Based at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina, the Army’s Special Operations Aviation Command can trace its origins to the creation of Special Warfare Aviation Detachments (SWAD) in anticipation of the dramatic increase in the role of helicopters and the development or Airmobile units and Air Assault tactics that did take place during the Vietnam War.
The first such unit, the 22nd SWAD, was activated in March 1962 at Fort Bragg. Subsequently reorganized and redesignated as the 22nd Aviation Detachment (Special Forces) a few months later, the 22nd supported the 5th and 7th Special Forces Groups, the 1st and 13th Psychological Warfare Battalions, and the U.S. Army Special Warfare School. Another SWAD, the 23rd, was activated in July 1962 and deployed to Vietnam in September to provide photographic intelligence support for I Corps and Special Forces units.
But it was the 281st Assault Helicopter Company, Airmobile Light, activated in October 1965 and deployed to Vietnam the following year, that is generally considered the true forebear of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). The Command was activated on 25 March 2011, and since that time has been expanded to include a Flight Company for Support, a Special Operations Training Battalion, and two management/administrative offices, the Technology Applications Program Office and System Integration Management Office.
The U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command unit patch, officially known as a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia-Military Operations in Hostile Conditions insignia, was approved on 12 April 2013. Its shield-style design features a background of ultramarine blue, primary branch color of Army Aviation, with a winged Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife in the center. The knife is closely associated with the 1st Special Service Force, forerunner of all of today’s Special Operations organizations, and its winged design symbolizes the organization’s status as the Aviation element of U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
Related Items
Special Operations Aviation Command Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)
Special Operations Aviation Command Beret Flash