About Us "Wings of The Hawk"
"This single brigade provides a great deal of lift capability across multiple platforms that no other aviation brigade can provide. It has a diverse capability, ranging from heavy lift with its CH-47 fleet, medium lift with its UH-60 fleet, as well as medical evacuation with its HH-60 aircraft. It can also provide rapid movement of key leaders, personnel and equipment across great distances with its fixed-wing fleet (UC-35 jets and C-12 turboprop aircraft).”
-- Col. Joseph Edwards, former ECAB commander.
MISSION:

On order, the 244th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade (ECAB) will deploy to an area of responsibility and conducts theater aviation operations to support military operations of war and/or operations other than war for the Combined Forces Land Component Commander.


The 244th ECAB is one of two of the Army Reserve's aviation brigades. 

It consists of more than 2,700 Soldiers and 130 aircraft, spanning from coast to coast in 13 states across 17 locations, to include eight of 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency regions.


The brigade is comprised of a headquarters company, two general support aviation battalions, one fixed wing battalion, and an aviation maintenance battalion, as follows:


 • HHC, 244th ECAB, headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
 • 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas
 • 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia
 • 2nd Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
 • 90th Support Battalion (Aviation), headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas (formerly Carswell AFB)


The 244th ECAB became a component of the original 11th Theater Aviation Command when the command activated Sept. 16, 2007. At that time, a number of units which were formerly under the brigade were transferred away and several units within the brigade were re-consolidated.


HISTORY:
The 244th Aviation Brigade was originally constituted Sept. 16, 1988 in the Army Reserve as Headquarters, 244th Aviation Group and was activated at Naval Air Station Glenview in Glenview, Illinois. 

On March 31, 1995 the group's location was changed to Fort Sheridan, Illinois and on Oct. 17, 1995 the Group was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 244th Aviation Brigade. On Oct. 1, 2008, the Brigade headquarters was moved from Fort Sheridan, Illinois to Fort Dix, New Jersey.
 
The brigade consists of a mix of Active Component and Reserve (Troop Program Unit and Active Guard Reserve) soldiers as well as Department of the Army civilian employees and contractors. Every unit of the brigade has deployed overseas to support contingency operations since 1988, including the Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company. 

These operations include Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Joint Forge, Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Units of the brigade also perform daily missions in cooperation with other United States forces and agencies such as search and rescue operations, assisting in wildfire suppression, providing support at the Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and flying dignitaries around the country.


LINEAGE:
 • Constituted Sept. 16, 1988 in the Army Reserve as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 244th Aviation Group, and activated at Glenview Naval Air Station, Illinois
 • Location changed March 31, 1995 to Fort Sheridan, Illinois
 • Reorganized and redesignated Oct. 7, 1995 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 244th Aviation Brigade.
 • Location changed Oct. 1, 2008 to Fort Dix, New Jersey