Dutch Chinook and Cougar helicopters receive maintenance at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before being used for training sorties Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch Chinook and Cougar helicopters receive maintenance at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before being used for training sorties Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch maintainers work on a Chinook helicopter at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before being taken on a training sortie through the mountainous terrain Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch maintainers manually rotate the blades of a Chinook helicopter at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before the helicopter is taken on a training sortie Tuesday, Sept, 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch pilot arrives at a maintenance office to receive a preflight brief on the maintenance of his helicopter at Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch pilot receives the maintenance brief on his helicopter at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before flying a sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch load planners and pilots prep a Chinook helicopter at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before flying a sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch maintainers watch as a Chinook prepares to taxi down the runway at Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A view from inside a Dutch Chinook as another Dutch Chinook prepares to taxi the runway at Aviano Air Base, Italy before taking a two-hour sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch Chinook helicopter taxis the runway at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before flying a two-hour sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch Chinook helicopter hovers above the runway at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before flying a two-hour sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch Cougar helicopter receives preflight maintenance at Aviano Air Base, Italy, before to being taken on a sortie Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch Cougar helicopter takes off from Aviano Air Base, Italy, to conduct a two-hour sortie in one of seven mountain training areas near the base Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
A Dutch Chinook helicopter hovers near Aviano Air Base, Italy, as part of training to enhance general combat skills for new and veteran pilots Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — The Dutch military is wrapping up three weeks of training at Aviano as part of a mission to improve pilots’ combat readiness.
Since the Dutch military ended its contributions to the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan in 2010, it has continued to seek training sites and ways to improve its force’s combat readiness, said Maj. Eugene Quax, the squadron commander for a composite squadron of the Dutch Defense Helicopter Command.
Aviano’s mountainous terrain and high altitudes provide conditions comparable to those in Afghanistan, which are ideal for training helicopter pilots, Quax said Tuesday. Mountains are something that the Netherlands doesn’t have.
One of the major goals of the mountain training is to be able to account for wind direction as it bounces off and through the mountainous terrain, Quax said.
The composite squadron — a temporary unit created for a specific mission — was made up of a 200-member support element, four Apache helicopters, three Chinook helicopters and four Cougar helicopters. The squadron also consisted of 15 student pilots and three instructor pilots for each helicopter variation.
The Netherlands’ armed forces maintain 28 Apache helicopters, 18 Chinooks and 12 operational Cougars. The Dutch navy is in the process of acquiring 20 NH90 twin-engine helicoptors.
The aim of the mission at Aviano, besides general combat training, was to retrain veteran pilots and to certify newer pilots.
The Dutch are scheduled to wrap up their training and head back to the Netherlands this week, with half of their helicopters flying the 4 1/2-hour flight back on Thursday and the remaining on Friday.
