Approximately 120 soldiers with Company F, 1st Attack Reconnaissance battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, are set to return this week to Fort Riley following a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

While they were deployed, the Soldiers of “Fenix” company operated the Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system. They provided reconnaissance, surveillance and air power to support the ground forces of the United States and its allies. During the deployment, Fenix Soldiers  conducted more than 1,000 combat missions resulting in more than 8,000 flight hours.

It was a deployment of firsts for the company – first to conduct split-based operations, first to conduct support operatiions and training in several partner countries, first to fully deploy and redeploy from Kuwait and first to conduct a Gray Eagle-to-Gray Eagle remote engagement.

The Gray Eagle is a medium-altitude long-endurance system designed to perform better at higher altitudes, sees better and listen better than its predecessors. New targeting systems and a new engine also allow the aircraft to fly longer and higher and carry more weight than many of the Army’s previous unmanned systems.