Praise officer on chopper heading west (5)
I believe the answer is:
exalt
'praise' is the definition.
(I know that exalt is a more specific form of the action praise)
'officer on chopper heading west' is the wordplay.
'officer' becomes 'lt' (abbreviation for lieutenant).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'chopper' becomes 'axe' (something which chops).
'heading west' is a reversal indicator.
'axe' back-to-front is 'exa'.
'lt' after 'exa' is 'EXALT'.
(Other definitions for exalt that I've seen before include "Raise high, glorify" , "Extol" , "Honour - raise up" , "Elevate" , "Promote" .)