"Kill Devil" Guard Unit Deploying to Iraq Saturday

RALEIGH, NC (04/01/2011)(readMedia)-- Military leaders, family and friends will say farewell to more than 80 Salisbury-based Soldiers of the North Carolina National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation Regiment, during a ceremony set for 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Apr. 2, at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.

The unit adopted its call sign, "Kill Devil," in 1994 in honor of the location on North Carolina's Outer Banks where Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903.

The unit goes on active duty this month and will spend time training at Fort Hood, Texas, before deploying to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. Once in Iraq, the unit will fly its UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters as part of air assault and air movement operations.

Company C mobilized for duty in Iraq one time previously. From Oct. 31, 2004, until Jan. 12, 2006, its Soldiers supported Operation Iraqi Freedom. Twenty-eight of its members have deployed at least once before, and three have been called up two or more times.