The arrival of Army Apache helicopters on Oahu will bring a unique training mission for the attack choppers: landing on Navy ships during Rim of the Pacific war games to gain more familiarity with sea-based operations while also demonstrating the land service’s versatility.
Eight of the latest model Apache Guardians were shipped to Hawaii in the past few days, and while they are here on a couple of months’ deployment, their arrival signals an Army transition to a more expeditionary force and what will likely be a permanent Apache presence to come at Wheeler Army Airfield.
On Friday the Army flew one of the Apaches to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island to conduct a blessing and show off the attack helicopter that has been invaluable to ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"In the August time frame, we’re going to put four of them (Apaches) on a ship and move them farther into the Pacific region, and they’ll be part of the inaugural Pacific Pathways operation that we’ll do this year," said Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, head of U.S. Army Pacific.
With a stated U.S. goal of not becoming enmeshed in coming years in protracted land wars, the Army has set out to become more agile and quick-reacting — in short, more expeditionary, like the Marines.
Brooks’ "Pacific Pathways" calls for exercises and engagements with foreign nations that will have rotational forces travel from exercise to exercise to exercise for months at a time.
"I think all of this speaks to the reality of our strategic re-balance (to the Pacific)," Brooks said in his remarks. "All of this speaks to the commitment that the United States Army has to the joint team and to our international partners."
It also speaks to a changing makeup of military helicopters on Oahu.
The Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base recently added about two dozen Super Cobra attack helicopters and Huey utility choppers to its lineup.
Meanwhile, two squadrons of 24 total MV-22 tilt-rotor Ospreys are expected to arrive in 2015 and 2016. Between Ospreys and helicopters, the base will be home to at least 73 rotorcraft.
The Army plans to replace its aging OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters at Wheeler with the dual-role scout and attack Apaches.
Col. Kenneth A. Hawley, commander of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade at Wheeler, said an environmental assessment is underway but that the Army hasn’t made the final decision to replace the Kiowas in Hawaii with Apaches.
"We are slated to get Apaches at some point pending final approval of the plan," Hawley said. "It could be (2015), could be (2017). We’re waiting on, again, the Department of the Army to make final decisions pending the results of the environmental assessment that we’re working through right now (and) that should be done relatively soon."
Army Cobra helicopters were previously based on Oahu, Hawley noted.
The Apaches and about 40 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment from Fort Carson, Colo., also will be participating in the exercise Tiger Balm with Singapore in the Kahukus at the end of July.
The Army has previously practiced landing Kiowas and Black Hawks on Hawaii-based Navy cruisers and destroyers.
The size of the Apaches precludes them from landing on those ships, Hawley said. They will land on bigger amphibious ships and possibly the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan during RIMPAC, which runs Thursday to Aug. 1.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Fouquette, a 12-year Apache pilot, said he’ll be making his first ship landings.
"It seems pretty exciting and very challenging," Fouquette said.
The challenging part "would be the interservice coordination in regards to the Navy," he said. "We have a lot of things we’re supposed to know just for the Army, and (we’ll be) kind of mirroring that up with the Navy and how their procedures (work)."
Ken DeHoff, executive director of the Pacific Aviation Museum and a Vietnam Cobra pilot, noted the aviation history that goes back a century on Ford Island. At one time as many as 300 aircraft were parked on the airfield, he said.
Grant Munsey, 7, was a little more interested in the up-to-date Apache as he checked it out with his dad, Navy Senior Chief Matt Munsey.
"It’s awesome!" the youngster said. "It has some cool gadgets, and I’ve never seen the inside of a helicopter for my whole life."
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