Photo By Maj. Jason Sweeney | Col. Mitchell Medigovich, left, commander of the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, and...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Gen. Lloyd Austin, commanding general of United States Forces-Iraq, spoke to soldiers from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade about their importance to the success of Operation New Dawn during an April 2 visit.
“You are here at a critical time,” Austin said. “I want you to understand that you’re going to have a direct impact on the success or failure of these last eight years.”
The 40th Combat Aviation Brigade arrived in Iraq in February and began conducting Army aviation operations across the country, to include medical evacuations, troop and equipment transport, convoy security and force protection. CAB commander Col. Mitchell Medigovich oversees more than 200 helicopters and 3,000 soldiers from National Guard, Army Reserve and active-duty Army units from 22 states.
During the visit, Austin, who is the top commander in Iraq in charge of about 50,000 American military personnel, handed out coins to several CAB soldiers in appreciation of their work. He then met with Medigovich, his staff and the CAB’s battalion commanders for a briefing on the CAB’s mission.
At the briefing, Medigovich said the 40th CAB provides USF-I with an aviation force that rivals the size of British Airways. Since March 6 when it officially assumed its mission, the CAB has flown 24,000 passengers to destinations across the country, moved hundreds of thousands of pounds of equipment a week and logged more than 11,000 flight hours.
Austin told the CAB’s leadership to continue to work hard and take every day seriously because “this is about a lot of flying in some very dangerous and challenging environments, and every day in this country is different.”
Austin said the situation for American forces is going to change from month to month as the pace of the drawdown increases through the summer. “Your OPTEMPO will pick up because you’re the guys who put the muscle into the organization in terms of allowing us to get where we need to be, and getting firepower on the scene rapidly.”
As they move toward their scheduled Dec. 31 departure date, USF-I military forces will decrease in number as the security in Iraq is turned over to Iraqi Security Forces, and America’s role here is taken over by the U.S. State Department.
The 40th CAB will be providing much of the security and transportation during the transition.
“You play a key role, and we’re awfully glad to have you,” Austin said.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2011 03:04 |
| Story ID: | 68281 |
| Location: | CAMP TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USF-I Commander visits 40th CAB, by MAJ Jason Sweeney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
