More First Team Aviators Arrive at Camp Taji

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade file into a hangar at Camp Taji, Iraq, Oct. 27. The Soldiers, who are primarily from the brigade's 3rd and 4th battalions of the 227th Aviation Regiment, will soon begin the relief-in-place transition between the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade and the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Robert Strain, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs)  

TAJI, IRAQ

11.06.2006

Courtesy Story

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

By Sgt. Robert Strain
1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs
1st Cavalry Division

CAMP TAJI, Iraq - About 200 Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade arrived at Camp Taji, Iraq, Oct. 27 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Soldiers, who were primarily from the brigade's 3rd and 4th battalions of the 227th Aviation Regiment, will be replacing Soldiers from the 3rd and 4th battalions of the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade.

Shortly after their arrival, the Soldiers received a short briefing that covered the camp's rules and policies as well as a quick overview of where everything is located on the camp, said Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Spiva, the senior non-commissioned officer for the 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, and a native of Sutter Creek, Calif.

After the late-night briefing, the Soldiers were given the keys to their rooms and got some time to sleep after a long day of traveling from Kuwait to Iraq.

Over the next few weeks the Soldiers of the brigade's 3rd and 4th battalions will work together with the Soldiers of the 3rd and 4th battalions of the Combat Aviation Brigade respectively, to make the transfer of authority from the 4th Infantry Division to the 1st Cavalry Division as smooth as possible.

"Basically they're just linking up with their counterparts, in their jobs, and learning what our 4th CAB counterparts are doing and how to do it," Spiva said.

One Soldier, Spc. Richard Cowles, an AH-64 Apache helicopter crew chief with Company B of the 4-227th and a native of Greenville, Ala., expressed excitement to finally be in Iraq.

"You get to do a lot of cool things you normally wouldn't get to do," said Cowles, who has two and half years of Army service and is on his first deployment.

Cowles explained that the best part of his job was repairing an Apache and watching it take off again.

With a little more than two-thirds of the brigade already at Camp Taji, the brigade's relief-in-place transition is under way. The transfer of authority from the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade to the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade is scheduled for later this year.

• Date Taken: 11.06.2006
• Date Posted: 11.17.2006 11:43
• Story ID: 8298
• Location: TAJI, IQ