The 78th Aviation Troop Command Flies, Fixes, and Fuels Aircraft to provide command and control, air movement, aero-medical evacuation and air assault operations to combatant commanders on the ground around the world and here in the state of Georgia. Stationed at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, the Georgia Army National Guard’s 78th Aviation Troop Command (ATC) is the aviation branch of t
he Georgia
Army Guard. The 78th ATC’s major deployments and redeployments in 2011 included: UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters of Detachment 1, Company C, of the 1-185th deploying to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn; UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters of the 1-171st mobilizing in November for their second deployment to Iraq, this time in support of Operation New Dawn; and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters of the Detachment 1, Company C, 1-111 Medevac mobilizing for deployment to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. The most recent aviation unit to deploy involved the UH-60 Black Hawks of Detachment 2, Company C, 1-169th Medevac, which left February 5, 2012, for deployment in Afghanistan. There, under the Army’s 49th and 29th Aviation brigades, its 21 pilots, aircrew, flight medical and support personnel, will provide Medevac support to troops now involved in Operation Enduring Freedom. Among the 78th ATC’s accomplishments in 2011 was Company C, 1-151st Service and Support’s support of Operation New Horizons in the Haiti earthquake relief efforts. On three different occasions they fought forest fires in Southeast Georgia using helicopter buckets to assist in the efforts. They also provided aviation support to the Joint Readiness and Training Center in Fort Polk, La. Additionally, the 78th Aviation Troop Command fielded four new Unmanned Aircraft System aircraft, trained the Soldiers, and deployed them to Afghanistan to support the Global War on Terror.
