New York Army National Guard Aircrews Depart on Cross Country Helo Flight Saturday, July 21

Ferry Flights to Deliver 10 Aircraft to Fort Irwin, California for Combat Training Exercise leaves Latham and Ronkonkoma Saturday morning

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Soldiers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, prepare a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter for a flight to Fort Drum, in Latham, N.Y., June 2nd

LATHAM, N.Y. (07/20/2018) (readMedia)-- Ten New York Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, which will be used by 70 Soldiers training at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, will begin flying west to support that mission on Saturday, July 21.

Thirty New York Army National Guard aircrew members from the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, based in Latham, N.Y., will fly the UH-60 helicopters across the country over the next five days to position them at Fort Irwin, California in support of the training exercise for the unit in August.

Aircrews from the battalion will fly five aircraft from Albany International Airport and another five from Islip MacArthur International Airport Saturday, July 21, on a five-day journey to Fort Irwin.

Fort Irwin is the home of the National Training Center. The Army conducts massive force-on-force tank and mechanized infantry wargames at the training center, which his often referred to as the "Super Bowl" of Army training.

The aviation company from the New York National Guard will support the rotation of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team during the training in August.

Each aircraft is expected to fly 19 hours during the five-day journey to Fort Irwin.

The mission next week is to preposition the aircraft for the arrival of the battalion's Company B, said Lt. Col. Jason Lefton, the 3-142nd commander.

"This is a first for us," Lefton said of the cross-country ferry flight. "It is extremely rare to have East Coast National Guard units fly out to NTC."

The last time a New York National Guard unit conducted combat training at NTC was in 2011.

The aircraft will be joined by more than 70 Soldiers arriving from the unit on commercial air as the ferry crews return to New York.

All other equipment has been shipped by contract or rail already, Lefton said.

"Bravo Company is actually going to be a hybrid of the battalion's headquarters, A Company, B Company and D Company troops," Lefton said. "I wanted to make sure we have the training experience of NTC spread throughout the battalion."

After completing the cross-country flight, and while the B Company crews are flying their missions at Fort Irwin, the rest of the battalion will complete its own annual training August 4-18 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

Aircrews from the 3rd Battalion 142nd Aviation will then return to Fort Irwin on August 20 at the end of the exercise to ferry the aircraft back to New York as the rotational Soldiers return home.

"Going to be a busy summer," Lefton said.