2nd Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment

The 2nd Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment (2-211th AVN) was originally activated on 1 October 1980 at Fort Rucker, Alabama, as an attack helicopter battalion equipped with AH-1 Cobras. In the late 1980s, under the Army’s Aviation Restructuring Initiative, it was reorganized and reassigned into the newly formed 211th Aviation Regiment, transitioning into a general support aviation battalion (GSAB) primarily flying UH-60 Black Hawks. Over the years the battalion has been stationed at Fort Drum, New York, and Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii, before its headquarters settled with the Utah Army National Guard in West Jordan, Utah. The unit deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Freedom’s Sentinel, conducting air assault, MEDEVAC, heavy-lift, and sustainment missions that earned it multiple campaign credits and commendations.

Today, 2-211th AVN is a multi-component General Support Aviation Battalion under the Utah Army National Guard’s Combat Aviation Brigade, 40th Infantry Division. Headquartered in West Jordan, Utah, it comprises companies from several states: A Company (UH-60M) and C Company (UH-60M) in Utah, B Company flying CH-47F Chinooks with the Iowa Army National Guard in Davenport, Iowa, D Company (maintenance) also in Utah, and G Company (MEDEVAC, UH-60M) with the Alaska Army National Guard in Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska. The battalion’s primary mission is to provide heavy-lift (CH-47), air assault and air movement (UH-60M), medical evacuation, and logistics support for both state emergencies (wildland firefighting, flood response, and civil support across the western U.S., including Arctic operations in Alaska) and federal deployments worldwide. Its motto, “Wings of the Wasatch,” honors its Utah home and mountain aviation heritage.