The 11th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade in the United States Army Reserve. The unit traces its history to the test aviation group of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) in the 1960s. It is one of two aviation brigades of Army Reserve Aviation Command. The brigade consists of a headquarters company, two Black Hawk assault battalions, and one fixed wing battalion. The brigade was activated in its current form on 16 September 2016. The Army announced in May 2025 that it expects to deactivate the brigade in 2026.
Vietnam era (1962–1972) In 1962, the Department of the Army decided that infantry units would need to be moved by helicopter - air mobility (heliborne tactical movement). Secretary of the Army Cyrus R. Vance decided that the Army required its organic aviation assets to meet the immediate combat needs of infantry units. The XVIII Airborne Corps began experimenting with this new concept by using borrowed helicopters. By the end of the year, Secretary Vance decided to form a test division to further evaluate the concept.
On 1 February 1963, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Aviation Group, was activated for testing purposes as a Regular Army element of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test). Under the leadership of Major General Charles W. G. Rich, the Test Director, and Brigadier General Harry Kinnard, the Division Commander, the group built the capability to move one-third of the division's infantry battalions and supporting units in one single helicopter lift. The unit operated out of Fort Benning, Georgia.
The testing process proved highly successful and on 1 July 1965 the group was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) when the assets of the 11th Air Assault Division and the 2nd Infantry Division were merged into a single unit. Within several months the division deployed to South Vietnam.
The mission of the 1st Cavalry was to "fight battles of movement, ranging swiftly to places where they are needed." Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara described the new 428 helicopter-equipped 1st Cavalry Division as "an entirely new approach to the conduct of land battle which will result in the exploitation of the principle of surprise to an unprecedented degree."
As part of the 1st Cavalry, the 11th Aviation Group controlled the 227th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 228th Aviation Battalion (Medium Helicopter) and 229th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), whose helicopters were the lifeblood of the Army's first airmobile division. The group also included the 11th Aviation Company (General Support), 17th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light) and 478th Aviation Company (Heavy Helicopter).
From 1965 through 1968 the 11th Aviation Group saw combat in the I and II Corps areas of South Vietnam. The Group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the Pleiku campaign of 1965 and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period September 1965 to November 1966. In 1968, the Group moved to Phước Vĩnh Base Camp in III Corps and remained there until early 1971 where the Group was awarded the Valorous Unit Award for the period 6 May 1969 through 1 February 1970.
In February 1971 the Group was assigned to the 1st Aviation Brigade and redeployed to Marble Mountain Army Airfield near Da Nang; it was officially released from the 1st Cavalry Division on 5 May 1971. In August 1972 the Group departed Marble Mountain Army Airfield and resettled at Da Nang Air Base.
Germany era (1973–1989) The colors of the 11th Aviation Group left Vietnam in March 1973, bound for Dolan Barracks in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, where they were used to reflag an existing aviation group. The Group's mission was to support Headquarters US Army Europe and the Seventh Army. In November 1979 the 11th Aviation Group became a major subordinate command of VII Corps.
In 1984–5, the 223rd Aviation Battalion (Combat) of the 11th Aviation Group (Combat) was headquartered at Echterdingen, with the 25th, 48th, and 180th Aviation Companies assigned (one at Schwäbisch Hall).Isby and Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's, 1985, 375.
During the period 1980–1987, while the 11th Aviation Group was at Dolan Barracks in Schwäbisch Hall in the German State of Baden-Württemberg, another unit, the 11th Aviation Battalion (later the 11th Aviation Regiment) was based in the neighboring German State of Hesse at Wiesbaden Air Base under the 12th Aviation Group and V Corps. The proximity of the unit's locations in the former West Germany may be a source of confusion, as the distinctive unit insignias of the 11th Aviation Brigade and 11th Aviation Regiment (formerly the 11th Aviation Battalion) are sometimes confused, with the insignia of the latter being mistaken as the insignia for the former. The insignia of the 11th Aviation Regiment can be seen here , while the insignia of the 11th Aviation Brigade can be seen as an external link here . The 11th Aviation Regiment still exists and currently performs a training support role at Fort Rucker, Alabama, as the 1st Battalion, 11th Aviation Regiment, part of the 110th Aviation Brigade.
The 11th Aviation Group was reorganized and redesignated 16 October 1987 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Aviation Brigade, and three months later the brigade fielded the first AH-64 attack helicopter unit in Europe, the 2d Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment. This firmly established the brigade's role as a decisive combat element in the NATO alliance. In August 1988, the 11th Aviation Brigade moved to Storck Barracks in Illesheim. Other battalions within the 11th Aviation Brigade included the 4th Battalion, 229th Advanced Attack Helicopter Regiment (AAHR); 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment; 4th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment (located in Stuttgart, Germany); Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment (located in Schwabisch Hall, Germany); and Company C, 6th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment (located in Schwabisch Hall, Germany). The brigade lost two AH-64A Apache's to wire strikes during this time. One from the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry occurred in 1989 near the airfield, and a second from the 4th Battalion, 229th AAHR in early November 1990 just to the north of Nuremburg as the unit was preparing to deploy as part of Operation DESERT SHIELD.
As a group, personnel of the 11th wore the shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI) of VII Corps, to which it was assigned. With its redesignation as a brigade it qualified for its own SSI and it adopted a design based upon its distinctive unit insignia (DUI).
During its years in Germany, the Group had a pathfinder platoon of about a dozen personnel. The unit traced its lineage back to the 11th Airborne Division pathfinders of World War II and the post-war years, as well as the pathfinders of the 11th Aviation Group in Vietnam. Like some other small Airborne infantry units, members of the platoon initially wore the light blue Infantry School flash as an expedient. The flash was mainly worn at that time by cadre members of the 4th Airborne Student Training Battalion (aka "jump school") at Fort Benning, which was reflagged on 23 October 1985 as the 1st Battalion, 507th Infantry (redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 1st Battalion, 507th Infantry Regiment). Eventually the platoon submitted the 11th Airborne Division design and was granted approval by the United States Army Institute of Heraldry; however, the new flash and matching wing trimming were only worn for about a year due to the unit's inactivation. The authorization for a pathfinder platoon was dropped in the late 1980s and personnel departed as their tours were completed.
Gulf War and afterwards, 1990-95 The 11th Aviation Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of the VII Corps beginning in late November, 1990, with most elements in place by January 1, 1991 (6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry did not deploy to Saudi Arabia). Initially the 11th Aviation Brigade was assigned to an area just south of the Tapline Road at a small oil pump station known as "IPS3" (believed to have meant "Iraqi Pumping Station 3"). The site included a small runway and hard billets for some members of the brigade.
During the middle of February 1991, the brigade and it's assigned units began to move to the west into the Saudi Arabian desert, just to the west of the small city of Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia. This was part of the "Left hook" move which General Schwarzkopf had planned. It was from this location where the brigade launched night deep attack missions using the 4th Battalion, 229th AAHR on the night of 26 and morning of 27 February 1991. The brigade also sent AH-64s to escort Gen Schwarzkopf's meeting with Iraqi Generals to discuss the ceasefire at Safwan Airfield. After the cease fire, elements of the brigade including the 4th Battalion, 229th AAHR were sent to As Salman Airfield in southern Iraq to enforce the terms of the cease fire. It was during this time that the brigade suffered lost an OH-58C killing the pilot and aerial observer.
At the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm, the brigade was assigned to sector security in the former XVIII Airborne Corps area of responsibility. The front covered more than 200 kilometers. The 11th Aviation Brigade began redeployment to Germany on 22 April 1991. It was then reorganized and redesignated 17 November 1993 back to being Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 11th Aviation Group. It was at this time that the 11th began to be erroneously referred to as a regiment, rather than a group, and this error continued until the unit's inactivation in 2005; however, the U.S. Army Center of Military History confirmed that the 11th's HHC was organized as an aviation group, not a regiment. The CMH clarified the matter by stating, "Although the unit is frequently referred to as the 11th Aviation Regiment, it is actually organized under the TOE for an Aviation Group and its official designation is HHC, 11th Aviation Group."
Bosnia and Kosovo era (1996–1999) In April 1996, C Troop (+), 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment deployed to Camp Hampton, Bosnia and Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor and the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The deployment was critical to Implementation Force's success in establishing stability in the Multi-National Division (North) sector.
In the summer of 1996, the 11th Aviation Group received a warning order to form and train an aviation task force for possible deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The deployment was to be as a part of the Task Force Eagle Covering Force, overseeing the withdrawal of the 1st Armored Division.
On 4 October 1996, the unit received its deployment orders, and within five days HHC, 11th Aviation Group; 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment; Companies A and B, 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment; 147th Maintenance Support Team; Company C, 3rd Battalion (Air Traffic Services), 58th Aviation Regiment; and the 45th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) began departing Germany en route to Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor.
Assembling at Comanche Base, the 700 soldiers of Task Force 11 transferred authority with their 1st Armored Division counterparts on 4 November 1996, and immediately provided critical support to MND (North), where tensions between the Former Warring Factions were high.
On 20 December, the covering force completed its mission as a part of the Implementation Force and transitioned to operations as a part of the Stabilization Force.
On 15 May 1997, the 229th Aviation Regiment executed transfer of authority with Task Force 11 as the Multi-National Division (North) Aviation Brigade. After processing at the intermediate staging base in Taszar, Hungary, the last elements of Task Force 11 closed on their home stations on 25 May 1997.