Army Apaches with skis: Attack helos get cold weather upgrades

As the Army builds its very first AH-64 Apache battalion in Alaska, soldiers in the unit are experiencing a lot of firsts.

The 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, is the first Apache unit to permanently install skis on the bird. It also is the first to “cold-soak” the aircraft in temperatures as low as 20 degrees below zero for days at a time to see how the system reacts to such extreme cold. And the battalion is the first to look into fielding an external equipment pod to hold pilots’ much-needed but bulky extreme cold-weather survival and mobility gear.

“We’re just like any other attack battalion in the Army, and we can deploy anywhere in the world,” said Lt. Col. Jaysen Yochim, the commander of 1st Battalion. “But the terrain and temperatures here are unique, and we’re really up here to be part of the Army’s subject matter experts on how you operate in the Arctic.”

No other Apache unit has developed tactics, techniques and procedures for flying Apaches with skis or how to operate the helicopters in subzero temperatures, he said.

The battalion, based on Fort Wainwright, was stood up in September and has received 20 of its 24 Apache helicopters. The Apaches are assigned to U.S. Army Alaska’s Aviation Task Force, which already has UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

This is the first time the Apache has been stationed in Alaska. Previously, an A-model Apache underwent testing at the Fort Greely Cold Region Test Center during the winter of 1991.

Stationing Apache helicopters in Alaska is part of the Army’s sweeping five-year reorganization of its aviation assets. The Aviation Restructuring Initiative, among other things, eliminates the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior from the Army’s inventory and uses Apaches to fill the Kiowa’s reconnaissance and scout role.