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1st Battalion - 211th Aviation Regiment

The year 1999 was a remarkable year for the 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. Topping the list of key achievements is the twelfth year of no accidents in the battalion, air or ground. This is attributable to a whole list of factors, not the least of which is the BattalionÕs ability to attract and retain superb talent in its key officer and enlisted ranks. Innovative training challenges were presented to the battalion which allowed it to stretch its wings beyond the confines of the conventional - both in locale and training partners.

The Battalion continued its training relationship with the Air Force, deploying several times to Nellis Air Force Base to train alongside the premier Fighter Weapons School participants, in addition to the Joint Combat Search and Rescue Team. The latter is particularly noteworthy, since no counterpart exists to the battalion within the regular Army or Army Reserve in terms of units which have helped to define the roles and doctrine of conducting combat search and rescue missions using joint Armed Forces. The battalion continues to help write doctrine that is employed real-time in the continuing missions in the Balkans, Middle East, Far East, Caribbean, and elsewhere around the Globe. When coupled with joint forces training with the Marine Corps and their highly maneuverable Advanced Scout assets, the talents of the battalion are in high demand.

Annual training was anything but conventional, with the integration of aerial gunnery, joint exercises with the BattalionÕs sister attack helicopter battalion from Idaho, and downed aircrew/escape and evasion training. Like all units, the battalion worked hard to integrate new equipment changes. This year saw the retirement of the OH-58A from the battalion's fleet, in addition to the migration of UH-60's from its organic cadre of materiel. While this seemed to simplify the maintenance and parts-stocking processes, it tasked the battalion staffs in learning coordination of efforts between adjacent and higher headquarters to request the services of these aircraft now located in other units. All the while, the fleet of the premier attack helicopter in the world continued to undergo airframe and computer systems upgrades. Pilot and maintainer training saw marked increase in activities to learn how best to utilize these new capabilities. While the battalion trains for its federal war-fighting mission, it was the happy coincidence of timing that saw the impromptu use of this new navigational equipment on board one of the battalionÕs Apaches that allowed its crew to locate a crashed civilian aircraft, which resulted in two saved lives.

The battalion continues to excel during higher headquarters inspections. During the Army's department of evaluation and standards evaluation, the battalion exceeded both the National Guard and regular Army averages for successfully passing rigorous aviator evaluations. It has also excelled in performance of the crash rescue team and performance in the safety program.

For the second year in a row the battalion received the coveted US Army Excellence in Maintenance Award for excellence in aviation readiness. Recognition on such a scale is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of each member of the battalion. To sweeten the pie, the battalion's mess team was the Connelly Dining Facility Award runner-up. This prestigious award placed the battalion in competion against their counterparts from the entire Army.