Maine aviation unit slated for deployment next year

Related Media

3-142 aircraft return to Maine after training at Ft Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania in 2020. Courtesy photo, Sgt. Hope Mower

• A Maine Army National Guard crew chief pictured during a 2021 training mission. Photo courtesy, Maj. Carl Lamb
• A Maine Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk pictured over northern ME during a 2021 training mission. Photo courtesy, Sgt. Darin Douin
• A Maine Army National Guard UH-60 pictured over Hallowell during a 2021 training mission. Photo courtesy, Sgt. 1st Class Alyson Pelletier.
• Volunteer Meaghan Bowers pictured in front of a Maine UH-60 on static display at the ME National Guard's Youth Camp in summer of 2022. Photo courtesy, Maj. Carl Lamb
• A Maine UH-60 Black Hawk takes off from Augusta Airport during a 2020 training mission. Photo courtesy, Sgt. 1st Class Alyson Pelletier

BANGOR, MAINE (10/25/2022) (readMedia)-- Thirty-six Maine soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment (3-142) will deploy to the U.S. Central Command area of operations in February 2023, Maine National Guard officials publicly announced today.

The unit operates the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and is trained to conduct air assault and air movement missions in support of combat and sustainment forces. The 3-142 will provide air support to Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield for approximately one year.

"The nation continues to rely on the National Guard to support our active-duty brothers and sisters around the globe, and we don't anticipate that slowing down anytime soon," said Brig. Gen. Dean Preston, commander of the Maine Army National Guard. "Our soldiers have been training hard – just as you'd expect them to be doing – and we know they will do Maine and our country proud."

The last deployment for an Army aviation unit from Maine was in 2018, when Company G, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment supported operations in Afghanistan.

"As always, our sincere thanks to all our military families and employers," said Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, Maine's adjutant general. "These men and women have a lot on their plates to balance in order to lead a life of service, and your support is critical to mission accomplishment."

The detachments of 3-142 are split between the Maine and Connecticut Army National Guard.

Historically, Maine air and maintenance crews have supported operations in Iraq, Kuwait, Guatemala and Bosnia, as well as domestically at the Southwest border and in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Bangor-based Army National Guard aircraft are also periodically tasked with supporting the Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, Acadia or Baxter park rangers, and numerous local fire and rescue agencies in cases of lost or injured civilians.

Information on Inherent Resolve can be found at: www.inherentresolve.mil/

Information on Spartan Shield can be found at: www.usarcent.army.mil/About/Units/Task-Force-Spartan/

Publicly released imagery on these operations can be searched on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS): www.dvidshub.net/

-30-