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.