Photo By Sgt. Maj. Nathan Hoskins | Col. Douglas Gabram, the commander of the 1st Air Cavalry "Warrior" Brigade, 1st...... read more read more
Subscribe
By Sgt. Nathan J. J. Hoskins
1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
FORT HOOD, Texas – The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division has roots that start all the way back in the jungles of Vietnam.
So it's no wonder that the 1st ACB "Warriors" dig deep into that weathered past to resurrect what is know as the Blues Platoon.
A Blues Platoon is a platoon of ground Soldiers that attach to an aviation unit to conduct deliberate and hasty operations, said Maj. Justin Hall, the S-3 Officer for the Warriors.
This is not only a historic event, but an exciting event as well because this will enable the "Warriors" to react to a multitude of missions quicker than before, said Hall.
There will be a total of three Blues platoons within the 1st ACB – all will be attached to the 3rd "Spearhead" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st ACB.
"Spearhead" is an assault helicopter battalion made up of about 30 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. One of the Blues Platoons has already arrived for training from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div. The other two will come from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div.
The Soldiers were greeted by Col. Douglas Gabram, commander of the "Warriors" and Command Sgt. Maj. Glen Vela, the senior noncommissioned officer for the "Warriors", during a briefing at the 1st ACB headquarters, West Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 3.
Gabram, a Cleveland, Ohio, native, discussed the heritage and proud tradition of the Warriors and went into some of the missions they may take part in once they got their boots on the ground in Iraq.
"You'll go out onto the flight line and you'll see that our helicopters have the same patch on the nose as the Huey's did during Vietnam," said Gabram.
The Blues Platoon will take part in many operations ranging from downed aircraft recovery, unmanned aerial vehicle recovery, hasty checkpoints, air assaults and more, he said.
He also discussed how they'll be giving up their tanks to mount up on their new steeds – Black Hawks and CH-47F Chinooks.
Because these are new animals to the tankers, there will be extensive training which will lead up to a rotation at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., and ultimately their deployment to Iraq.
Lieutenant Col. Jeffery Metzger, the commander of the "Spearhead" Battalion, was also there to talk to his new Soldiers.
He stressed the importance of training in this situation. There will be many people counting on their ability to react quickly and expertly.
"One or two things are going to happen [when someone needs help] ... they're going to call for the 1st Air Cav. to help them or they're not," said Metzger. "So what that means is that you've got to be the A-team – you've got to be the best at what you're doing."
With only about half the platoon ever being deployed before, the new "Warriors" are still motivated to do their new job, said 2nd Lt. Austin Huckabee, the Blues platoon leader.
"It feels very, very prestigious [to be in the Blues Platoon] ... if our [unit] feels that we can best serve the Air Cav. Brigade, then we're very honored that it's us and we'll try our hardest to live up to everyone's expectations," said Huckabee, who hails from San Angelo, Texas.
With a daunting training schedule ahead of them, Gabram had some words of wisdom to impart on them before he let them go.
"You can sit around and read about history or you can move out and make history ... we're going to make it," said Gabram.
And they are making history. As the first Blues Platoon since the Vietnam Conflict, many eyes will be on them, but the new Blues Platoon is ready, said Huckabee.
"It's a very prestigious history and we're glad to be writing the next chapter in that history," he said.
| Date Taken: | 11.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2008 14:53 |
| Story ID: | 26299 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 613 |
| Downloads: | 212 |
This work, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade gets the blues, by SGM Nathan Hoskins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
