News release
FORT DRUM, NY – Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), and 2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (Knighthawks), will conduct an air-assault training exercise from 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, to 1:30 a.m. Thursday, June 1, in the vicinity of Fort Drum, NY, and Griffiss International Airport, Rome, NY.
An air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft — such as the helicopter — to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy lines.
During the training, more than 20 UH-60 Black Hawks and four AH-64 Apache helicopters will fly between Fort Drum and Griffiss International Airport. During this time, members of the public can expect to see high densities of military rotary-wing aircraft operating between Fort Drum and Rome and making multiple landings at each location.
“Training air-assault exercises like this are extremely important for the preparation of our wartime mission,” said Maj. Derek P. Brown, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade executive officer. “Flying from Fort Drum to Griffiss International Airport allows us to increase flight distances and training complexity to better model real-world scenarios.”