A UH-60 Black Hawk crew from 2-10 Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, prepares its aircraft for departure at Fort Drum, New York, on January 9. The battalion's aircraft flew to military installations in the south in preparation for deployment to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Thomas Scaggs) 170109-A-TZ475-034
By Dan Parsons |
@sharkparsons
7 years ago |
02/10/2017

The Army’s 10th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) on Feb. 9 began offloading more than 700 pieces of equipment, including 86 aircraft in Antwerp, Belgium, in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

Home stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., 10th CAB deployed with 2,200 soldiers for a nine-month rotations that runs through November. The unit brought along 86 helicopters to add airborne capability to the increased United States troop presence along NATO’s eastern flank.

The aircraft include 12 CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters, 28 UH-60 Black Hawk utility choppers, 12 HH-60 Medical Evacuation Black Hawk variants and 24 AH-64 Apache attack aircraft.

Brigade headquarters, where most of the unit’s personnel and aircraft will be based, is in Illesheim, Germany. Some troops and aircraft will spread out further along the border with Russia, according to the Army.

A UH-60 Black Hawk crew from 2-10 Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, prepares its aircraft for departure at Fort Drum, New York, on January 9. The battalion's aircraft flew to military installations in the south in preparation for deployment to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Thomas Scaggs) 170109-A-TZ475-034
A UH-60 Black Hawk crew from 2-10 Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, prepares its aircraft for departure at Fort Drum, New York, on January 9. The battalion’s aircraft flew to military installations in the south in preparation for deployment to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Thomas Scaggs) 170109-A-TZ475-034

Five Black Hawks and about 50 soldiers are destined for Lielvarde Air Base in Latvia. Another five UH-60s with 50 soldiers will move to Mihail Kogainiceanu Air Base in Romania. There are plans to station another team in Poland at a future date, the Army said in a statement.

“We’re going to be all over Europe joining the Strong Europe team and integrating into their training plan for the next nine months,” Col. Clair A. Gill, 10th CAB commander, said in an Army release.

“While an armor brigade is a very lethal force, and they’re going to do some fantastic training with our partners on the ground, aviation really is what I like to call that three-dimensional problem solver for the Army, the joint force and our coalitions,” Gill said. “We move faster than they do on the ground, and we shoot farther in some cases than some systems from the ground.”

The 10th CAB arrived in Europe just behind hundreds of U.S. combat vehicles and about 4,000 troops already deployed Europe for a nine-month rotational in support of Atlantic Resolve.

The vehicles – 87 M1 Abrams tanks, 144 Bradley Fighting Vehicles – and other equipment, belong to the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, Colo. The brigade also shipped 419 Humvees in several variants and 18 Paladin mobile gun platforms.

As part of the show of collective resolve in response to Russian sabre rattling and its invasion of Ukraine in 2014, NATO has committed to deploy four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Those units and military organizations from each host country will undertake a series of large, multi-lateral military exercises meant to deter further Russian aggression against the alliance.