Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter 86-01654.

86-01654

B Company - "Innkeepers", 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea, unit patch, Fall 2013.

Property of

B Company - " Innkeepers "

3-2 GSAB

Camp Humphreys, ROK

2013

Property of

C Company, 159th Aviation Regiment

"Flippers"

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

1999 - 2002

Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter - C Company, 159th Aviation Regiment - "Flippers" take 86-01654 to Honduras.

The Flippers operate 86-01654 in Honduras to support disaster relief operations after Hurricane Mitch devastated a large portion of Central America. Under the guidance of Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B) and temporarily based at Soto Cano Air base, 86-01654 and the Flippers delivered several hundred thousand pounds of desperately needed supplies.

   86-01654, Boeing D model kit number M3159, was a CH-47D helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 31 March 1987. As of 24 November 1999, 86-01654 had accumulated 1,939.9 D model hours and 5,315.4 total aircraft hours.

   86-01654 was a conversion from the original A model Chinook 66-19028.

   On 18 April 1986, 86-01654 was inducted into the D model program, converted, and initially assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado.

   At some point, 86-01654 was assigned to C Company - "Flippers", 159th Aviation Regiment, 18th Aviation Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

   As of 21 March 2001, the 18th Aviation Brigade was located at Simmons Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, and was subordinate to the 18th Airborne Corps. The 18th Airborne Corps was subordinate to Forces Command (FORSCOM), which was a major command (MACOM).

   C Company was the former 196th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Flippers".

   The 196th ASHC was redesignated A Company, 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment in approximately 1988.

   In September 1996, 2nd Battalion was deactivated and the unit was redesignated A Company, 159th Aviation Regiment.

   In approximately November 1996, the unit was redesignated as C Company, 159th Aviation Regiment.

   From 8 November 1998 through 8 February 1999. 86-01654 was deployed to Honduras in support of disaster relief operation after Hurricane Mitch devastated much of Central America.

   As of 1 January 2002, this aircraft was 35.0 years old.

   As of 1 January 2002, the last known location of 86-01654 was at Fort Bragg.

   Aircraft status: Flyable.

4 February 2014: 86-01654 resting on the ramp at Desiderio Army Airfield (RKSG or A-511), Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea, as the D model fleet assigned to B Company - "Innkeepers", 3rd Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, undergoes a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Republic of Korea. The Korean government purchased the 14 aircraft assigned to the Innkeepers for approximately $3,900,000 each as is, along with five spare GA-714A engines, radio and navigation equipment and some various other parts. The D model Chinook helicopters were replaced with F model ones bringing the heavy lift capability in theater into the modern age. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version [10.5 Mb].

The following CH-47D Chinook helicopters were assigned to B Company - "Innkeepers", 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 2nd Aviation Regiment, located on Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea, and sold to the Republic of Korea in early 2014 under a Foreign Militray Sales (FMS) program. Over the years other aircraft were assigned to the Innkeepers but we do not have a complete list.

84-24158	86-01654	88-00070	88-00073	88-00081
88-00083	88-00085	88-00089	88-00091	88-00093
88-00094	88-00095	88-00096	88-00107