WEST TRENTON, NJ - Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation of the New Jersey Army National Guard will be returning from a seven-month rotation in Bosnia on Saturday, April 6th at Fort Dix. The 1-150th Aviation Battalion is from West Trenton, New Jersey and was called to duty as part of the Allied Stabilization Force last September, and rotated to Bosnia just after the Attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They operated out of Eagle Base, which is the Headquarters of the U.S. Forces in Bosnia. The thirty soldiers will be flying into McGuire Air Force Base and will be bused to the N.J. National Guard Headquarters on Fort Dix about 7:30  AM on Saturday to meet their families and attend a “Welcome Home” celebration. The press is invited to cover their arrival at National Guard Headquarters, Building 3650, Fort Dix. Interested press must contact the NJDMAVA Public Affairs Office (609-530-7088) prior to 4:00 PM Friday to arrange for escorts onto Fort Dix. 

While stationed in Bosnia, the 1-150th Aviation Battalion provided air operations support, air traffic control, and operations planning for the 29th Infantry Division  stationed in remote bases located throughout Bosnia. Prior to this deployment the 1-150th served as an attack helicopter battalion flying AH-1 Cobra helicopters. Since the soldiers deployed in September, their 1960’s vintage Cobras have been retired and the unit will soon start transitioning to modern Apache attack helicopters.

On March 21st,  eighteen soldiers from the 50th Finance Battalion in Lawrenceville returned home from Bosnia and demobilized at Fort Dix. They had deployed in September 2001 as part of the same stabilization force in Bosnia.

New Jersey also has over 1700 soldiers and airmen on active duty dealing with the consequences of the 11 September attack on America. Duties range from providing security at airports and nuclear power plants, to flying fighter missions over the Northeast corridor, to refueling coalition aircraft in Southwest Asia. 

For more information about this operation, events concerning the New Jersey Army or Air National Guard,  please contact Sergeant Barbara Harbison at 609-530-7088.