Helicopters from 2-10 AHB "Knighthawks" arrive in Romania

Photo By Sgt. Nicholas Vidro | Sgt. Allen Hennaman, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, is preparing to secure the rotary blades of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, Mar. 3, 2017. As a flight instructor and mechanic for the brigade he will play a major role in Operation Atlantic Resolve, a multi-nation effort to promote regional stability and deter aggression, by working directly with Romanian soldiers through various exercises. (U.S. Army Photo by Pvt. Nick Vidro)  

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, ROMANIA

03.02.2017

Story by Pvt. Nicholas Vidro 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania –Helicopters from the 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade landed at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania on Thursday, Mar. 2, 2017. The brigade made its way to MK Air Base from Thessaloniki, Greece.

The brigade is in Romania in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a mission that focuses on strengthening and enhancing the bonds between U.S. and European forces, and deterring foreign aggression. The Combat Aviation Brigade will be conducting many missions over the length of their deployment.

“The CAB is here to increase the capabilities of our NATO Allies and ourselves,” said Maj. Joshua Meyer, the operations officer for 10th CAB. “First and foremost we’re here to build relationships with our NATO Allies; first with Romania and then in the future Bulgaria and Hungary. Some larger exercises such as Saber Guardian this summer will have over twenty NATO countries participating in it.”

Other portions of the brigade’s deployment will be spent training closely with Romanian forces. These will include many demonstrations of current U.S. capabilities within the country. Capt. James Bates, company commander of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment will be one of the officers overseeing training operations during the deployment.

“During this rotation we expect to train air assault missions as our company’s primary mission is to conduct air assault missions,” said Bates.“We will also conduct personnel recovery and causality evacuation exercises to demonstrate our ability to deploy expeditiously.”

The brigade is well on their way to beginning operations in Romania and is ready to be a part of upcoming Operation Atlantic Resolve activities.

“This is an incredibly unique deployment,” said Meyer. “When you say deployment most of us think of Afghanistan or Iraq, somewhere hot and dusty. Here we are in beautiful Romania. This is a deployment to enhance the capabilities of ourselves and our NATO Allies here in Europe.”


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U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51 country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships and enhance global security.

• Date Taken: 03.02.2017
• Date Posted: 03.02.2017 15:56
• Story ID: 225477
• Location: MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, RO