Email   Print   Share By Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

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Dutch troops from the RNLAF and American contractors stand in formation during a transfer of authority ceremony Sept. 6 at West Fort Hood, during which the Dutch accepted two new CH-47F Chinook helicopters. One more Chinook is expected. Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

Air Commodore Dennis Luyt, defense helicopter commander, RNLAF, joins Col. Neil Hersey, commander, 21st Cav. Bde., and Lt. Col. Emco Jellema, commander, JNTD, with the key that represented the transfer of authority for the Chinooks. Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

The foreign military training mission at the 21st Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) expanded Friday as the brigade and the Joint Netherlands Training Detachment officially accepted possession of two CH-47F Chinook helicopters. A third Chinook is expected to arrive from Boeing soon.

During a transfer of authority ceremony inside the Royal Netherlands Air Force hangar at West Fort Hood’s Robert Gray Army Airfield, a key was passed from the Dutch pilots who flew the helicopters in from Boeing to Col. Neil Hersey, commander, 21st Cav. Bde. Hersey then passed the key to Lt. Col. Emco Jellema, commander, JNTD, representing the Dutch assumption of authority for the airframe.

Air Commodore Dennis Luyt, defense helicopter commander, RNLAF, came to Fort Hood for the ceremony and to visit the Dutch airmen. It was the commodore’s first visit to the U.S.

“With these helicopters coming in, not only is our training is expanded, but also the partnership we have with our coalition partners,” Luyt said. “This is a great opportunity for us.”

Chinook instruction for RNLAF air crews will join the already-ongoing training of Dutch AH-64 Apache helicopter crews and Dutch ground forces at Fort Hood.

“The Netherlands was our first

partner in foreign military training,” Hersey said. While other nations have participated in the program, the Dutch program has been the only one with a permanent detachment here.

That partnership of cooperative training began with Apache helicopter training in 1996 and grew to include infantry troops in 2009, and in November, the Chinook training program should be up and running.

“We have slowly but surely ramped up the training,” Luyt said.

Instruction provided at Fort Hood is valuable training to the Dutch, he added.

Two Dutch instructor pilots for the CH-47 are already at Fort Hood to prepare for incoming RNLAF pilots and loadmasters. Loadmasters are essentially the same as flight engineers on U.S. Chinooks, Dutch Capt. Martin Schreuder, instructor pilot, JNTD, said. One U.S. contractor pilot will join the Dutch IPs for the program.

Schreuder said he is excited to have the new airframe at Fort Hood.

“It’s great,” he said. “I’m glad they are here.”

Training, he said, will be conducted similar to the Apache and infantry training.

“We will have about five flights a year for tactical training and two instructional mission trainings,” Schreuder said.

Pilots from the Netherlands receive their initial flight training at Fort Rucker, Ala., before coming to Fort Hood to receive instruction on tactics, techniques and procedures from Dutch and American instructor pilots. Loadmasters and pilots will be trained together. All of the training is overseen by 21st Cav. Bde.

Contracted maintainers at Fort Hood will provide maintenance for the helicopters, Schreuder said.

Maintainers have also received training specific to the Dutch Chinooks.

These helicopters are basically the same as the American Fox models, but the avionics system is a little different, Schreuder said.

The addition of the cargo helicopters makes the foreign military program at Fort Hood an “even better and more robust training program,” Hersey said.

The development and expansion of the U.S.-Netherlands joint training program at Hood has paralleled the expansion of coalition operations across the globe, Hersey said.

“This is a true example of the Army’s vision for the transition to coalition operations,” he said.

Training that Dutch air crews and ground troops receive at Fort Hood is not possible in the Netherlands because of the nation’s small, but densely populated, size as well as restrictions placed on military operations, Dutch Maj. Ron Muijlkens, executive officer, JNTD, said.

Adding the Chinooks to the Netherlands’ training program is a mission enhancer that will allow the Dutch soldiers and airmen more latitude with their exercises, Muijlkens said. Once the training is up and running, Dutch troops will not have to rely so heavily on securing American transport helicopters for training air assault missions and troop transport because they now have the support aircraft.

“We’ve got everything in our own hands now,” he said. “This makes us complete.”

Added equipment will not take away from the joint Dutch-U.S. training operations though.

Even with the added air capabilities for the Dutch, Luyt said the key is the relationship between the Americans and the Dutch.

“It’s important to realize training together strengthens the bonds between our two countries,” he said.

Chinooks will expand joint training. Jellema said the arrival of the Dutch Chinooks puts a focus on the future of the JNTD at Fort Hood and will help the Netherlands slowly grow their special forces.

Dutch forces are facing the same challenges and transitions U.S. forces are.

Their armed forces are drawing down and they are training to be ready for asymmetrical battlefields.

High standards and realistic training offered through the 21st Cav. and Fort Hood adequately prepare the Dutch troops as well as the resources on post help the American forces.

“This is one place where the mindset is that every Soldier is trained to the best,” Jellema said. “We are getting everything ready to train our young Soldiers to be ready for everything.”