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            C/5-158 RAPTORS       

The Charlie Company, 5 th Battalion, 158 th Aviation Regiment “RAPTORS” were activated as an eight helicopter General Support Aviation Company on 16 July 1999, at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany. Initially, the unit was extremely small and did not reach its full MTOE strength in personnel and equipment for nearly 18 months during which time they relocated to Giebelstadt Army Airfield.

Despite its small stature and lack of resources, the Raptors deployed four UH-60s to Tunisia , Africa in support of Operation Atlas Drop in October 2000. In 2001, the company deployed four UH-60s to Mali , Africa , in support of the 3 rd SFG(A) for Operation Flintlock, a joint training exercise with the Mali military. Soon after the company returned from Mali , the Raptors participated in their first and only CMTC rotation at Hohenfels , Germany .

In early 2002, Charlie Company deployed three UH-60s to Norway for Operation Strong Resolve, a NATO winter training exercise. Shortly thereafter, C Company deployed the entire company to the Czech Republic for Griffin Strike, an aerial gunnery exercise, followed by a deployment in October 2002 to Poland for Victory Strike III, V Corps' deep strike training exercise. It was at Victory Strike that the Raptors began developing Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Personnel Recovery (PR) and were designated as the Headquarters for the V Corps' Personnel Recovery effort.

While the Company was developing PR procedures during Victory Strike III, two aircraft and crews were deployed to Kuwait as the 12 th Aviation Brigade vanguard for what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 10 February 2003 , the remainder of the company and their aircraft deployed to Kuwait . On 19 February, Personnel Recovery Task Force Gabriel formed at Camp Udairi , Kuwait , marking the first-ever combat employment of conventional Army forces in this mission profile.

The Raptors moved into Iraq as two elements – ground and air. The ground element departed on 20 March and the air element left on 23 March to occupy Tactical Assembly Area Rams near An Najaf , Iraq where they provided PR support to coalition forces across central and southern Iraq for 30 days. On 21 April, C Company repositioned north of Baghdad to Balad Air Base with the remainder of the Mission Ready Battalion. From Balad, C/5-158 performed a myriad of general support and VIP missions for 12 th Aviation Brigade and Combined Joint Task Force – 7 Headquarters. The Raptors remained at Balad until their redeployment in February of 2004.

Although C Company performed their last PR mission on 14 May 2003 , they remained vigilant and dedicated to further refining Army Personnel Recovery doctrine and procedures until their deactivation on 7 October 2004 .

* Denotes Comabat

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