Helicopter support team

The Helicopter Support Team (HST) is a unit of organization within the United States Marine Corps that manages the activities of a helicopter landing zone (LZ). It consists of a team of eight Landing Support Marines who are trained to hook up external loads to the hooks of primarily military helicopters. All kinds of gear can be lifted by helicopter and taken to locations with terrain that is not suited for other kinds of vehicles. For example communications equipment can be placed on top of a mountain within a few minutes of flight instead of a few hours of driving, if one could even drive the equipment to the designated location. The HST is a valuable resource to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF)), as it provides an expedient manner of transportation for gear and supplies.