E Company 160th SOAR
Company E of the 160th SOAR moved to Taegu, Korea, during the summer of 2001, marking the beginning of Army special-operations aviation, or ARSOA, support in the ROK.
In June 2000, Company E, 160th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, which had originally been constituted in April 1982, was officially reactivated as Company E, 160th SOAR. Company E then spent a year preparing to move its approximately 100 soldiers, 50 civilians and a company of MH-47E Chinook helicopters to Taegu.
Company E replaced the Air Force's 31st Special Operations Squadron as the unit responsible for providing special-operations airlift throughout the Pacific theater. The replacement of the Air Force's MH-53J helicopters with the Army's MH-47E helicopters will improve operational-readiness rates by increasing the airlift capabilities of SOF units in theater. With a limited expenditure of resources, the change will make theater SOF more efficient, more ready and more capable. The forward-basing of Company E also has other benefits: The company will have the opportunity to work closely with other SOF elements, and the increased US. presence will help strengthen the ROK-US. military alliance.
