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2nd Battalion 135th Aviation Regiment

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 Blackjacks
Motto Mission First
Colors Black and gold
Commanders
Current
commander Lt. Col. Christopher Petty
Insignia
Identification
symbol Skull with crossed swords

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 UH-1H Huey. 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:

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.

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

(see Ext Refs below for much more history)

Global War on Terror

The 2/135th deployed on March 19, 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.

Iraq expedition patch as part of 36th Combat Aviation Brigade

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 op tempo as of May 2007 positions "The Blackjacks" to be on pace to become the army aviation unit with the highest number of Air Assault missions conducted in a one year period in the history of the US Army[citation needed].

2006-2007 Iraq Formation Units

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 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.

External links

See also

   
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