US Army's 101st AD CAB will move out via Rotterdam

In addition to our news item of 8 February 2021 on the next Brigade-sized US Army rotation to Europe, it is confirmed that the unit currently in Europe, the 101st Airborne Division Combat Aviation Brigade, will have its main aviation assets transported back to the USA via the Waalhaven in the port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands). This is the same location as in 2020, when the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade was transported back to the USA.

The 101st CAB arrived in July 2020 in the European theater. Most of the helicopter force was off-loaded in La Rochelle (France), the remainder were off-loaded in Greece.

Starting on Monday 15 March 2021, the helicopters will arrive in the port of Rotterdam via Eindhoven air base (the Netherlands). It is possible that some helicopters will already arrive at Eindhoven in the week before, but the first ones are not expected to arrive in the port before 15 March.

According to the latest information, 35 helicopters are expected to route via Eindhoven to Rotterdam. The rest of the unit's helicopters have already gathered in Greece, where the following numbers haven been seen: 6x HH-60M Black Hawk, 21x UH-60M Black Hawk and 15x AH-64E Apache Guardian.

The American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC) Endurance is on her way to Dunkirk (France) to off-load a large number of helicopters from the new incoming unit, the 1st Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade. The Endurance is expected to arrive in Dunkirk on 5 March 2021. After unloading, the ship will proceed to the port of Rotterdam.

Image: Brandweer / Photo: Erik-Jan Engelen