Aviation Multi-Component Deputy Commanding Officer
Reserve / By COL J. Ray Davis: “I think this is one of the best multi-compo initiatives EVER. And we should do whatever we can to ensure the same manning for 3ID CAB. Matt (Strub) has been instrumental as a DCO and has significatly helped bring the COMPO 2/3 units into the team.”– COL John Cyrulik, Commander 1/D CAB Task Force Victory While providing an overview of ARNG Aviation to the Battalion and Brigade Aviation Pre-Command Course at Fort Rucker in the fall of 2015, I was approached by COL John Cyrulik, the incoming commander of the 1st Infantry Division’s...
Learn MoreThe Families of Fort Riley, Kansas
Family Forum / By Vicki Cody: I am and always will be a champion of all things Army. Army life was a great way of life for me, my husband, and our two sons, and our best times were those spent living on an Army post. Vicki Cody, second from right, speaks to a group of Army wives at the Fort Riley Spouses Club, March 2017, and afterwards signs copies of her new book, “Army Wife”. / PHOTO BY NANCY TAYLOR We had the pleasure of living on seven different Army posts, but had never been stationed at Fort Riley,...
Learn More29th CAB Replaces 10th CAB Presence in Turkey
By CPT Stephen James: The 29th Combat Aviation Brigade is preparing to send a detachment of UH-60M helicopters, air crews and related support to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The unit is a mobilized National Guard brigade currently providing forward-deployed Army aviation forces to U.S. Army Central (ARCENT) in Kuwait. In addition to supporting Operation Spartan Shield (OSS) in Kuwait, the 29th CAB also supports Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) across Iraq and its neighboring countries. COL Mark Beckler (left), 29th CAB Commander, stands with CPT Brian Snook and CPT Jonathan Lunde in front of a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter at Incirlik...
Learn MoreMulti-COMPO, Multi-Boss CAB
77th Combat Aviation Brigade / By COL Ryan T. Pace: In June 2016, National Guard units from 11 states and territories unknowingly embarked on one of the most challenging combat aviation brigade missions the U.S. Army has ever embraced. This multi-compo force (Active Duty, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve) would build the composition of the 77th Combat Aviation Brigade for their future accomplishments. The original deployment mission required the 77th CAB “Peacemakers” deploy only to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield (OSS). As the deployment drew closer to its conclusion, however, the picture was vastly different from the...
Learn MoreAlpha Team Update
Joint Readiness Training Center / By LTC Linn Desaulniers, MAJ Jeffrey Ferguson, and CPT Kevin Burns: Alpha Team – the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Operations Group Aviation Division at Fort Polk, LA – functions as a diverse team of observers, coaches, and trainers (OC/Ts) who interface with the ten U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)-directed aviation battalion task forces (ABTF) that deploy here each fiscal year. Our team, nested within the unique rotational designs developed by Operations Group, provides a challenging and demanding training scenario that incorporates all six warfighting functions (WfF) while generating maneuver and lethality options for the...
Learn MoreModernizing Army’s Vertical Lift Capability for the Next Decade
By COL Allan H. Lanceta and Brigitte Rox: The Corpus Christi Army Depot is the Army’s organic industrial base for helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul. We have been a driving force in defense as the Army’s premier in-house capability to sustain Army and similar defense rotary wing aircraft assets. U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY BRIGITTE ROX CCAD’s recapitalization, or recap, program is vital to the Army’s modernization effort as it updates and extends the life of existing UH-60 Black Hawks in the Army inventory. The Army has turned to us as their trusted solution of helicopter sustainment for 56 years. The...
Learn MoreCalifornia, Colorado, Wyoming Guard Fight Wildfires
From National Guard Bureau News Releases: With a 5,600-acre wildfire burning in Butte County, California National Guard members were mobilizing after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s declaration of an emergency July 10, 2017. A CH-47 Chinook crew from the Colorado Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, performs helicopter bucket operations, June 21, 2013. During the 2017 wildfire season, Guard members in Arizona, California, Colorado and Wyoming are assisting in fire operations. Nearly 85 National Guard members were involved in firefighting operations in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming, National Guard Bureau officials said. Because California...
Learn MoreSynchronizing Efforts By SGM G. Mike Dove
DAMO-AV / By SGM G. Mike Dove: Greetings from the Aviation Directorate at the Pentagon. As one of the newest members of the team here at Department of the Army, Military Operations – Aviation (HQDA G-3/5/7, DAMO-AV), I am extremely honored and humbled to be a part of this team of Warrior Leaders. ø On Veteran’s Day, November 11th, 2016, SGT Alex A. Caudle, a CH-47F crew chief assigned to Bravo Company, 5-159th General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) of the Virginia Reserves, relaxes after a long mission in vicinity of Kandahar with his weapon in hand, scanning out of the...
Learn MoreWorking to Find Solutions
DAMO-AV / By CW5 Terry L. Horner: As I take the reins as the Army’s Aviation Directorate Standardization Officer, I am humbled to serve in a position that influences and solves complex challenges across the Aviation Enterprise. A UH-60 Black Hawk of the New York Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation airlifts one of a dozen 105 mm howitzers to the 10th Mountain Division’s Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment during an exercise at Fort Drum, NY on May 4, 2017. / U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO BY MSG RAYMOND DRUMSTA, 42ND INFANTRY DIVISION I am eager...
Learn MoreCommunication, Synchronization and Readiness
Director of Army Aviation / By BG(P) Frank W. Tate: I am excited to assume the responsibilities as the new Director of the Department of the Army, Military Operations – Aviation Directorate (HQDA G-3/5/7, DAMO-AV). A U.S. Army AH-64E Apache helicopter crew chief assigned to Task Force Tigershark, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division directs pilots during departure for a mission in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, June 12, 2017./ U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY CPT BRIAN HARRIS As one of only two branch specific offices within the Army Headquarters, I am humbled by this opportunity...
Learn More
