Airforces - Demo Hornet

his year’s Air Centric

Personnel Recovery

Operatives’ Course

(APROC), from May 23 to June

6, was run from Gilze-Rijen by

the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s

(RNLAF’s) Defence Helicopter

Command (DHC) together

with the European Personnel

Recovery Centre (EPRC).

APROC’s location rotates

between its member nations:

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,

the Netherlands, Spain and the

United Kingdom. Meanwhile,

EPRC partner countries are

Canada, Hungary, Poland,

Sweden and the United States.

APROC objectives

The course trains aircrews and

extraction forces (EFs) in the

personal recovery (PR) mission,

and involves a mix of pilots of

limited experience with others

poised to become rescue

mission commanders (RMCs).

Less experienced crews are

trained to plan and conduct

complex PR missions involving

multinational forces and different

aircraft types while future RMCs

learn to lead mission planning

and execution, including

briefing and debriefing the

task force and higher chain of

command. Commanders of

extraction forces also participate

fully in mission planning.

Missions are supported by

fixed-wing rescue escort (FW

RESCORT – fighters) and airborne

early warning aircraft: AEW crews

learn proficiency as airborne

mission co-ordinators (AMC) and

RESCORT crews are drilled as

on-scene commanders (OSCs).

Additionally, EFs are trained to

recover isolated personnel (ISOP),

including providing medical care.

Task Force planning

EPRC staff directed three

separate task forces to undertake

preliminary planning – taking

into account the capabilities of

the participating helicopters and

aircrews – with each task force

operating as a unit for three

days before another took over.

The scenarios gradually

became more complex,

with task force composition

adapting accordingly.

The DHC provided nine exercise

locations, three of which were in

Rescue rotors

at Gilze-Rijen

APROC 2018,

hosted by the Royal

Netherlands Air Force,

involved task force

participants operating

from Gilze-Rijen, writes

Manolito Jaarsma.

Above: Italian Air Force HH-101A

MM81869 ‘15-06’ from 15° Stormo

at Cervia kicks up dust after

disembarking a British extraction

force in a landing zone. Note the

M134 Gatling-type guns mounted

in the door and on the rear ramp.

Jeroen van Veenendaal

T

Above: A wounded soldier receives

medical attention and is prepared

for extraction during an APROC

demonstration on May 31. On this

day, the exercise made use of training

areas at Stroe and Weerterheide

in the Netherlands and Zoersel in

Belgium. Ruud Maaskant

26 // AUGUST 2018 #365 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Exercise

Report APROC 2018