Photo By Jessica Ryan | Helicopters from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade arrived to Chièvres Air Base, Belgium....... read more read more
CHIÈVRES, Belgium -- Helicopters filled in the sky and landed on the airfield of Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, during an October weekend. The air base became a staging area for the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade's helicopters before they deploy to support Operation Atlantic Resolve and other training and missions across Europe.
The brigade, which is in the 1st Cavalry Division, stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, deployed with 89 aircraft, including Apaches, Chinooks and Black Hawks. The helicopters arrived by ship Oct. 19 at the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, and were then staged at Chièvres Air Base, which is a part of U.S. Army Garrison Benelux.
It was reported that it took less than 60 hours for the helicopters to go from the port to the air base. It was originally estimated that the process would take 96 hours.
As the helicopters and troops quickly arrived, the base and local community welcomed them.
Army Col. Cain Baker, the commander of the 1st Air Calvary Brigade, credited the operation's success to teamwork among the brigade, 424th Air Base Squadron on CAB and garrison employees.
"The important thing that has occurred here, in the last week, in Belgium, was a tremendous partnership. It has been a total team effort," said Baker. "The amount of support and the welcome we received here is overwhelming. I would like to say thank you to the local community for letting us be there and share this key point, key time in our mission as we go forward."
To support the mission, the 424th Air Base Squadron, which manages the base's airfield, worked on a short notice to prepare for the helicopters' and crews' arrival.
According to Air Force Lt. Col. Craig Lindstrom, the commander of the 424th Air Base Squadron, the airfield was the perfect platform to stage the helicopters and prepare the brigade for rapid movement to their next destination.
"Our airmen, in conjunction with the garrison, had an integrated plan in order to receive them," he said.
"We put together the parking plan. We had to make sure there was enough surface area to receive these helicopters. We also run the air traffic control for sequencing their flights in and out of here. We have a fire department, which provides fire and rescue response in the event that there is an emergency. We have a fueling team and refueling capacity so they were able to get adequate fuel to move onto their next destination."
The employees at USAG Benelux were also credited for their teamwork.
Army Col. Kurt Connell, garrison commander, acknowledged the garrison employees for their ability to support the incoming personnel, such as building life support areas for the troops, under a short deadline.
"We did what garrisons always do, which is to find out what those gaps are that the mission units can't fill on their own and see what we can do to help them," he said.
"We get U.S. Army civilian employees that rotate here every three to five years. They bring a breadth of experiences from other bases and other places that they have been assigned. Then we have our Belgian and Dutch professionals [in Schinnen, Netherlands, another location for the garrison], many of whom have been here for a long time, have the institutional knowledge of the place. When you marry those two things up, it gives us a very well-rounded response to do things."
The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade will replace the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, which has been in Europe for nine months as part of the continuing deterrence mission.
Approximately 1,900 Soldiers will deploy for a nine-month rotation from November 2017 to August 2018. According to Baker, the Soldiers will be dispersed into Germany, Poland, Latvia and Romania.
Baker emphasized that the deterrence is not with just helicopters.
"It's a total team concept with our ground forces. With the 1st Air Calvary Brigade, we have one job and one job only. That is support to our ground forces," he added. "We are their overhead to provide tech. aviation, medical and lift capabilities. We enhance the Soldier on the ground."
Story was originally published on page 4 of the Oct. 27, 2017 issue of "The Gazette."
For more information on Operation Atlantic Resolve, follow #AtlanticResolve on social media or visit www.eur.army.mil/AtlanticResolve.
| Date Taken: | 10.26.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2017 08:03 |
| Story ID: | 259979 |
| Location: | CHIEVRES, WALLONNE, RéGION (FR), BE |
| Hometown: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 194 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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