101st Combat Aviation Brigade

Hometown: Fort Campbell, KY, US

Wings of Destiny uncasing ceremony

06.07.2013 | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
Story by Sgt. Duncan Brennan

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault,) uncased their brigade colors at a ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky., June 4, 2013.

The ceremony was held to mark the official redeployment of the 101st CAB, The Wings of Destiny, after a nine-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In August 2012, 101st CAB deployed as the Army's first full spectrum combat aviation brigade, adding unmanned areal vehicles to its compliment of attack, scout, utility and heavy-lift aircraft.

Col. Paul Bontrager, commander, 101st CAB, set the goal of zero lives lost as a result of preventable accidents, human error shoot-downs and air engagements resulting in civilian casualties. In the aviation world, this is a tremendous undertaking due to the complexity of keeping an aircraft airworthy and all of the variables of mission execution.

“It was a monumental that we were able to achieve that level of success,” said Chief Warrant Officer Robert Purdy, command chief warrant officer, 101st CAB. “We had no civilian casualties due to air engagements, no loss of live due to a preventable aircraft accident and we had no loss of life based on human error.”

Mission success is shouldered not only by the brigade command, but by all of the soldiers within an organization. Information, command intent and critical resources had to flow to all levels of the command.

“The brigade, battalion and task forces put a tremendous amount of effort into mitigating high risk tasks,” said Purdy. “Any time you operate in a combat environment, it's high risk, especially Afghanistan. We did our best in answering our nation's call and our commander's intent.”

With all of the risks, 101st CAB relied on the individual soldiers within the ranks to ensure mission success. The soldiers brought the intent of their commanders to fruition.

“As always, it comes down to the individual soldier,” said Bontrager. “It was the aircrew member, door gunner, crew chief-mechanic, the refueler, the medic who we relied on to do the right thing 100 per-cent of the time when noone was looking. It is to this group that we providoe our greatest respect and our highest praise.”

Without the efforts of the soldiers, the brigade could not have achieved the goals set forth by command. Likewise, the soldiers could not succeed without the support of the families that were left behind.

“We, the soldiers, are out chasing our dreams and visions of grandeur,” said Bontrager. “We can only do this with the leave of those who hold down the home front. Words cannot express the appreciation we have for what you have provided.”