7-158th Aviation Battalion
The 7-158th Aviation regiment served in Operation Desert Storm at the King Khalid Military City and in a forward capacity at the Kuwait International Airport. It was deactivated in a 1997 realignment, when the Army reserve transferred the unit's thirty two Blackhawk's to the Army National Guard. In 1999, a second Army Reserve battalion, the 7-158th Aviation Regiment, was reactivated. The 7-158th is headquartered at Ft. Hood. HHC is at Ft. Hood; A Company is split between Ft. Hood and Ft. Carson, CO. F-158th is located in Olathe, KS. In addition to providing heavy-lift mission support to active and Reserve units, the CH-47 units have been called on to put out fires as well as conduct high-altitude search and rescue. Company A, 5-159th at Ft.Lewis, has rescued nu merous hikers and climbers above 10,000 feet on Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the northwestern continental United States.
The Army Reserve has a requirement for 64 CH-47D Chinooks. Counting those being overhauled at Corpus Christi Army Depot and one being built at the Boeing plant in Philadelphia (with delivery dates in FY02), there is still a shortfall of six CH-47Ds. The restructuring of lift units will rectify this shortfall. In addition, lift and attack capabilities will be improved despite the reduction of aircraft per company with the modernizing of AH-64A and CH-47D aircraft to AH-64D Longbow Apaches and CH-47F improved Cargo Helicopters.
The Army's transformation is also taking place at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, CA, and at the Army Reserve Aviation Support Facility in Clearwater, FL. By the end of 2001, four UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters will be stationed at each location, part of the Army Aviation Transformation Plan for the Army Reserve. These first eight of 16 helicopters in two Army Reserve UH-60L Black Hawk companies were authorized in the FY01 National Defense Authorization Act. Congress appropriated more than $78 million to procure the eight aircraft.
These aircraft, the Army's premier utility helicopter, re-introduce a medium-lift capability to the Army Reserve and thus put Army Reserve aviation on point in the Army Reserve's transformation. A requirement exists for 16 more Black Hawks. The activation date for the California and Florida companies is September 2002.
It will soon add two UH-60L Medium Lift Helicopter Companies to its list of units: A and D Companies of the 158th Aviation, located at Clearwater, FL, and Victorville, CA, respectively. These units constitute the bulk of the echelon above division aviation structure for the US Army.
