1-52 General Support Aviation Battalion

The 1-52D General Support Aviation Battalion is home of the UH-60 Blackhawks, CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-60 Medevac Support. We provide professional quick-response support to ground commanders for medical and logistical missions. Flying Dragons! Forged in Fire!

The 1-52d Aviation Regiment (Combat) was constituted 1 June 1940 in the Regular Army as Headquarters Detachment, 204th Quartermaster Battalion (gas supply), and activated on 10 June 1942 at Compton, California. The Battalion received credit for participating in four campaigns on the Italian peninsula during World War II. On 16 May 1949, the battalion was reorganized and re-designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 52d Transportation Truck Battalion.

The Battalion participated in nine campaigns during the Korean War. On 11 December 1950, the Battalion Commander, LTC John U.D. Page was killed while fighting with the battalion on the Manchurian border. LTC Page was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously and the present day Camp Page in Chun Chon, bears his name. The Battalion colors proudly display the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Korean War.

On 22 December 1962, the unit was converted and re-designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 52d Aviation Battalion at Ft Bragg, North Carolina. From 1963 thru 1972, the Battalion served in the Republic of Vietnam and participated in 17 campaigns, earning the Presidential Unit Citation, two Valorous Unit Awards and eight Vietnamese Unit Citations.

The 1-52d Aviation Regiment was deactivated 16 October 1988 in Korea and re-designated as 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Battalion, a parent Battalion under the United States Army Regimental System, with its Headquarters at Camp Coiner and subordinate units at K-16, Camp Page and Camp Humphreys. The 1 st Battalion conducted many diverse missions, including Special Operations, Air Assault and General Support throughout the theater. In 1991 and 1994, the 1-501st received the theater's AAAA Outstanding Aviation Unit of the Year. On 16 February 1996, as part of the Aviation Restructuring Initiative, the 1-501st was inactivated and the 52d was activated at K-16. The 1-52d consolidated at K-16 in March of 1996. In 1997, the 1-52d received the theater AAAA Outstanding Aviation Unit of the Year Award.

In early 2005 the decision was made for 1-52d Aviation Regiment to begin its Aviation Transformation. On 15 April 2005, while remaining at K-16, A. Co. 1-52d Dragon Flight, Eagle Flight, and A. Co. 6-52d Wildcats transferred to the General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) 2-52d Aviation Battalion based out of Camp Humphreys, Korea. Later in June 2005 the remainder of the Battalion relocated to Fort Wainwright, Alaska to begin the start of a new GSAB in the Alaskan Theatre.