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

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.
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