The 214th Aviation Regiment is a parent

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

regiment of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, represented by the 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation, part of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade,

United States Army Europe United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

(USAREUR) at

Lucius D. Clay Kaserne Lucius D. Clay Kaserne (german: Flugplatz Wiesbaden-Erbenheim) , commonly known as Clay Kaserne, is an installation of the United States Army in Hesse, Germany. The ''kaserne'' is located within Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Named for General Lucius D. C ...

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

History

Vietnam

The regiment was constituted on 1 February 1967 as the 214th Aviation Battalion, a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

unit based at

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee, Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). F ...

, Kentucky. It fought in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

from 1967 to 1972, receiving the

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

for its actions in 1967 and the

Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry ( vi, Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh) is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). The medal ...

with Palm five times, in addition to the

Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal The Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Medal ( vi, Dân-Vụ Bội-Tinh) also known as the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal or Civil Actions Medal, is a military decoration of the former South Vietnamese government (1955–75). The medal was creat ...

. As part of the 12th Aviation Group (Combat) between 1 February 1967 and 30 April 1967: * HQ & HQ Detachment at Bear Cat * 200th Assault Support Helicopter Company at Bear Cat ** 611th Transportation Detachment at Bear Cat As part of the 12th Aviation Group (Combat) between 1 May 1967 and 31 July 1967: *

190th Assault Helicopter Company This is a List of aviation companies of the United States Army from the United States Army Aviation Branch The United States Army Aviation Branch is the administrative organization within the United States Army responsible for doctrine, manning ...

at Bear Cat *

191st Assault Helicopter Company This is a List of aviation companies of the United States Army from the United States Army Aviation Branch The United States Army Aviation Branch is the administrative organization within the United States Army responsible for doctrine, manning ...

at Bear Cat * 200th Assault Support Helicopter Company at Bear Cat * 240th Assault Helicopter Company at Bear Cat As part of the 12th Aviation Group (Combat) between 1 August 1967 and 31 October 1967: * HQ & HQ Company at Bear Cat * 772nd Medical Detachment (OA) at Bear Cat * 17th Assault Helicopter Company at Long Binh ** 613th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Long Binh ** 722nd Signal Detachment (RL) at Long Binh ** 93rd Medical Detachment (AO) at Long Binh *

at Bear Cat ** 606th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Bear Cat ** 26th Signal Detachment (RL) at Bear Cat * 195th Assault Helicopter Company at Long Binh ** 609th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Long Binh ** 366th Signal Detachment (RL) at Long Binh * 200th Assault Helicopter Company at Bear Cat ** 611th Transportation Detachment (AB) at Bear Cat * 240th Assault Helicopter Company at Bear Cat ** 619th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Bear Cat ** 932nd Signal Detachment (RL) at Bear Cat As part of the 12th Aviation Group (Combat) between 1 November 1967 and 31 January 1968: * HQ & HQ Company at Bear Cat * 772nd Medical Detachment (OA) at Bear Cat * 17th Assault Helicopter Company at Long Binh ** 613th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Long Binh ** 722nd Signal Detachment (RL) at Long Binh ** 93rd Medical Detachment (OA) at Long Binh * 135th Assault Helicopter Company at Long Giao ** 614th Transportation Detachment (KD) at Long Giao ** 68th Signal Detachment (RL) at Long Giao Between May and July 1969 the battalion consisted of: * 758th Medical Detachment * 162nd Assault Helicopter Company * 135th Assault Helicopter Company *

Before being transferred to 164th Aviation Group (Combat). Inactivated on 22 January 1973 at

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. Th ...

, Georgia, the battalion was again activated on 1 July 1981 at Fort Lewis, Washington, with the 9th Infantry Division. It was again inactivated at

Fort Polk Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. It was named to honor Leonidas Polk, the first ...

, Louisiana, on 15 September 1986.

Cold War onwards

When the

United States Army Regimental System The United States Army Regimental System (USARS) is an organizational and classification system used by the United States Army. It was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) to provide each soldier with continu ...

was established, it was relieved from its assignment to the 9th Division on 16 August 1987 and became a parent regiment. One of its battalions was the 1st Battalion, which was allotted to the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

and activated at

Los Alamitos, California Los Alamitos () is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 90 ...

on that date; it traced its lineage back to the 1981 activation of Company A, 214th Aviation Battalion. A battalion of the regiment fought in the

Liberation of Kuwait campaign The Liberation of Kuwait was a U.S.-led military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq after the massive air campaign, between 24–28 February 1991. U.S. troops and the Coalition entered to find the Iraqis surrendering en masse; however, pocket ...

during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The 1st Battalion was inactivated at Los Alamitos on 15 September 1996, and became Company A, 214th Aviation while the rest of the 1st Battalion was disbanded on 16 September 1998, being simultaneously transferred to the Regular Army and activated in Germany. The company was reorganized as a battalion on 16 October 2000. In March 2013, USAREUR announced that 1-214th Aviation was to be reduced at Clay Kaserne by 190 soldier spaces and at

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), also known as Landstuhl Hospital, is a U.S. Army medical center, located in the German town of Landstuhl, near Ramstein Air Base. The installation is an amalgamation of Marceau Kaserne (german: Infan ...

by 50 soldier spaces in 2016. The 1st Battalion donated two new Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks to the

Croatian Air Force and Air Defence The Croatian Air Force ( hr, Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ) is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces whose primary task is to ensure the sovereignty of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia and to provide aviation support to other branc ...

in October 2017.

Structure

* 1st Battalion (General Support) ** Company A “Aces”(UH-60M) Wiesbaden Army Airfield ** Company B "Big Windy" (CH-47F) Katterbach Army Airfield **Company C "DUSTOFF" (HH-60M) Grafenwoehr Army Airfield **Company D “Skymasters” (ASC) Wiesbaden Army Airfield *** Company D Detachment “Dead Rabbits” (ASC) Katterbach Army Airfield **Company E “Barons” (C-12, UC-35) Wiesbaden Army Airfield

References

{{Reflist 214 Military units and formations established in 1987