__NOTOC__ The German School of Army Aviation (''Heeresfliegerwaffenschule'') based at

Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...

, is one of the schools of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

and is responsible for the training and development of the

German Army Aviation Corps The German Army Aviation Corps () is a special unit within the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). The German Army Aviation Corps is a branch of the German Army (''Heer''), containing all its helicopter units. The German Air Force and the German Na ...

' personnel and equipment. Furthermore, the basic training of helicopter pilots of the other components of the

German Armed Forces The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: German Army, ...

also takes place at the School of Army Aviation. The School of Army Aviation was founded on 1 July 1959 and based first at

Mendig Mendig () is a small town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km north-east of Mayen, and 25 km west of Koblenz. Mendig is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective muni ...

before being transferred on 12 January 1960 to its current location at

Bückeburg Air Base Bückeburg Air Base (German: ''Heeresflugplatz Bückeburg'', ICAO: ETHB) is a German Army base located northeast of the city of Bückeburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. British use The airfield was built in 1946 as a RAF Station, RAF Bückeburg, serv ...

, utilising the facilities of

RAF Bückeburg The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (R ...

, constructed by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in 1946 and closed in the mid-1950s. In October 2011 the German

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (, ; abbreviated BMVg) is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe barracks itself located at t ...

announced a reorganisation/reduction of the German Armed Forces. Due to the reduction of helicopter units within the German Army, some of which are to be disbanded whereas others are to be transferred to the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

, and also in light of the already existing international character of training helicopter pilots, the School of Army Aviation (''Heeresfliegerwaffenschule'') will be renamed to ''International Helicopter Training Centre''. Training of helicopter pilots of the other components of the German Armed Forces (Air Force and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

) at Bückeburg started in 2011.

Organisation

The head and commanding officer the German School of Army Aviation has the rank of brigadier general and the position of General of the Army Aviation Corps (''General der Heeresflieger''). The school is structured in: * Staff * Support Group * Technical Maintenance Department * Development Group * Instruction Group Staff of the German Armed Forces'

Central Medical Services The Joint Medical Service (, ''short form:'' Zentraler Sanitätsdienst, ) is a part of the ''Bundeswehr'', the armed forces of Germany and serves all three armed services (Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Cyber and Information Domain ...

, amongst which are a high-ranking flight surgeon and flight psychologist, are also incorporated into the school. Apart from the actual flight training, modern high-end flight simulators are extensively used during the training of future military helicopter pilots. Together with the

French Army Light Aviation The French Army Light Aviation ( (the army is officially called the 'Land Army' because the air force is officially called the 'Air Army')) is the Army aviation service of the French Army. ALAT was established on 22 November 1954 for observation ...

the Franco-German Training Centre TIGER at

Le Luc – Le Cannet Airport Le Luc-Le Cannet Airport is an airport located at Le Cannet-des-Maures, east of Le Luc, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. The airport is open to public air traffic, but has no commercial airline ...

Le Cannet-des-Maures Le Cannet-des-Maures (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. History The town was called "Cannet" until the French Revolution, and later "Le Cannet". During World War II on 15 ...

was established, solely dedicated to provide flying instruction on the

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helico ...

Units

: * (disbanded on 31 December 2008)

References

External links

Official website of the German Army Aviation School (''in German'')
{{Authority control Units and formations of the German Army (1956–present) Aviation schools German army aviation Military education and training in Germany Army flying training units and formations

Organisation

Units

See also

References

Further reading

External links