By JOHN McCABE
The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register
(Intelligencer photo)
WHEELING, W.Va. — For the past 34 years, every mission completed by the aviators at Company C, 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation Regiment based in Wheeling was done in an older-model, hand-me-down military helicopter — first the Bell UH-1 “Huey” and, starting in 2002, Sikorsky’s UH-60A/L Black Hawk.
The National Guard’s role has changed significantly since the mid-1980s, however, and so has its equipment needs.
The 150th has deployed overseas twice since Sept. 11, 2001 — first to Iraq in 2005 and then to Bosnia/Kosovo in 2010-11 — with the unit continually receiving high praise for its efforts in supporting troops in combat theaters.
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