They are as iconic a military helo as there can possibly be... but in the case of the PA National Guard, they are about to join the ghosts of the past.

The Pennsylvania National Guard will recognize the end of an era when the two remaining UH-1H Huey helicopters leave Fort Indiantown Gap's Muir Airfield for Texas on Tuesday, April 21. Senior military officers, dignitaries and Vietnam veterans will attend this historic event. The PA Nationa Guard is a huge orgnization. The commander of the 19,000-member Pennsylvania National Guard is Major General Jessica L. Wright. She is responsible for a joint military force – comprised of Air Force and Army units – that reaches from Joint Headquarters located at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County, to some 90 communities across the commonwealth. Pennsylvania units have taken part in every conflict America has faced, from the Revolutionary War through Iraqi Freedom, as well as ongoing peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and elsewhere. Since September 11, 2001, over 17,000 of their Soldiers and Airmen have deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.

And to many of them, the Huey was an essential tool.

Produced in 1956, the Huey was the staple aircraft for training and operations in the Army and the Pennsylvania National Guard for decades. It was introduced into the Pennsylvania Army National Guard inventory in 1970. At its peak, some 40 aircraft were assigned to the commonwealth in the late 1970s.

FMI: http://www.dmva.state.pa.us/