An Army Aviation Question

[Roger H]

Prior to the reorganization of the US Army divisional combat aviation assets from battalion to brigade , were attack helicopter companies “ Cobra pure” or were their Kiowa scouts and Huey and Blackhawk lift ships integrated as they were when these companies became battalions as the result of AOE?

[Cav Dog]

Hi Roger,

Having been in H series Attack Battalions in the early 80s, they were organized with 3 Attack Helicopter Companies, each with three gun platoons of 7 AH-1s and a scout platoon of 12 OH-58s. They also had 3 UH-1s in the HQ for the Company Commander, S3 and Maintenance Officer.

We would task organize for combat into three 3X5 teams with 3 scouts and 5 gunships, which were further organized as a 1 X 2 light team and a 1 X 3 heavy team under the control of the third OH acting as Air Battle Captain.

When AOE and J series was implemented we basically took that organization and formed 3 Attack Companies and called it an Attack Battalion.

[redleg]

Another Army aviation question for the group. I originally threw this out there on the ROD imagi-nation thread because I was going to reorganize my imagi-nation forces, but the more I look into the topic the more my interest is piqued.

So I am interested in the organization of Army aviation units – specifically how they relate to a division or a brigade. In my day, the US Army divisions had 3 maneuver brigades and then an aviation brigade. It was very cool to have those Apaches and Blackhawks at the division level, but it also seemed like they were tied to an airfield or some kind of appropriate facility for maintenance and safe operations. We could set up a FARP or an LZ out in the woods or the desert, but those always seemed like short-term solutions. When I was in division plans, we had aviation planners, but I got the impression that they spent half their time trying to figure out where to put the helicopters.

So what I am struggling with is this: Is it better to have the divisional aviation brigade so that the assets are available to the division commander (and the staff needs to figure out where to park the choppers)? Or would it be less cumbersome to the division if the helicopters were all in corps aviation brigades and they get tasked to the divisions? Let the corps aviation guys figure out the fuel and maintenance part and just send the helicopters forward for specific missions? Air Tasking Orders for aviation?

What are your thoughts on divisional aviation brigades versus corps aviation brigades?

[7.62]

Operationally I think the aviation units need to mesh with and task at the Divisional level, if not lower for smaller Countries.
I still maintain that the aviation units require logistical/support direct from their own service, so admin wise they sit outside the CA Brigades or Divisions they support.

Smaller nations by necessity have to do this. Singapore and Canada for instance keep the helicopter units outside the Divisional structures but co-locate and operate with them.

UK in the early 80's BAOR had an Army Air Corp Regiment for each of the four Divisions (IIRC).
Each Regiment had two Squadrons, one recce (12x Gazelle) and one anti-tank (12x Lynx or Westland Scout) plus a RHQ.
At that time the UK was playing with the Task Force idea and the Air Corp would deploy and move helicopters with a TF. It was very flexible and operated very close to the Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA). Often split down to just a few aircraft, a Truck for the REME, a fuel truck and a CP.
The TF could task on the net for recce, anti tank missions, casevac etc. TF artillery could receive live fire adjustment from a AOP Gazelle or it could act as a forward air controller on the spot. This is not likely survivable today (It probably wasn't back then lol).

This is always going to be balancing act.
In a peer on peer engagement, to get the full value from your 'very expensive' and limited aviation assets, they need to be accessible by the poor folks at the pointy end. Trying to place or keeping them out of harms way reduces what and when they can add to that. Aviation assets add a massive flexibility of options on the battlefield but that will come at a price. Now drones are an intrinsic part of the mix and must be considered apart of the aviation assets on both sides of the FEBA.
This has got a whole lot more complicated in the last few years

[redleg]

Thank you for the insight Mick!

[whenimaginationfails]

FWIW: BattleOrder has a video about the evolution of US Air Cavalry over 60 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIZzExeV278

The description includes all of his sources.

[SMS KONIG]

At the beginning of the 80’s divisions had an aviation battalion composed of 3 attack companies with a scout platoon, a utility company, a general service company with command, utility and artillery spotting platoons and a AVIM platoon with companies having a AVUM. There was also a ACR with a recon attack troop. In the mid 80’s they turned the 3 attack companies and scouts into an attack battalion. The utility and GS companies became independent and the AVIM becoming a company. I believe they also added a second troop to the air cavalry. In addition with the Apache coming into service they added a second attack battalion to the heavy division with an aviation group command at division. In the early 90’s the division aviation brigade came into being with the utility and GS companies becoming battalions along with the AVIM. There were more changes in the 2000’s but that is after Cold War.

[redleg]

Thanks for all the info guys! The time being I'm going to leave the aviation brigade as-is.