1st Infantry Division Says Goodbye to the Kiowa Warrior

Kiowa Warrior helicopters of the 1-6 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, completed their final mission flight June 12 in the skies over the Big Red One's annual Victory Run. As more than 10,000 "Big Red One" and Fort Riley troops participated in the 2015 Victory Week event, 25 OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters flew in formation overhead.

"I've been flying this since 1999, so for me in my Army career, this is the machine that gets me to the battlefield," said Lt. Col. Andrew Beyer, 1st Sqdn., 6th Cav. Regt., commander, "and this is the machine that I've come to know and love and trust. As much as there's sadness about the aircraft going away, you know, while we acknowledge that, this is a transition."

This was the Kiowa Warriors' last mission flight at the post and marks a historic change in the U.S. Army's aviation arsenal. Officials announced last year Kiowa Warriors' duties would be assumed by the AH-64 Apache after serving as the Army’s primary aerial scout reconnaissance aircraft.

Crew members from the 1-6 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, partnered with the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard recently at a Fort Riley training range to take a photo honoring the past and present cavalry. Kiowa Warrior helicopters, the squadron's primary airframe, are set for inactivation this summer as the Army transfers the Kiowa Warriors' mission to Apache helicopters.

“It’s only going to be a memory or in the history books or in the museums that people are even able to see this airframe and know the role it played,” said Command Sgt. Maj. James Milhorn, the squadron's senior noncommissioned officer. “The pictures that we took today were not significant for this unit, but for all cavalry units that are divesting their Kiowa Warriors.”

(Videos by 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs Office)

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