Air Warrior Col. John W. Thompson - KMI Media Group

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Q&A Needed: More Air Assets, Better Vision Gear, Transparent Armor Air Warrior Colonel John W. Thompson Commander 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) Colonel John W. Thompson, a native of Augusta, Ga., was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army upon graduation from North Georgia College in 1987. Upon completion of the Aviation Officer Basic and OH-58 Aircraft Qualifications courses at Fort Rucker, Ala., in 1988, he was assigned to 4th Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment, Feucht, Germany. His assignments included Aeroweapons Platoon Leader, Aeroscout Platoon Leader and Squadron Assistant Operations Officer. Thompson has since served in a variety of aviation and special operations positions to include troop commander and division aviation plans officer, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; Platoon Leader, Special Mission Unit liaison officer and company commander, 1st Bn., 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.; executive officer, 82nd Aviation Brigade and operations officer, 2nd Bn. 82nd Aviation Bde., Fort Bragg, N.C.; joint planner, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.; and squadron commander, 4th Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo. He most recently graduated from the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa. He is a combat veteran of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and has multiple deployments in support of Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Thompson’s military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with numeral two, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Combat Action Badge, the Master Army Aviator Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Air Assault Badge. Q: Let’s jump in and talk about the physical growth of the 160th. Changes in 2008 created identical organization structure in the battalions. How are things going in bringing everything up to operational strength? A: This is a great place to start. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) has made steady progress on both strategic realignment of current assets and growth of personnel and equipment during the past two years. We now have nearly 3,000 soldiers serving in our ranks, keeping us on track to meet our current approved growth of 3,600 by 2015. We anticipate our MH-47G model Chinook fielding to be complete next spring, and our MH-60M model Black Hawk fielding to be complete in 2015. Reorganization of our current assets for three of our four line companies to have identical organizational structure is also making great progress. Our 4th Battalion on the West Coast now has a fully operational Black Hawk helicopter company supporting both combat and training missions around the globe. Our 2nd Battalion in Kentucky will begin incorporating Black Hawk helicopters in late 2011. Q: Last year, there was a spotlight on the call for more special operations rotary wing assets in Afghanistan. At an operator level, was there a real need for additional platforms? If so, has the requirement gap been filled or are there still things in the works to bridge the gap? A: There is definitely a demand beyond our means for additional helicopter support to ongoing and increasing special operations missions around the world. As special operations ground forces grow, the demand for aerial support to complete their missions naturally increases. This gap is not unique to special operations units. We are working with leaders at all levels and across different organizations to address this challenge. Specifically for Afghanistan, there is a plan for us to increase support incrementally as the regiment grows combat power by fielding additional aircraft while simultaneously training and progressing fully mission qualified crews. www.SOTECH-kmi.com SOTECH 8.9 | 21
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