JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
The 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment dedicated their new training facility as Jacoby Hall, after the late U.S Army Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, in a memorialization ceremony on Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, March 14, 2023.
Future U.S. Army helicopter repairers will now begin their training in the building memorializing Jacoby, a helicopter repairer who died in action when his MH-47D Chinook was shot down in Afghanistan June 28, 2005.
“The dedication of this hangar will not only ensure that Sgt. Kip Jacoby’s name is never forgotten, but also all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice that day,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Shawn Ludwig, 128th Aviation Brigade operations sergeant major.
Located at the intersection of Marshall Street and Madison Avenue, Jacoby Hall is larger than the previous facilities used to train soldiers in the military occupational specialty of 15U, CH-47 Helicopter Repairer. In a constantly changing war space, improvement is vital as the 210th Aviation Battalion is tasked with conducting Army Aviation Maintenance training and students are taught how to perform full-spectrum maintenance on utility helicopters, cargo helicopters, aircraft structural repair, aircraft power plant systems and aircraft powertrain systems.
“The requirement was to increase the number of square feet of training space to facilitate the amount of equipment that we train on, making it more efficient,” said Joseph Shabbott, 2-210th Avn. Rgt. executive officer.
While previous facilities required students to relocate and move equipment frequently, Jacoby Hall consolidates space requirements for the most streamlined academic and functional training possible; this enables the training mission to be accomplished with minimum wasted effort, explained Shabbott.
The space will serve not only as the training grounds for aspiring helicopter repairers, but also a place to remember heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Both Ludwig and Jacoby were assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), whose soldiers live and die by the Night Stalker Creed. Ludwig ended the ceremony with a part of the 160th SOAR (A) creed and motto, reciting, “‘I serve with the memory and pride of all those who have gone before me, for they loved to fight, fought to live, rather die than quit. Night Stalkers don’t quit!’”