The 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, officially marked its return from a nine-month deployment to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve by uncasing its colors in a ceremony on Feb. 1. According to the Fort Riley Public Affairs Office the uncasing ceremony signifies the completion of the ‘Demon Brigade's’ overseas mission.
“Our colors and what they represent are home, the Soldiers are gathering their equipment from the ports to train here at Fort Riley with their 1st Infantry Division team,” said Col. Jason Arriaga, Commander of the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade.
Throughout the deployment more than 1,800 Soldiers were deployed to various locations across Europe, including Poland, Germany, Romania, Greece, and Latvia.
“Thanks to their effort and dedicated training prowess, nearly 50,000 Soldiers from our partners had the fortune to fly with and receive aviation support from the Demon Brigade,” said Maj. Gen. D.A. Sims II, Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley.
“From Defender Europe 2021 where they worked with 26 partner nations in 30 training locations, to Agile Spirit, where they worked with the Georgian defense forces with 15 allied partner nations, the brigade showed a common theme of extreme professionalism,” Maj. Gen. Sims added.
The Demon Brigade conducted bilateral and multinational training events with more than a dozen North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and partner nations. These exercises were executed to build readiness and strengthen relationships between U.S. forces and American allies and partners.