What types of helicopters did tammy duckworth fly during her combat missions and where were they deployed?
Executive summary
Tammy Duckworth flew UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as an Army aviator and was deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the Illinois Army National Guard, flying combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom until her aircraft was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on November 12, 2004 [1] [2] [3]. Her wartime service combined hands-on flying as a co-pilot and occasional mission sorties with duties as a battle captain coordinating missions from base [4] [5].
1. The aircraft: UH-60 Black Hawk — the helicopter repeatedly identified in primary accounts
Multiple profiles, veteran histories and Duckworth’s own accounts consistently identify the UH-60 Black Hawk as the type she flew in Iraq; sources state she was a Black Hawk pilot and that the helicopter she co-piloted when wounded was a UH-60 [1] [2] [6]. Public biographical material and veteran-focused sites repeat that she trained for Army rotary-wing aviation at Fort Rucker and chose the Black Hawk as the combat helicopter she flew in the Illinois Army National Guard [5] [7].
2. Unit and service branch: Illinois Army National Guard, 1st Battalion/106th Aviation connections in reporting
Reporting repeatedly ties Duckworth’s combat flights to her service with the Illinois Army National Guard; at least one veteran account explicitly places her in the 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment and describes her as an Army Black Hawk pilot deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 [1] [2] [7]. Official Senate and campaign biographies likewise describe her mobilization and 2004 deployment as a Black Hawk pilot with the Illinois Guard [1] [8].
3. The theater: Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom — where the missions took place
Every source in this dossier situates Duckworth’s combat flying in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004; biographical timelines and news features note that she was among the first Army women to fly combat missions in that campaign and that her deployment took place in 2004 [3] [1] [7]. Accounts of specific mission transits reference flights to and from bases and cities in Iraq, framing her operational environment as the Iraqi theater during the U.S. occupation phase [4].
4. Mission locales and risk: mentions of Balad, Baghdad, Erbil and combat hazards
Contemporaneous narrative detail in interviews and adapted memoir material names mission legs that included places such as Balad and Baghdad and recalls flying north toward Erbil, with insurgent small-arms and RPG fire in the unit’s operating area; Duckworth’s writing and reporting recount near-misses and the combat hazards Black Hawks faced near Abu Ghraib and on routes northward in 2004 [4]. Those same accounts culminate in the November 12, 2004 RPG strike that devastated her aircraft near the Baghdad area, resulting in catastrophic injuries [4] [3].
5. Role and context: pilot, co-pilot and battle captain — a mix of front-line sorties and command duties
Sources portray Duckworth’s role as twofold: she served as a battle captain—coordinating missions from the flight facility—but also made it a point to fly sorties frequently, “at least twice a week,” serving as co-pilot on Black Hawk missions in theater [4] [5]. Biographical notes stress that women like Duckworth were among the first to perform those combat flight roles after the early-1990s lifting of some flight prohibitions, and that her operational record and injury led to later recognition as a Purple Heart recipient and veteran advocate [5] [3].
This review is limited to the provided reporting: the dossier consistently names the UH-60 Black Hawk, ties her 2004 deployment to Iraq with the Illinois Army National Guard and documents mission locales and the November 12, 2004 shootdown; if further granularity is needed about exact unit taskings, flight logs, or every base she operated from, those specifics are not contained in the supplied sources and would require primary military records or mission reports not included here [1] [4] [2].