12th

The 12th Aviation Group was first organized at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 Jun 1965. The unit deployed to Vietnam in August as a command element for non-organic Army aviation units, and by November 1965, the group consisted of 11,000 personnel and 34 aviation units. Assigned to the III Military Region in Vietnam, the 12th Group was the largest unit of its type to serve in combat. Its colors, emblazoned with 18 campaign streamers, give lasting testimony to its role in the Vietnam War. The unit earned the Meritorious Unit Citation, two Vietnamese Crosses for Gallantry with Palm, and the Vietnamese Civic Action Medal, First Class while in Vietnam.

Upon its return in March 1973, the 12th Aviation Group became a major subordinate command of the XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In November 1979, the 12th Aviation Group deployed to Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden, Germany as a major subordinate command of the V United States Corps, providing command and control of aviation units throughout the V Corps area of operation. In April 1984, Headquarters Company, 12th Aviation Group moved to Wiesbaden Air Base.

Following the bombings of the Embassies and Marine Barracks in Lebanon in 1984, US Army Europes V Corps sent medium and heavy lift aviation assets to Cyprus to support the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. This operation, known as the Beirut Air Bridge, provided Embassy personnel with safe passage in and out of Beirut on U.S. Military aircraft, as well as the continued flow of supplies necessary for the Embassys continued operation during the conflict there. UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters deployed to Cyprus in company-sized and smaller elements on a rotational basis.

In October 1987, under army-wide restructuring, the 12th Aviation Group was re-designated as the 12th Aviation Brigade, along with its subordinate units: 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment; C Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment; and B Company, 6th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. In the latter part of 1988, the Brigade re-structured again when the 5th Squadron (AH 64), 6th Cavalry Regiment arrived in Europe.