Nighttime air-assault training preps 10th Combat Aviation Brigade for Mountain Peak

Photo By Sgt. Thomas Scaggs | Soldiers from A and C Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, wait for cold load training and safety procedures from C Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, during Operation Dragon Wing on September 23 at Fort Drum. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Thomas Scaggs)  

FORT DRUM, NY, UNITED STATES

09.29.2016

Story by Spc. Thomas Scaggs 

10th Combat Aviation Brigade

Aviators from 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, successfully completed a nighttime air-assault training operation with infantry Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, September 23 at Fort Drum, New York.

The training exercise, named Operation Dragon Wing, continued into the early morning hours, transporting approximately 200 Soldiers from A and C Company, 2-14 Infantry Regiment, during zero-illumination conditions and validating C Company from 2-10 Aviation Regiment in preparation for the upcoming Mountain Peak training exercise.

"This is what this division is all about," said Capt. Lewis Hudson, commander of C Company, 2-10 Aviation. "This division is all about moving rapidly and being able to place Soldiers in advantageous, key terrain to take out the enemy more effectively and more quickly."

Hudson said that members of C Company exceeded expectations by moving from initial planning through completion of the complex air-assault operation in less than 96 hours. The operation required aviators to maneuver 10 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, into small landing zones, on six separate trips. Aviators had to use night vision goggles and coordinate with a live ground force while dealing with a simulated enemy. Hudson said that large-scale training like this is especially important for newer crew members.

"It had a huge confidence building aspect to it all," Hudson said. "We have a lot of junior air crews, and they're going to remember this for the rest of their lives as a major training event."

Hudson explained that C Company was the final company within 2-10 Aviation to validate their air assault capabilities, and it's been a process that will soon move on to the battalion and brigade level at the upcoming Mountain Peak training event. In order to validate, Hudson said, a company must meet a list of criteria set forth by the battalion commander. Successfully meeting the criteria for validation proves a company's ability to be successful in operations anywhere in the world.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Seth Botts, battalion standardization officer for 2-10 Aviation, said that any air-assault mission that puts everybody where they need to be, on time, and without injury to personnel or Army equipment is a success. Botts explained that training the aviators like they are doing now will translate into greater success later on.

"The more realistic training you have here, it makes it easier downrange," Botts said. "So when we go down to a deployment or something like that, we just have to deal with the enemy because we already know what we're supposed to be doing."

The overall preparation the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade has conducted for Mountain Peak has been demanding, but Botts said the progress made by the aviators and the Soldiers has been rewarding to watch.

"I'm really proud of all of our guys, because we put them through a pretty high op tempo continuously here," he said. "The way the company's reacted to get where we are now, it's been awesome to see these guys develop."

Botts said success at Operation Dragon Wing and working with members of 2-14 Infantry develops key strengths within 10th Mountain Division (LI) that will aid in the upcoming Mountain Peak event and beyond.

"This is leading into larger operations," he said. "This is us developing that relationship with our division partners, who we support over in the infantry brigades, developing that relationship with them to continue to train as a division and provide that division asset of air assault."

• Date Taken: 09.29.2016
• Date Posted: 05.09.2017 10:51
• Story ID: 233145
• Location: FORT DRUM, NY, US