Airforces

NEWS

18 // JANUARY 2018 #358 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

North America

THE DUTCH port of

Rotterdam was the scene

of unusual aviation activity

in October 2017 when the

US Army’s 10th Combat

Aviation Brigade (CAB) flew

around 60 helicopters –

AH-64D Apaches, CH-47F

Chinooks and UH-60M/L

Black Hawks – into the

harbour for redeployment

to Fort Drum, New York.

The aircraft arrived at the

harbour from US Army

facilities in Kattersbach

and Illesheim, Germany.

The 10th CAB’s nine-

month European

deployment in support of

NATO Operation Atlantic

Resolve began in February

2017 with an offload at

Bremerhaven, Germany.

Only a few weeks before

arriving at their port of

departure, the Rotterdam

location was inspected

and chosen to embark the

helicopters and the unit’s

other materiel, comprising

around 1,100 vehicles and

containers. One of the

harbour piers was reserved

as a temporary landing

zone and declared as

military premises for the

duration of the operations.

The unit had around 60

soldiers present to handle

incoming flights and

prepare the helicopters for

sea transport, including

removal of the CH-47 rotor

blades. The pier had four

landing spots in a row, and

within 15 minutes of arrival,

aircraft were towed away

and the pier handled any

additional incoming flights.

The Netherlands

supported its NATO ally

with around 40 personnel

to secure the port,

including marine divers who

swept the harbour area.

Volkel Air Base provided

a crash tender and the

Dutch Helicopter Command

(DHC) at Gilze Rijen Air

Base brought along a

Mobile Air Operations

Team (MAOT) to give

landing instructions on the

approach into the harbour.

The flights were directed

through Dutch airspace

by Dutch Mil air traffic

control (ATC), towards

Rotterdam Airport ATC

and finally handed over to

the MAOT supervisors.

The helicopters were

received during daylight

in flights of two to four,

sometimes with an

overnight stop at Eindhoven

Air Base. Due to fog on

some of the flying days,

helicopters had to divert

to other bases like

Geilenkirchen, Germany,

until conditions were safe

to fly into the port with its

nearby harbour cranes

and stored oil platforms.

During its deployment,

the 10th CAB participated

in NATO exercises

including Saber Strike,

Saber Guardian and

Swift Response. These

included temporary forward

deployments to Latvia,

Poland and Romania.

Not all helicopters left

Europe via Rotterdam.

Around eight AH-64s

were airlifted by Air

Mobility Command C-

and C-17 aircraft from

Powidz air base, Poland.

Another small batch of

UH-60s flew from their

forward deployment

at Mihail Kog ̆alniceanu

air base, Romania

to Alexandroupoli

harbour, Greece, to be

shipped to the US.

In parallel with

redeployment of the 10th

CAB, another US Army

unit deployed in Europe to

take its place. Helicopters

from the Combat Aviation

Brigade, 1st Cavalry

Division, from Fort Hood,

Texas, arrived in the

harbour of Gent, Belgium,

before flying into Germany

via Chièvres air base,

Belgium. Peter ten Berg

10th CAB rotors leave Europe

Above: A 10th CAB AH-64D prepares to touchdown on the temporary landing zone at Rotterdam. Peter ten Berg

UH-60M/L Black Hawks prepared for ship transport at Rotterdam. Peter ten Berg