10th CAB commemorates unit’s origins

Photo By Staff Sgt. Todd Pouliot | Col. David Francis, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade commander, opens the 48th birthday celebration of the unit at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Aug. 21. The 10th CAB traces its lineage to Fort Benning, Ga., where the where the unit was constituted into the regular Army as the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 10th Aviation Battalion, Aug. 21, 1965, and activated two years later. The 101st Airborne Division, behind Col. Francis, provided entertainment. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Todd Pouliot, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade)  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

08.21.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Todd Pouliot 

10th Combat Aviation Brigade

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Soldiers of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade gathered Aug. 21 to celebrate the unit’s 48th birthday at Bagram Air Field with a barbecue and entertainment by the 101st Airborne Division band.

“It’s fitting that we take the time to celebrate this great brigade’s birthday this year, in the unit’s fourth and likely final time in Operation Enduring Freedom,” said Col. David Francis, 10th CAB commander, said opening the event. “This deployment may well close another chapter in a long and distinguished history.”

Although the unit has called Fort Drum, N.Y., home for more than two decades, the 10th CAB actually traces its lineage to Fort Benning, Ga., where the unit was constituted into the regular Army as the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 10th Aviation Battalion, Aug. 21, 1965, and activated two years later.

The unit performed valorously during the Army’s efforts in Vietnam and would receive numerous commendations and awards.

After its deactivation in 1980, at Fort Lewis, Wash., the unit would be constituted as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, April 1, 1988, and activated at Fort Drum, N.Y.

The brigade was activated at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., July 2, 1988, and would move to its current home at Fort Drum two years later.

Units from the 10th CAB provided support for Hurricane Andrew relief in south Florida, operations Restore Hope and Continued Hope in Somalia, Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, stabilization force missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, and most recently, operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

The unit has deployed to Afghanistan four times and Iraq once.

“The legacy we leave will form the foundation upon which this unit’s future commanders, aviators and support personnel build their future successes,” said Maj. Jonathan Shaffner, 10th CAB executive officer. “Future generations of warriors will draw upon the heroic deeds of 10th CAB soldiers, past and present.”

The event was a brief respite from the daily routine and allowed the soldiers from numerous sections to get together and recognize the unit’s history. The 10th CAB is coming up on the halfway point of its nine-month deployment to Regional Command–East, Afghanistan.

• Date Taken: 08.21.2013
• Date Posted: 09.03.2013 03:34
• Story ID: 112978
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF