Half of Wisconsin National Guard helicopter battalion back in U.S.

By Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office

After approximately 10 months, roughly half of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment arrived at Fort Bliss, Texas Tuesday night (June 7).

Battalion senior leadership, including battalion commander Lt. Col. Marty Pond and Command Sgt. Maj. David Christianson, will return with the rest of the 147th, who are expected to arrive on Friday (June 10). The battalion will take part in demobilization processing at Fort Bliss prior to returning to Wisconsin later this month.

Nearly 400 Soldiers — including about 100 Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers who are also part of the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment — mobilized in June of 2010 and deployed in September in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were among the 50,000 U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after Operation New Dawn began, and were responsible for all aviation operations — including troop and cargo movements, medevac and attack missions — in United States Division-South, which covers nine provinces of Iraq, including the area south of Baghdad.

While deployed, the 147th received the 2010 Army Aviation Association of America's John J. Stanko award as the best aviation unit in all the Army National Guard.