Guard to bring Apache attack helicopters to San Antonio
People in San Antonio are used to seeing F-16 jets streak across the sky, but soon they’ll very likely notice something new — attack helicopters buzzing overhead.
The Texas Army National Guard is preparing to move its 36th Aviation Combat Brigade to Joint Base San Antonio-lackland, bringing 26 helicopters to the Alamo City.
In all, 16 will be AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, while another 10 will be UH-60 Black Hawks, which typically carry troops and serve as medical evacuation aircraft.
The guard placed a notice in the San Antonio Express-news on Friday announcing its intention to conduct a draft environmental assessment for establishing the brigade at Kelly Field, home to a bustling military and civilian air base. One of the guard units is based in Houston, while the others are already in San Antonio.
The guard already operates at Kelly. Its 149th Fighter Wing has flown F-16 Fighting Falcon jets there for decades.
The notice said the Texas Guard would move the 1-149th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion now at Houston’s Ellington Field. The 449th Aviation Support Battalion on Martindale Army Airfield in San Antonio’s Southeast Side would move to Kelly, including its headquarters, Company A, and elements of the 149th Aviation Regiment’s 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion.
That includes three companies.
The Apaches were at one time pegged to be moved to the active-duty Army, but the Texas Guard and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, among others around the country, opposed the move. The idea in those days was to replace all of the Apaches in the National Guard and Army Reserve with Black Hawk helicopters, but it sparked an uproar at Camp Mabry and other guard headquarters nationwide.
It was settled only after a national commission studied the matter. Not everyone in the guard and reserve kept their helicopters, but Texas did.
The Martindale unit flew into Iraq. Soldiers with a medical evacuation unit operated from a base in Balad, north of Baghdad, for a year as part of a general aviation support battalion.
Texas guardsmen served in Iraq and Afghanistan through the long conflicts in both countries, a job that is likely to con
tinue because the Pentagon relies so heavily on part-time troops to support its overseas contingency operations.
The guard did not respond to a request for comment but explained its intentions in the newspaper notice.
“The (environmental assessment) evaluated the potential environmental impacts associated with the renovation of one hangar facility and one building at JBSA property,” the guard stated. “The proposed action will include relocation of the following personnel and equipment associated with the units: 16 AH-64 Apache helicopters; 10 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.”
Those aircraft will require support from 12 expanded tactical mobility trucks, fuel tankers, 52 power generators, and 32 tugs to move aircraft and other maintenance and repair equipment.