Prince Harry to visit U.S. for helicopter training
(CBS) Prince Harry is following in his older brother's footsteps by heading out to California but his trip won't involve polo matches or mingling with movie stars.
The 26-year-old is heading to the west coast for a series of Apache helicopter training courses, according to a new report.
Harry's spokesman, Nick Loughran, told The Daily that the prince, who is a captain in the British Army Air Corps, "will be coming to the States at some point in the next couple of months for a handful of courses ... in parts of Arizona and California."
The prince will spend "about two-and-a-half to three months" in the U.S., Loughran said, as part of a standard program for British Apache pilots.
Once the course finishes, Harry will be appointed to a U.K. Apache squadron and could be deployed to a war zone.
"At some point down the line, it will be up to the Ministry of Defense chain of command to decide where and when, or if, any of those squadrons are deployed," the spokesman said.
Harry served 10 weeks in Afghanistan in 2007-2008.
The prince will head to the U.S. unattached. Earlier this week, Britain's Daily Mirror reported that the prince ended his relationship with lingerie model Florence Brudenell-Bruce because he wanted to concentrate on his army career.