Col. Jeffery Thompson, an Oregon native and the commander

Col. Jeffery Thompson, an Oregon native and the commander for the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, recalls the lineage of the Air Cav during the brigade’s 30th birthday commemoration at the 1st Cav. Div. Museum at Fort Hood, Texas, Sept. 16. The Air Cav was originally constituted in 1963 as the 11th Air Assault Aviation Group, consisting of the 227th, 228th and 229th Aviation Battalions, as part of the 11th Air Assault Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. On July 1, 1965, the unit was redesginated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Aviation Group, and reassigned to the 1st Cav. Div.