Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion,

Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, 77th Combat Aviation Brigade, conducted deck landings in the Arabian Gulf, Oct. 11-12. The UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64 Apache crews took turns landing their aircraft aboard the USNS Alan Shepard to qualify their crews in this type of maneuver. Upon completion of the qualification each set of aircraft was refueled by the vessel and flown back to Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Training exercises like these play an important role in mission readiness and total force capability by increasing interoperability between branches, which is vital for joint collaboration missions.(U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Aaron Ellerman)