I took these three photos of 8th Infantry Division aircraft at Bad Kreuznach AAF when I was a boy. I used to drive by the airfield to check out the aircraft. The photos were taken in the 1959-61 timeframe.

Attached is a copy of the Activation Day pamphlet that was used when the 8th Aviation Company was reorganized into the 8th Aviation Battalion. The 8th Aviation Company was based at Bad Kreuznach, but the Battalion was organized and activated at Finthen.

I am listed on the last page as “S-2 Capt H. Morgan.”

I was serving a ground duty tour as CO of Company B, 8th Signal Battalion, 8th Infantry Division in Bad Kreuznach.  When the Aviation Battalion was organized I was assigned as the S-2 of the Aviation Battalion.

The 8th AVN BN web site was a nice find, good reading.  I arrived at APO 111 Bad Kreuzach on or about April 8 1964, the unit then was B Co, 8th Avn Bn. HHC, A Co, and possibly C Co were at Finthen AAF.

We were the Buffaloes with buffaloes stenciled on white towels an the end of our bunks.  The company motto was "The thundering herd, to the sound of the guns."  I believe the 1st shirt was named Felton. I remember two pilots one was Kris Kristofferson and the other was a warrant named Randall. They used to sing together in gasthauses on week ends.

Some of the enlisted named Weaver, Hackett, West and Dozier.  They were a great bunch. During my short stay at Rose Bks we moved from the barracks at the back gate to ones by the front gate, we went from bays to four man rooms. 

About this time the 8th cav was getting the newer UH-1s and were looking for a few more men.  A group of us were tagged to go. I was flown to Coleman Bks, Mannheim in an L-20 Otter.  Reporting to D Troop, 3/8 Cav was different. The unit was up on border patrol. We soon learned the Squadron always needed detail people fence painting, grass mowing, police call, guard duty, C.Q. runner, the list never ended.  The squadron area was the opposite corner of the base from the stockade, near what I think was the Sandhofen gate. The helipad was across the street from the barracks. The PSP pads were built by the crew chiefs and mechs just before we got there, they had canvas under them to stop the growth of weeds under the PSP. 

When the unit returned with the aircraft more normal life returned.  I remember the orderly room had a glass case with a stuffed mongoose with a corbra wrapped around it. We had about 8 UH-1B's, 3 or 4 H-13's and a very loud H-34. While I was there we totaled two aircraft: an H-13 on take off right on our own ramp, and a UH-1 on field maneuvers flying it into a hillside, no injuries in either adventure.

We had a line shack with cartoon creatures painted on the sides. The UH-1's mostly had quad M60's on the side; we had two Hueys with the 24 rocket tubes on each side.

I can recall lots of alerts, some field duty, a trip for a NATO maneuver to Denmark.

In 1965 the Army set up a school to transition pilots from fixed wing qual to rotary wing. Each Cav outfit in Germany sent 2 UH-1's to the school in Stuttgart. I was TDY for 6 mos, we stayed at Nelligen Bks. The school was such a success that they ran a second school at Schleissheim outside of Munich.

I was getting short then and returned to Coleman to start to outprocess. Some of the great people I remember from the Cav were CWO Hatter, Capt Brown, Capt Madden, First Sergeant Trapp, John Heaton, Luce, Nelson, Cox, Ward, Snyder, King, Rinehart. I ETS'ed April 1966.

Eleven years later for some strange reason I joined MA NG. and retired April 2002 age sixty. Some of my best memories involve UH-1's, Army aviation and good comrades. ABOVE THE BEST

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In 1965 the war in Viet Nam placed a tremendous need upon the Army for qualified rotary wing aviators.  To relieve this possible shortage USAREUR started a transition school to train fixed wing pilots into qualified helicopter pilots.  A group of qualified instructor pilots were assembled, D Trp 3/8 Cav and every Sky Cav D Trp in USAREUR was to send (2) UH-1's with crew chiefs to the school at Stuggart AAF.  It was good duty for the crew chiefs, we had no extra duties, no guard duty, no KP nothing but take care of the helicopters.  We were housed at Nelligen Bks, we had a barracks orderly, a bus with a driver to take us to the air field and were on separate rations, because the flight schedule often conflicted with the mess hall serving times.

If I remember correctly we flew 4 hours in the morning, 4 hours after noon and twice a week 4 hours night.  Most of the UH-1's had their unit crests painted on the cargo doors.  The one from the 8th Cav had the HONOR AND COURAGE crest,  We knew we were flying with the best pilots in Germany at the time.  Not all the fixed wing pilots thought this was an improvement for them, this made for some interesting conversations in the cockpit, auto rotations became normal, (the fixed wing guys did seem to like those).  I believe a Major Fiore was in charge, I can't remember the maintenance officer's name, but the both of those guys treaded the crew chiefs great.  The program went so well they were setting another one up in Schleissheim near Munich the next year.  I helped set up a few auto rotation lanes, with used tires but was too short to stay with the school and returned to Coleman bks to start to out presses.

Name Change
The 8th Attack Helicopter Battalion was redesignated as 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation in August 1987 as part of the implementation of the regimental system for all the subordinate elements of the division's 4th Brigade.