1st Air Cavalry Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division The Combat Aviation Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division was activated on 16 September 1984 . The brigade is composed of : History . The history of combat aviation in the 1st Cavalry Division goes back to 1963 , when the Army began to gather helicopters into the 11th Aviation Group , 11th Air Assault Division ( Test ) at Fort Benning , Georgia , to test the airmobile concept . The 11th Aviation Group included the 227th , 228th and 229th Aviation Battalions . In 1965 , the assets of the 11th AAD and the 2d Infantry Division were merged to form the 1st Cavalry Division ( Airmobile ) . This involved a simultaneous transfer of the swapping of the colors of the 1st Cavalry Division , then stationed in Korea , with the 2d Infantry Division . On 1 August 1965 , the 1st Cavalry Division ( Airmobile ) was sent to Vietnam . Aviators participated in 14 campaigns and received seven decorations during its seven years of duty in Vietnam . The first Army aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War was a member of the 227th Aviation Battalion . Following its return from Vietnam , the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganized as a TRICAP ( Triple Capability ) Division with a heavy ( armor - mech ) brigade , an airmobile brigade and an aviation brigade . This configuration was deemed unworkable and the division was reorganized as an armored division in which the aviation element consisted of the 227th Aviation Battalion . The colors of the 11th Aviation Group were separated from the division after the war and assigned to Germany by reflagging an existing aviation group already stationed there . According to the U . S . Army Center of Military History , the lineage of the Combat Aviation Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division began when it was constituted on 1 September 1984 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop , Cavalry Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division , and activated at Fort Hood , Texas . It was reorganized and redesignated on 16 October 1996 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , Aviation Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division . The 227th Aviation Regiment itself appears to have been established on 16 July 1987 . Gulf War . In late 1990 , the brigade deployed overseas to Saudi Arabia , where the unit postured for combat in Operation Desert Shield . On 25 February 1991 , with the onset of Operation Desert Storm , the brigade conducted a raid as a part of the 1st Cavalry Division ' s deception plan to throw Iraqi forces off guard . The units of the brigade would serve as the vanguard of the division ' s movement north to cut off a retreating Iraqi Republican Guard division at Basra . In late spring of 1991 , the units of the brigade redeployed to Fort Hood and their home stations . Other operations . In January 1993 the brigade deployed command and control aircraft to Kuwait . With 48 hours notice , the brigade deployed to Somalia , where it flew over 500 hours of combat missions . In Bosnia , in 1999 , the brigade deployed to Operation Joint Forge . Units flew in the Balkans in support of Stabilization Force 4 . Missions performed ranged from multi - national general support and airborne command and control , to air movement operations . Iraq War . With the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003 , the brigade deployed the 1st Battalion , 227th Aviation to Iraq to exercise their Longbow Apaches in combat operations for the first time . There , they assisted in setting the conditions for the defeat of the Iraqi Army and the liberation of Baghdad . In the early hours of 24 March 2003 , Apache Longbows of the 1st Cavalry Division , fought a fierce battle with units of Iraq ' s Republican Guard Medina Division between the cities of Karbala and Al Hilah , south of Baghdad . During March 2004 the Brigade deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom II as part of Task Force Baghdad . The brigade fought throughout the Baghdad Area of Operations and in Fallujah , An Najaf , Al Kut , Karbala , and Balad . The brigade flew over 70 , 000 hours and was recognized with 84 awards for valor including the first Army Aviator to receive the Distinguished Service Cross , a Silver Star and seven Distinguished Flying Crosses . In January 2007 , the Brigade participated in the " Battle of An Najif " , of which two Air Cav AH - 64 were shot down in combat operations . The Brigade was deployed to Taji , Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom , 09 - 11 . In June 2011 the Brigade Deployed to Afghanistan and Returned Starting in April 2012 . Events of 12 July 2007 . On 12 July 2007 , after several skirmishes in the area , two AH - 64 Apache helicopters reportedly of the Air Weapons Team of the Combat Aviation Brigade observed a group of people milling around on a street in Baghdad , including what appeared to be two armed , and ten unarmed men . They reported all in the group to be armed , presumed them to be Iraqi insurgents , and fired on them , as well as a van seeking to pick up the wounded and a man severely wounded and incapacitated by the first attack . A total of 12 people were killed including Reuters journalist Noor - Eldeen and his driver , Saeed Chmagh . Two children were also severely injured . The attacks received worldwide media coverage following the leaking of 39 minutes of classified cockpit video footage in 2010 . The Apache crews involved were criticized for their decision to attack a largely unarmed group , for re - attacking the wounded , attacking the unarmed men that came to the aid of the wounded , and for the callous language used by the Apache crews occasionally during the attacks . Peacetime operations . After the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 , the Brigade deployed 2nd Battalion , 227th Aviation and the brigade command team to Louisiana to support disaster relief operations in New Orleans . Immediately upon redeployment , 2 - 227 AVN and the brigade command team redeployed to East Texas to assist relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Rita . Shortly after returning from the hurricane relief effort , the 2nd Battalion , 227th Aviation Regiment and elements of the 615th Aviation Support Battalion were called upon to support a humanitarian aid mission in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake that devastated northern Pakistan . Note : While locally referred to as the " 1st Air Cavalry Brigade , " the official Department of the Army designation is " Combat Aviation Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division . "