s fun, definitely fun. There are times when we are out of the aircraft for a while, and we definitely miss it” according to MacKenzie. Has she flown any celebrities as a pilot? “There was a lot of that in DC, but really no celebrities yet here (in Minot).”

A UH-1, Huey helicopter. A common sight in the air around Minot.

In a Huey the right seat is the commander, and the left seat is the co-commander. Pilots do a lot of training so they may end up being in the left seat as part of the training.

And staffing, are there enough helicopter pilots? “Well, we don’t have a shortage of helicopter pilots for sure.”

What is the timeline to becoming a helicopter pilot. “Well, you are in pilot training for about two and one half years, and then you are a co-pilot for a year at your first assignment until you become an aircraft commander” says MacKenzie.

In the future MacKenzie can see both her, and her husband, also a 54th Squadron helicopter pilot, returning to the pilot training center in New Mexico, or have a chance at a different flying mission like the new Grey Wolf that will be arriving at Minot Air Force Base.

But there are some caveats to that plan. “I love flying the Huey. It makes that distinctive sound, and you are in complete control flying without an autopilot. There are positive and negatives (to flying a new aircraft). If I went to the Grey Wolf it would be cool, but I’ll always miss the Huey” MacKenzie shares.

And the Huey’s that you fly today. Is there much difference from the ones that flew in Vietnam? “Not much actually” according to MacKenzie “we have a new GPS system that they obviously didn’t have in Vietnam, but some of the tails (aircraft slang for aircraft) we have here actually flew in Vietnam.”

New to Minot Air Force Base will be the large building under construction that will be the home of the 54th Helo Squadron “and the cops that we work with” says MacKenzie “it will be so nice to be in the same building.”

For Mac, this is where she wants to be “I’m happy to be where I am right now.”
For Major MacKenzie R. Paul, the dream to be a helicopter pilot has come true, and as they say, “she’s living the dream.”

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