Bravo Company-Battlecats, 248th Aviation Support Battalion, Iowa ARNG

03/05/2025

08/17/2023

Summer post! Only one more drill left in August to build readiness in this Training Year (TY). The BattleCats had an outstanding Annual Training (AT) in June and great drill in July. We supported three flight units during AT and conducted major maintenance events that ultimately, in twelve working days, were completed to greater than 80% in two locations, and 98% in another location. This left the full-time technician force with very little to do to get three aircraft up and flying and put hundreds of hours back into the program. Beyond this the team made great strides in individual and unit readiness with increasing personal maintenance designation levels, a successful for-record ACFT, and with driver standardization and licensing. Great summer of promotions, we welcomed new baby BattleCats, and we said some goodbyes. Best of luck to “BattleCats for Life” CW3 Welvaert, SGT Olson, SGT Pena, SGT Anderson, and SPC Torres in their new Guard jobs and career endeavors. Keep up the great work team!

05/26/2023

Happy Friday BattleCat family! Last weekend had the BattleCats drilling at their respective locations with the priority being Aviation Maintenance Training Program(AMTP) progression. It was a focused drill with few distractions enabling some excellent hands-on aircraft and aviation maintenance. We had the opportunity to thank SSG Mulder and 2LT Bertrand for their dedication and time with the BattleCats as they continue on to new positions within the Iowa Army National Guard. We will see you next month at Annual Training!

05/10/2023

Good day BattleCat family! April 29-30th had the BattleCats at Camp Dodge conducting individual weapons qualification (IWQ) on the M4 and M17, drivers training and recognizing Soldiers for outstanding achievement during the Aviation Resource Management Survey (ARMS.) 20 Iowa Commendation Medals (ICOM), one Army Achievement Medal (AAM) and multiple BattleCat coins were awarded to the high performing and dedicated Soldiers of Bravo Company! We wrapped up the weekend saying farewell to two great Soldiers with bright futures, sending CDT Dunn off to a new unit in Minnesota and SPC Garcia-Paz to West Point!

05/01/2023

Congrats to Cadet Bertrand!

Cadet Thomas Bertrand with Iowa State Army ROTC, Cyclone Battalion received the Governor's Cup last week. 🏆 When he commissions as an officer, Cadet Bertrand will become a member of our own Charlie Company, 2-147th Assault Helicopter Battalion.

Each year, a select number of cups are presented to ROTC cadets in Iowa to recognize outstanding leadership and performance. The tradition stems from a time when George Washington presented Campaign Cups ("Camp Cups") to Soldiers during the Revolutionary War to reward them for their military leadership and service.

C Co 2-147th AHB | 2nd Battalion, 147th Assault Helicopter Battalion | Governor Kim Reynolds | Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg

03/13/2023

March 3rd-5th had the BattleCats drilling at their detachment locations. The focus for drill was to complete and pass the Aviation Resource Management Survey (ARMS) inspection. When Soldiers weren’t working with their respective ARMS inspectors, they were focused on multiple phase maintenance tasks and AMTP training. The last thing to do was to send off a long time BattleCat and Griffin, Tom Kephart, who served over 20 years with Iowa Aviation. When drill closed out, the BattleCats had conducted multiple MOCs, Limited Test Flights, had advanced two aircraft in phase inspections, and received mid 90’s for the final ARMS inspection score.

02/10/2023

Happy Friday BattleCats!

This past weekend Bravo Company drilled, with a specific focus on individual readiness! Individual readiness is key to the unit being able to respond to any assigned mission from our Governor or President.
Individual tasks focused on Periodic Health Assessments (PHA), Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) lanes and Individual Weapon Qualification (IWQ) tables. Additionally, Solders were able to conduct 90 day vehicle Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS) and T700 engine tear down and rebuild. The remainder of time was filled with ARMS prep for the inspection next month.

The Commander recognized SPC Dubberke for his hard work and dedication to our ground vehicle maintenance.

The BattleCats had two promotions this month.
SGT Mulder to SSG
PV2 Adam to PFC

01/11/2023

Happy New Year, BattleCat Family!
This past weekend, the BattleCats drilled at their respective duty locations. The training focus was ARMS (Aviation Resources Managament Survey) prep, AMTP training and facility maintenance requests! Bravo Company got a chance to say goodbye to a long time BattleCat MSG Tim McGlynn! Below is a small selection of photos from this past drilling weekend!

12/26/2022

Merry Christmas from our BattleCat family to yours!

12/10/2022

Last weekend 2-4 December was the close out to the 2022 Calendar year for the BattleCats. The focus of this drill was to perform aircraft maintenance at all detachment locations and host the holiday meal and party. Each BattleCat was offered the opportunity to drill closest to home and invite their family to join the company for the holiday meal. Some of the activities during the holiday parties involved, rock wall climbing, Co****le tournaments, Christmas themed games and of course meeting Santa!

Happy Holidays, and thank you BattleCats for your hard work and dedication! We will see you after the New Year!

11/12/2022

NEW SOLDIER ALERT ‼️Help me welcome the newest member of the Iowa Army National Guard, PVT Dawson Pedersen!

He enlisted as a 15T, UH-60 (Blackhawk) Mechanic! He also expressed interest in one day becoming a helicopter pilot! This is just the first step in turning that dream into reality! Congrats!

Iowa Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention

Iowa National Guard

248th Aviation Support Battalion, Iowa National Guard

Bravo Company-Battlecats, 248th Aviation Support Battalion, Iowa ARNG

11/12/2022

BattleCats, thank you for your patriotism and willingness to serve and sacrifice for this great state and nation. Hopefully you reflected on Veterans Day about not only your service, but those that came before us. 🇺🇸

Great work in November! See you next month.