Air Cavalry Provides 24-Hour Support in Search For Soldiers

By Spc. Nathan Hoskins
1st Air Cavalry Brigade
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, has been operating at full operational speed 24 hours a day as part of the search and rescue of three missing U.S. soldiers.

Since May 12, pilots and soldiers from 3rd “Spearhead” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment – a UH-60 Black Hawk battalion – have been conducting rapid air assaults and air movements of soldiers and cargo around the clock, supporting the search for the missing soldiers, said Eagle River, Alaska, native Maj. Gail Atkins, the operations officer for 3-227th.

The battalion has also been dropping leaflets onto the battlefield to recover information about the missing soldiers’ whereabouts from the locals, said Atkins.

“Both the air-to-ground integration and also the air-to-air integration have worked well … and I hope it has provided … the support that they’ve needed,” she said.

“Our aircrews, our maintenance – everybody is surging right now to ensure that we leave no gaps in coverage,” said Atkins.

Along with 3-227th, the 4th “Guns” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter battalion, is providing support to the recovery effort, as well.

Since their first response to the attack that morning, 4-227th has kept two teams of Apaches in the air to support the mission 24 hours a day, said Rockford, Ill., native Capt. David Roman, battle captain and Apache pilot for 4-227th.

Read the Rest...