Nov. 21--Fort Bliss' attack and reconnaissance helicopter battalion got to immerse itself in one of the Army's top training experiences and came away with a true picture of what it is capable of doing.
The 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment went to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., earlier this year with 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan.
about 300 soldiers from the Iron Dragon Battalion, as it is nicknamed, brought 14 Apache attack helicopters with them and led an aviation task force consisting of other Army aviators from Fort Bliss and Fort Riley.
"It gave us a great snapshot of wher we are at, some things to improve on and some things to sustain and maintain," said Command Sgt. Maj. Terrence Reyes Jr., the senior enlisted leader for the 1-501st. Reyes calls the Bronx, N.Y. and Bishopville, S.C. home.
The 1-501st not only joined up with 1st Brigade from the 1st Infantry Division, but several other units the Iron Dragons weren't accustomed to working with.
They had to throw together a team on the fly and accomplish the training mission, said Lt. Col. Chris Crotzer, commander of the 1-501st.
"It was a great rotation; there were a lot of folks we had never worked with before as far as the folks out of Fort Riley," said Crotzer, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
about 25 soldiers from sister unit, 2-501st from Fort Bliss, went on the rotation with the Iron Dragons. These soldiers brought three Chinook helicopters with them and two specially equipped command-and-control Black Hawks.
Also part of Task Force Iron Dragon were about 20 soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment from Fort Riley. These soldiers brought four Chinooks with them.
In addition, about 60 soldiers from the 300th Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion from Fort Riley also joined the task force at NTC. The MPs provided security so the aviators could conduct their missions and do their maintenance work.
Integrating all those different assets and units into one team, when they hadn't worked together previously, was one of the big challenges of the rotation, Crotzer said.
They also had to deal with temperatures in the Mojave Desert that routinely topped 100 degrees and even reached 110 on occasion, Crotzer added.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Byron Covington is an Apache pilot with Bravo Company, 1-501st. Covington, of Kuna, Idaho, said they had to overcome challenges of havin to do a lot of flight hours, maintaining their aircraft and still meeting the objectives of the exercise.
