Aviation brigade squadron to be welcomed home Sunday

FORT DRUM — The 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 10th Aviation Brigade will land at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield on Sunday and be greeted by family and friends after a 15-month deployment to Iraq.

The 200 or so soldiers of the 3-17 Cavalry were stationed at Multi-National Division-Center out of Baghdad. The soldiers returning today make up only a portion of the soldiers who deployed in April 2007; the rest will come home later this month.

The unit flew OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters on reconnaissance and surveillance missions. They topped 37,000 flight hours, which was more than any other aviation unit and maintained a 94 percent readiness status.

Also returning this weekend will be smaller elements of the 277th Aviation Support Battalion, 10th Aviation Brigade. Those soldiers spent time working on planes and keeping the helicopters in good mechanical condition.

The advance party returned during the early hours of July 4 and has spent the past week preparing for the return of the rest of the unit.

The soldiers from the 3-17 will be part of the switch that Col. Kevin W. Mangum announced at the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization annual meeting. The unit will consolidate and then move to Hunter Army Airfield at Fort Stewart, Ga. to become part of the 3rd Infantry Division. In return, an AH-64A Apache battalion will be reassigned to Wheeler-Sack and the 10th Mountain Division.

The consolidation should be completed by the end of this year.