1- 228th Aviation Regiment

The 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment's (Winged Warriors) mission is to conduct general support aviation operations supporting JTF-Bravo with UH-60L Black Hawks, CH-47F Chinooks, and MEDEVAC HH-60L helicopters.  As the only forward deployed aviation asset in SOUTHCOM, the 1-228th is critical to the execution of the Nation’s strategic initiatives and objectives. With rapid-deployment capabilities, the 1-228th is mission-ready alongside Joint and Partner Nations to execute and sustain a broad range of operations, including Counter-Narcotics, CTTOC (Countering Transnational Organized Crime), HA/DR (Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief), DLOs (Deck Landing Operations), NEO (Noncombatant Evacuation Operations), Air Movements to austere and secluded locations, CASEVAC (Casualty Evacuation), and SAR (Search and Rescue), in any complex terrain, maritime setting, and disaster-stricken zones.

Battalion History 

The Battalion was first activated on 18 July 1963 as 4th Battalion, 228th Aviation at Fort Benning, Georgia. From 1971 to 1989, the Battalion underwent several transformations, re-designations and relocations. On 16 January 1990, 4th Battalion, 228th Aviation relocated the headquarters from Panama and was activated at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, with six companies to include a Headquarters and Headquarters Company, A and B Company, two FORSCOM rotational units, a CH-47D detachment and a Medical Evacuation unit. On 4 June 1999, the Battalion underwent its final transformation into the current 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment.

In 2018, the 1-228th Aviation Regiment received the FY18 LTG Ellis D. Parker Award as the U.S. Army’s Top Aviation Battalion for Combat Support. The LTG Ellis D. Parker Award recognizes leadership, training, maintenance and safety excellence at the aviation battalion level.

The 1-228th Aviation Regiment continues to stand out across the U.S. Army as an organization that produces world-class officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted Soldiers.

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April 13, 2021

Sergeant Sánchez: A firefighter’s journey to recovery

On one of his days off from duty, traveling from the city of La Esperanza to Gracias, in the department of Lempira, Honduras, Sergeant Brian Sánchez, a firefighter with the Gracias Lempira Fire Department was involved in an auto accident. While stuck underneath the overturned vehicle, he lost consciousness. Local search and rescue officers and passersby spent hours using all available resources to lift the vehicle to rescue him. He was then taken in the back of a pickup truck to the nearest medical facility. Upon arrival at the hospital, doctors determined he required immediate brain surgery - a service that is not available in a town that small. A decision was quickly made to transport him to the Medical Center in Tegucigalpa.  

Jan. 19, 2021

U.S., Panamanian forces conduct second iteration of joint humanitarian exercise

U.S. military personnel assigned to Joint Task Force Bravo, Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, will conduct a joint humanitarian exercise with Panamanian Public Security forces in various regions of Panama, Jan. 21 to Feb. 1.

Nov. 12, 2020

JTF-Bravo commits to additional assistance

As life-saving efforts continue in Honduras, Panama and Guatemala, Joint Task Force-Bravo begins to transition from rescue operations to delivery of necessary aid to communities that have been cut-off for days since Hurricane Eta passed through Central America.

Nov. 6, 2020

JTF-Bravo rescues victims of Hurricane Eta

A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter crew assigned to Joint Task Force-Bravo

Sept. 23, 2020

Protecting valuable assets: JTF-B conducts personnel recovery training

U.S. Air Force Major Cory Turner, Joint Task Force-Bravo personnel recovery coordination cell director, led training during a two-week emergency deployment readiness exercise at Trujillo Bay, Honduras.