A community homecoming and deployment recognition ceremony for an Iowa Army National Guard unit based in Waterloo will be held Friday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. at the Waterloo Army Aviation Support Facility, 2245 W. Big Rock Road north of the Waterloo Regional Airport.
Civilian officials and the Iowa National Guard leadership will participate, and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend this free ceremony.
About 35 Soldiers with Detachment 1, Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion were mobilized in August 2017 as part of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan. The Iowa soldiers traveled to their mobilization station at Fort Hood, Texas, for additional training before deploying to the Afghanistan theater of operations. The unit operated throughout Afghanistan before returning to Iowa in July 2018.
Detachment 1, Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion provided aerial medical evacuations (medevac) via UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, supplying medical service and support for patients en route to combat support hospitals.
The unit flew 28 point-of-injury medevac missions, 41 transfers and tactical evacuation missions and transported a total of 133 patients while racking up nearly 900 total flight hours.
The unit, created in 2005, is composed of the former Troops D, E and F of 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry, all of Waterloo. In 2008 the unit was mobilized for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom in support of overseas contingency operations.
The unit completed federal active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and returned to Iowa in July 2009. The unit was again mobilized from June 2012 to June 2013 for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and returned to Iowa in June 2013.
