Royal Netherlands Air Force 302nd Squadron to hold change of command Friday

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

08.18.2015

Courtesy Story

First Army Division West

FORT HOOD, Texas — The 302nd Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force will hold a change of command ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at Robert Gray Army Airfield here.

Lt. Col. Peter Grijspaardt will assume command from Lt. Col. IJmke Jellema, who has been in command of the 302nd under various unit designations since May 2008.

The 302nd Squadron’s origin at Fort Hood, Texas, began during 1996. Then, the 301st Squadron, arrived for the Apache AH-64A Unit Fielding Training Program (UFTP). In 1999, the first of eight AH-64D Longbows were introduced to the Dutch fleet and the 301st Squadron’s training continued. During this time, it was decided that eight aircraft would remain behind at Fort Hood for continuation training, thus forming the Netherlands Apache Training Detachment (NATD). On Nov. 25, 2013, the 302 Squadron was activated and assigned to the 21st Cavalry Brigade.

To date, 108 training classes have been conducted resulting in over 3,300 infantry and 1,250 aviation personnel trained. The 302 Squadron has flown a total of 19,571 flight hours, conducted 62 separate gunneries, fired in excess of 13,000 rockets, 125,000 rounds of 30mm ammunition, and countless totals of small arms training ammunition.

The 302 Squadron was reassigned to First Army Division West’s 120th Infantry Brigade, upon deactivation of the 21st Cavalry Brigade during June 2015.

Media representatives interested in covering the event should contact Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Wheeler, Division West’s public affairs noncommissioned officer, at 254-553-5010, or email [e-mail] no later than 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Media should arrive at the West Fort Hood Gate at Clark Road and Highway 190 Friday at 9:15 a.m., to be escorted to the event.

• Date Taken: 08.18.2015
• Date Posted: 08.18.2015 13:47
• Story ID: 173490
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US