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On December 18 at Fort Rucker, the US Army named winning aviation units in the annual Lt. Gen. Ellis D. Parker award competition. The award recognizes superior aviation units in the areas of leadership, training, maintenance and safety. Four aviation battalions selected by a Department of the Army evaluation board were honored in the categories of Combat, Combat Support, Combat Service Support and Table of Distribution and Allowances, with an overall winner chosen from the four categories. The 2003 Lt. Gen. Ellis D. Parker Award goes to 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The "Eagle Strike" battalion was also selected as the top battalion in the Combat Support Category. The 9th Bn., 101st Avn. Regt. belongs to the 159th Aviation Brigade (Assault) and flies the Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk. The unit is currently based in Mosul, Iraq, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to fly assault and other combat missions in support of stability and support operations there. The "Eagle Strike" battalion is credited with leading the longest air assault operation ever conducted by any force. The battalion air-assaulted Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division from locations south of Baghdad to a secure airfield in Mosul, where the battalion operates the division's longest-running Forward Arming and Refueling Point in Iraq. The FARP supports divisional and non-divisional aircraft to include Air Force and civilian aircraft. The top battalion in the Combat Category is 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment. The "Expect No Mercy" battalion falls under the 101st Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, and is currently based in Kirkuk, Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. It flies the Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache. In the initial stages of Iraqi Freedom, the 1-101AVN executed two deep attack missions in Karbala and Ar Ramadi against the Iraqi Republican Guard, destroying more than 70 vehicles and five ammunition caches. The 421st Medical Evacuation Battalion from Wiesbaden, Germany, was selected as the top battalion in the Combat Service Support Category. The "DUSTOFF Europe" battalion belongs to V Corps' 30th Medical Brigade and has deployed its Black Hawk companies in support of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Kuwait and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and Iraq. The top battalion in the Table of Distribution and Allowances Category is 1st Battalion, 223rd Aviation Regiment from Fort Rucker. The "Spartans" battalion belongs to the Aviation Training Brigade and was directly responsible for training more than 2,300 student pilots in fiscal year 2003. The unit flew 15,988 accident and incident free hours in 18 different courses of instruction. The 1-223d trains students on the Bell OH-58D, Boeing AH-64, Boeing CH-47D, and Sikorsky UH-60. Click NEXT for December news |
