JBLM aviation brigade once again flying over Afghanistan

A combat aviation brigade from Joint Base Lewis-McChord recently arrived in Afghanistan for a seven-month deployment.

The 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division will conduct cargo-movement, medical-evacuation, VIP-transport and combat missions from Bagram Airfield, said Capt. Brian Harris, a spokesman for the unit.

The brigade has deployed about 800 soldiers and 110 aircraft, including AH-64 Apache helicopters, Harris said.

It officially relieved the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division during a change-of-authority ceremony Monday.

The 1st Combat Aviation Brigade spent close to eight months in Afghanistan. Its pilots logged 36,000 flight hours during the deployment.

The 16th Combat Aviation Brigade last deployed in 2014 to Kandahar Province, Harris said.

That was to be one of the last large-scale deployments of JBLM troops to Afghanistan as the military wound down combat operations there.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM with the headline "JBLM aviation brigade once again flying over Afghanistan."