1st Battalion / 2nd Aviation Rgt
"Strike Deep"
The 8th U.S. Army’s Multi-Functional Aviation Brigade (MFAB) was officially formed as the 2nd Aviation Brigade -- 16 June 2005 marked the activation the 2nd Multi-Functional Aviation Brigade (MFAB). The newly consolidated aviation unit includes Apache Longbow attack helicopters, UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopters, CH-47 Chinook medium lift helicopters and manages the Eighth Army C-12 Huron (fixed wing aircraft) detachment. The battalion was previously assigned to the Aviation Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division.
On order the 1st Battalion / 2nd Aviation Rgt transitions to War and performed reconnaissance and security operations to allow 2nd Infantry Division to execute OPLAN 5027. The 1st Battalion consists of five companies: HHC, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. HHC is the Headquarters and Support company; A, B and C companies are the three Apache line companies, which Delta is the Aviation Unit Maintenance Company (AVUM).
The 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment formally activated in a special ceremony at Fort Hood on 05 January 2001. As part of the ceremony, Lt. Col. Stephen A. Ingalls assumed command of the new unit, which has about 300 soldiers assigned. The battalion was initially at Fort Hood as part of the program to train the unit's pilots and crews to conduct successful combat operations with the new AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters. The six-month training program was conducted by Fort Hood's 21st Cavalry Brigade. As of April 2001 the 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment was training on the new AH-64D Apache Longbow at Fort Hood, pending deployment to Korea later in the year. The U.S. Army is modernizing its fleet of AH-64A Apaches into next-generation Apache Longbow helicopters, which link a wide range of avionics, electronics and weapons into one fully integrated weapon system. The Apache Longbow is 28 times more capable than the battle-proven AH-64A Apache, for years considered to be the world's best combat helicopter. When the training is completed later this year, the unit deployed to Korea and began operations with the 2nd Infantry Division.
As of early 2001 there were 48 Apaches in South Korea. The third Korea-based unit of 24 craft [1st Battalion / 2nd Aviation Rgt] returned in late 2001 from the United States with an upgraded version of the attack helicopter. In the Korean theater, the three Apache battalions are dedicated to missions critical to the OPLAN: support of 2d Infantry Division operations (1-2 Aviation), and anti-special operations forces (anti-SOF) and deep attack operations (1-6 and 3-6 Cavalry). Although the DPRK Scud Belt is within range of Combined Forces Command (CFC) attack helicopters, it is highly unlikely that an attack helicopter battalion will be dedicated solely to Theater Missile Defense [TMD] operations due to prioritization. Given the combat power of these attack helicopter units and the criticality of their assigned missions, the likelihood that one of these essential missions will be replaced by TMD is exceedingly slim.
The 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, known as the "Gunfighters," traces its history to September 16, 1982 when it was constituted into the Regular Army as Company D, 501st Aviation Battalion, 1st Armored Division in Ansbach, Germany. In November of 1987, Company D, 501st Aviation Battalion was deactivated. On October 16, 1988, the unit was relieved from assignment to the 1st Armored Division and concurrently re designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, and activated in Korea as an AH-1 (Cobra) equipped attack helicopter battalion.
The battalion was originally the 4th Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, brought over to Korea from Fort Hood, Texas to replace an AH-1 (Cobra) Attack Battalion in November 1994.
One job of the OH-58A is to precede the Apache into battle as a target spotter. Camp Page was the location of the newest Apache battalion in Korea. As of late 1994 there were two Apache battalions there, the first having arrived in March 1994. The second one was 4th Battalion of the 501st, belonging to the 17th Aviation Brigade in Korea. An OH-58A helicopter that was part of the newly arrived 4th Battalion of Apache attack helicopters went down over North Korea on 17 December 1994. The crash of "Razorback 19," the Army helicopter flight into North Korea, left one pilot dead and a second in North Korean hands for 13 days. Chief Warrant Officer 2, Bobby Wayne Hall II, a pilot of an OH-58A-C with A Company, 4th Battalion, 501st Aviation, 17th Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army stationed in South Korea was eventually released, while his partner, Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon, was killed in the crash-landing.
On 17 June 1996 the 4-501st Aviation Regiment becase the 1st Battalion (Attack), 2nd Aviation Regiment, and joined the 2nd Infantry Division. The transfer to the 2nd Infantry Division facilityated the replacement of another AH-1 Cobra Attack Battalion and brought the world's premier attack helicopter to the 2nd Infantry Division.
Prior to Ulchi-Focus Lens 2003 the AH-64D Apache attack helicopters of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment fired 80 Hellfire anti-tank missiles at an island off the coast of Kunsan, South Korea, Aug. 10, 2003. The live-fire exercise was the first over water firing for the battalion since 1997.
