How base coped with Irma

FORT RUCKER, Ala. – Like other military bases with expensive aircraft, Fort Rucker officials had to decide earlier this month when Hurricane Irma was started tracking up the west coast of Florida whether to evacuate helicopters or dismantle the blades and put them in a hangar. It was a situation that changed day to day, but in the end no aircraft were damaged and training was allowed to continue after the storm passed. Fort Rucker, in southeast Alabama near Enterprise and Dothan, is the only Army unit that trains aviators – some 4,000 each year from 20 countries. (Source: Rotor & Wing International, 09/19/17) The Navy also trains military helicopter pilots at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, southwest of Fort Rucker in Milton, Fla.