Introducing insignia of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, part of “Military Insignia” project by C.7 Design Studio, featuring top quality military heraldry designs. Here you will find designer apparel, accessories, custom postage and gifts decorated with insignia of the Brigade. The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army. It was first organized as the 12th Aviation Group at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 June 1965. The unit deployed to Vietnam in August as a command element for non-organic Army aviation units, and by November 1965, the group consisted of 11,000 personnel and 34 aviation units. Assigned to the III Military Region in Vietnam, the 12th Group was the largest unit of its type to serve in combat. Its colors, emblazoned with 18 campaign streamers, give lasting testimony to its role in the Vietnam War. The unit earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation, two Vietnamese Crosses for Gallantry with Palm, and the Vietnamese Civic Action Medal, First Class while in Vietnam. Since its organization in 1965, the 12th Aviation Brigade has served as a key member of the combined arms team. The brigade is currently based around Ansbach, Bavaria, in Germany, residing at both Katterbach and Illesheim Army Airfields. Prior to the activation of the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade it was the only regular duty Combat Aviation Brigade not assigned to a particular division under the Army's transformation program. The 12th Aviation Brigade, on order, deploys within the EUCOM or CENTCOM AOR to provide General Aviation support to V Corps. The 12th Aviation Brigade provides trained and ready forces in support of CG, V Corps validated operational requirements. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 12th Aviation Group on 10 July 1967. It was redesignated for the 12th Aviation Brigade on 16 March 1988. A mythological phoenix symbol, depicted in heraldry as a demi-eagle with wings displayed rising out of flames of fire and said to represent hope and life eternal, is the basis for this design. Thus the blue wings symbolize the organization’s aircraft rising triumphant out of the tempering fires of combat, signifying hope and the continuity of life throughout hardships. The Aviation colors, blue and orange, are represented in the wings and flames and the total number of the tongues of flame and the wings equal the numerical designation of the unit.