A U.S. Army 1st Air Cavalry Brigade AH-64 Apache helicopter is offloaded in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. (Courtesy of U.S. Army)
A U.S. Army 1st Air Cavalry Brigade AH-64 Apache helicopter is offloaded in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. (Courtesy of U.S. Army)
A U.S. Army 1st Air Cavalry Brigade AH-64 Apache helicopter is offloaded in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. (Courtesy of U.S. Army)
A U.S. Army 1st Air Cavalry Brigade AH-64 Apache helicopter is offloaded in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. (Courtesy of U.S. Army)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — U.S. Army helicopters arrived in Belgium on Friday to begin a nine-month rotation providing close-air support for units stationed in Europe.
About 2,000 soldiers with the Army’s 1st Air Cavalry Brigade brought 89 helicopters across the Atlantic to Chievres Air Base early Friday morning.
After unloading, they’ll move to locations across the Continent as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the United States’ commitment to deterring aggression in Eastern Europe after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
Most 1st ACB soldiers and helicopters will be based at headquarters in Illesheim, Germany, but smaller detachments will go to Latvia, Poland and Romania, where Atlantic Resolve is focusing much of its deterrent effort.
The soldiers, whose home base is Fort Hood, Texas, brought 12 CH-47 Chinooks, 38 UH-60 Black Hawks, 15 HH-60 Black Hawks for medevacs and 24 AH-64 Apaches to Europe.
The Texas-based soldiers are scheduled to take over Army air operations from the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade on Nov. 7. The outgoing brigade, from Fort Drum, N.Y., is wrapping up its nine-month mission.
egnash.martin@stripes.com Twitter: @Marty_Stripes
