1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance), 158th Aviation Regiment
A Company (General Support), 158th Aviation Regiment
"Texas Thunder"
The 1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance), 158th Aviation Regiment is in Conroe, Texas. Nicknamed "Texas Thunder Tigers," the Battalion operated and maintained 24 Apache helicopters, with a support structure of more than 370 enlisted soldiers, officers, aviators, and civilians.
The 1st Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment was first activated on 25 July 1968 in the Regular Army as Company A, 158th Aviation Battalion, an element of the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas. Over the years, the unit changed assignements and was inactivated and reactivated. The 158th Aviation Battalion was also reorganized and redesignated as the 158th Aviation, a parent regiment under the United States Army Regimental System in the late 1980s. Company A, 158th Aviation Battalion was subsequently reorganized and redesignated as Company A, 158th Aviation Regiment.
On 15 February 2002, a roll-out ceremony was held to mark the activation of Company A, 158th Aviation Regiment and its 4 new UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, Florida. Company A, 158th Aviation, assigned to the 244th Aviation Brigade, was to be established in temporary facilities adjacent to the US Coast Guard Air Station, Clearwater, until a new $17.8 million Aviation Support Facility could be built at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
On 16 June 2008, the 7th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment was inactivated and reflagged as the 1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance), 158th Aviation Regimentm "Texas Thunder." A ceremony recognizing the change was held on 7 September 2008. What had been A Company, 158th Aviation was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, with its organic elements concurrently constituted and activated.
The change was part of a desire to better focus the mission role of Apache units, with the Battalion being organized as an attack reconnaissance battalion. The unit was expected to begin fielding the AH-64D Longbow Apache during the summer of 2009. The Longbow had far advanced the capabilities of Apache units. Instead of the analog gauges found in the AH-64A, the AH-64D featured multi-function displays, a moving map, as well as upgraded communications and weapons. The Longbow also features a Fire Control Radar, which was mounted on top of the rotor blades, and was the most noticeable change with the AH-64D.
In 2008 when Hurricane Ike made landfall, 1-158th Aviation supported the Texas Department of Public Safety with facilities and food. They also provided generator power to the water treatment plant in the town of Willis, Texas.
As of February 2009, 1-158th Aviation had turned in all but 9 of their AH-64As. Some of these airframes were to be distributed to other units, while some were to be stripped down and converted into Longbow Apaches. By the end of Summer 2009, the unit was expected to have received all 24 of its AH-64D Longbow Apaches, some of which were expected to arriving from the 101st Airborne Division. Around two thirds of the pilots were already qualified in the AH-64D. However the soldiers and aviators would begin a lengthy training program to become proficient and prepare for a deployment after the training period ends.
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