#1085 AH-64D Longbow
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Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1085 - AH-64D Apache Longbow, 01-05237, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 285th Aviation Regiment, Silver Bell Army Heliport, \"Desert Hawks\".
The lineage of the 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (ARB) starts with the formation of the 997th Assault Helicopter Company at Papago Army Airfield, Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971. It was originally formed as Delta Platoon and had UH-1C Huey gunships for aircraft. Over the next decade the unit changed names and aircraft types several times and by 1986 the unit transitioned to AH-1S Cobras and relocated to new facilities at Silverbell Army Heliport in Marana, Arizona. The designation as the 1st Battalion 285th Aviation Regiment occurred in December 1987 which was the result of Army Aviation units changing to the regimental system. In 1994 the Battalion transitioned to AH-64A model Apaches and most recently in 2006 the 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion fully transformed to an AH-64D Apache Longbow Battalion, the first in the National Guard. Upon receiving their Longbows the Battalion mobilized and conducted the Army’s Unit Fielding Training Plan under the supervision of 21st Cavalry Brigade at Ft. Hood, Texas, and at the completion of training the unit deployed to Afghanistan in 2007. The aircraft above 01-05237 nicknamed “Patches” was originally built in 1986 as an AH-64A model Apache (ser. 86-09029) returned back to the factory in 2001 and was remanufactured into an AH-64D Apache Longbow. After re-build it was assigned to B Company, 1-4 Attack Battalion, located at Ft. Hood, Texas, where it deployed to Iraq in April 2003 and after a year in Iraq the aircraft went into reset maintenance, then it was transferred to B Company, 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion in April 2005. In 2006 the aircraft mobilized and deployed with the 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion to Afghanistan and it is there that the aircraft earned its nickname by having extensive sheet metal repairs completed on it in theater due to numerous incidents in where damage was incurred by enemy fire. The list of damages and repairs includes its right engine was shot out, one of its wings and the stabilator had to be replaced due to small arms fire, and several sheet metal patches had to be sewn on the tailboom to cover small arms damage which are still visible on the aircraft. In 2008 it redeployed back to Silverbell Army Heliport with the 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion and as of 2010 it is still in service supporting peacetime and operational missions.
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