All attention is on Fort Drum’s 10th Combat Aviation Brigade’s Task Force Dragon.

The unit was recently presented the Ellis D. Parker Award at a special ceremony on Drum — after being named the top aviation battalion in all the United States Army for its work in Afghanistan last year.

What You Need To Know

  • Fort Drum’s 10th Combat Aviation Task Force Dragon was presented with an award honoring it as the aviation battalion of the year for the United States Army

  • The task force was made up of members of the 10th’s 1-10, 2-10, 3-10 and National Guard units from eight different states

  • Major General David Francis, the commanding general of the Army’s Aviation Center for Excellence, was on hand to present the award

“Right from the beginning, the leadership from the top had a goal and got us together as one team. Right from day one, we had a mission to accomplish, and we went over there and did it,” said First Lt. Robert Allsop, the Task Force’s Bravo Company Commander.

Task Force Dragon not only led one another, but also National Guard units from eight other states.

In earning the honor, the battalion flew over 13,000 combat hours with 150 helicopter assault operations, 220 crisis response missions and transported more than 16,000 military members and 4.3 million tons of cargo. It did it all in only eight months.

“Nobody ever said 'no,'” Major Kyle Meki, the task force’s executive officer said of the soldiers. “I think that was one of the cool things. Everybody got together and pulled through on missions. We got to bring everybody home. I think that’s one of the big parts.”

On hand to present the unit with the award was Major General David Francis, the man in charge of the nations’ Aviation’s Center for Excellence.

“Multiple locations and multiple units across a wide span of terrain in Afghanistan and in very remote places. It’s a very, very tough mission set,” Francis said.

In addition to its operations, the task force also ran 77 medical rescues and evacuations, including 22 COVID-19 patients. The pandemic was yet another wrinkle in the mission that made Task Force Dragon the very best in 2020.

The award was evaluated on four different criteria: safety, leadership, training and maintenance.