135th Aviation Regiment (United States): Difference between revisions

2nd Battalion 135th Aviation Regiment
2nd Battalion 135th Aviation Regiment
	File:2-135 Blackjacks GSAB insignia.jpg 2/135th Aviation Battalion Insignia
Active	1974 - present
Country	United States
Branch	Army National Guard
Type	Aviation Battalion
Size	300
Part of	Colorado Army National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado
Nickname(s)	Flapjacks
Motto(s)	Mission First
Colors	Black and gold
Engagements	Iraqi War
Commanders
Current; commander	LTC Scott Fredericksen
Insignia
Identification; symbol	Skull with crossed swords

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Revision as of 21:53, 21 April 2010

The 2nd Battalion 135th Aviation Regiment is an Army helicopter battalion which deployed to Iraq in September 2006 through August 2007 as part of Task Force Mustang, Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion flies the UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook and the OH-58 Kiowa. They are home based out of Buckley AFB, Colorado, as part of the Colorado Army National Guard Aviation Command.

Current Units

The current units of the 2-135th in Colorado are:

HHC - "Headhunters" - Headquarters and Headquarters Company
A Company - "Wolfpack" - Blackhawks
B Company - "Bootleggers" - Chinooks (Mile Hi Hookers)
C Company - "Husker Angels" - Blackhawk MedEvac
D Company - "Dagger" - Aviation Maintenance
E Company - "Marauder" - Ground Maintenance, Aviation/Ground Fueling, Food Services

History

Pre-GWOT

The 2/135th first became a part of the Colorado Army National Guard in the mid-1970s. The original unit, a single company, was made a part of the 40th Infantry Division's aviation brigade, predominantly located in California.

(see Ext Refs below for much more history)

Global War on Terror

The 2/135th deployed on 19 March 2006 for five months of Theatre Immersion training at Fort Hood, Texas and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. They were certified "Fit to Fight" by Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, commanding general, First U.S. Army, on 30 July 2006. The unit shipped to Kuwait in August 2006, completed a couple of weeks of "boots on the ground" training at Camp Buehring, and entered Iraq in the first half of September as one of five battalions of Task Force Mustang in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion principally flies out of Balad Air Base (aka Camp Anaconda) and is flying missions all over Iraq. The total deployment for the 2/135th is expected to last approximately 18 months.

The battalion became fully engaged in the OIF mission on 17 Sep 2006, crosstraining with the previous unit, and had an official transfer of responsibility from the 7-101st on 24 Sep 2006. Soldiers wear the shoulder sleeve patch of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division while in Iraq.

The Iraq formation of the 2/135th (as a unit of Task Force Mustang) consisted of approximately 550 soldiers and was approximately 60% made up of Colorado Army National Guard personnel. It also included Army aviation guard personnel from three additional primary states, Minnesota, Nebraska, Utah with smaller contingents from Arkansas, Wyoming, Missouri and Florida.

The Iraq mission involved operations over a large expanse of the country of Iraq. The unit distinguished itself as one of the premier air assault units in the US Army, conducting 111 major, multinight air assault operations—inserting over 15,500 troops into enemy landing zones across the Iraq theater in the span of only a year. "The Blackjacks" earned the Army Aviation Association of America's top national guard aviation unit in '07 for this effort.

2006-2007 Iraq Formation Units

HHC - "Headhunters" - Headquarters and Headquarters Company
A Company - "Rumrunner" - Blackhawks
B Company - "Bootleggers" - Chinooks (Mile Hi Hookers)
C Company - "Cutter" - Blackhawk MedEvac, including attached units
- C Co 1-111th - "Painkillers" - Blackhawks
- Det 1 C-Co 1-111th - "Razorback Medevac"
D Company - "Dagger" - Aviation Maintenance
E Company - "Marauder" - Ground Maintenance, Aviation/Ground Fueling, Food Services

Company A of the 2/135th from the Colorado ARNG was deployed to Iraq for one year, from the fall of 2005 to October 2006. This company is the normally organic A Company located with the battalion in Colorado. This company was selected to deploy with the 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne as the first Guard aviation unit to deploy from Colorado. They served with distinction along with their active duty brothers in arms. They also informally served as a year-long advanced party for the battalion until they took over the mission of 7/101 in September 2006

2005-2006 Iraq Formation Unit

A Company - "Wolfman/Wolfpack" - Blackhawks

A Company 2/135th during the Iraq deployment is (attached) Company A of the 2/211th from the Utah ARNG (home base West Jordan, Utah) serving, in Iraq as part of the beefed up 2/135th. They replaced Colorado's Co A after cross-training and handoff in September 2006.

B, C, D, E and HHC Companies of the 2/135th of the Colorado Army National Guard are all currently deployed to Iraq.

B Company 2/135th (Colorado) is augmented by Company B of the 2/211th GSAB , Minnesota ARNG from Holman Field, St Paul, Minnesota.

C Company 2/135th (Nebraska) is augmented by a detail from the Colorado ARNG.

All six companies were augmented for the Iraq deployment by additional ARNG personnel from other states as well as a few Individual Ready Reserve soldiers from across the United States. Battalion has approximately 550 personnel in Iraq fully augmented, whereas the more normal staffing in the Colorado guard is 300. The total distribution of personnel at the Brigade level is available on the 36th CAB state personnel contributions page.

C-Co 1-111th of the Florida National Guard, and Det 1 C-Co 1-111th of the Arkansas National Guard are commanded by LTC Michael J. Rung, and were attached the 2-135 GSAB for additional Medevac support during the current OIF 06-07 rotation.

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 The Iraq formation of the 2/135th (as a unit of Task Force Mustang) consisted of approximately 550 soldiers and was approximately 60% made up of Colorado Army National Guard personnel.  It also included Army aviation guard personnel from three additional primary states, [[Minnesota Army National Guard|Minnesota]], [[Nebraska Army National Guard|Nebraska]], [[Utah Army National Guard|Utah]] with smaller contingents from [[Arkansas Army National Guard|Arkansas]], [[Wyoming Army National Guard|Wyoming]], [[Missouri Army National Guard|Missouri]] and [[Florida Army National Guard|Florida]].
-The Iraq mission involved operations over a large expanse of the country of Iraq.  The unit distinguished itself as one of the premier air assault units in the US Army, conducting 111 major, multinight air assault operations—inserting over 15,500 troops into enemy landing zones across the Iraq theater in the span of only a year. "The Flapjacks" earned the Army Aviation Association of America's top national guard aviation unit in '07 for this effort.
+The Iraq mission involved operations over a large expanse of the country of Iraq.  The unit distinguished itself as one of the premier air assault units in the US Army, conducting 111 major, multinight air assault operations—inserting over 15,500 troops into enemy landing zones across the Iraq theater in the span of only a year. "The Blackjacks" earned the Army Aviation Association of America's top national guard aviation unit in '07 for this effort.
 ==== 2006-2007 Iraq Formation Units ====