What is a combat aviation brigade?

A combat aviation brigade (CAB) is an Army brigade-level aviation maneuver organization that flies attack, assault, cargo and medical helicopters and unmanned aircraft. FM 3-04, Army Aviation, dated March 27, 2025, says the CAB consists of a headquarters and headquarters company, an air cavalry squadron, an attack battalion, an assault helicopter battalion, a general support aviation battalion, a Gray Eagle company, and an aviation support battalion. The Army's fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget documents, as quoted in a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report updated May 21, 2026, say the budget supports 11 CABs. Force structure has since moved away from the manual, so any CAB description needs a date.

Where the definition is written

FM 3-04 is the Army's field manual for aviation. The 2025 edition is approved for public release and supersedes the edition dated April 6, 2020. The proponent is the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Novosel, Alabama.

The manual names three brigade-sized aviation formations: the CAB, the expeditionary combat aviation brigade (ECAB), and the theater aviation brigade (TAB). One paragraph says there are four types of brigade-level aviation maneuver organizations but lists only those three. The CAB is an active duty or Army National Guard organization. The ECAB, a Guard or Reserve brigade, has two assault helicopter battalions, a general support aviation battalion, and an aviation support battalion.

The CAB is designed to operate as four aviation maneuver battalions or task forces plus one aviation support battalion. A CAB can take up to two more battalions without staff augmentation, but then needs more maintenance personnel and equipment.

The battalions in the 2025 manual

FM 3-04 gives each battalion's companies and aircraft:

Battalion	Companies and aircraft (FM 3-04, 2025)	Components
Air cavalry squadron	Headquarters troop; three air cavalry troops with eight AH-64s and unmanned aircraft; maintenance troop; forward support troop	Active
Attack battalion	Headquarters company; three attack companies of eight AH-64s; maintenance company; forward support company	Active, Guard
Assault helicopter battalion	Headquarters company; three assault companies of 10 UH-60s; maintenance company; forward support company	Active, Guard, Reserve
General support aviation battalion	Headquarters company; command aviation company of 8 UH-60s; heavy lift company of 12 CH-47s; air ambulance company of 15 HH-60s; maintenance company; forward support company; air traffic services company	Active, Guard, Reserve
Aviation support battalion	Headquarters company; distribution company; aviation support company; network support company	Active, Guard, Reserve

The cavalry squadron and the attack battalion both fly the AH-64. The manual says unmanned aircraft at troop level make the squadron the best formation for reconnaissance and security. The attack battalion holds administrative control of the Gray Eagle company. The aviation support battalion provides aviation and ground field maintenance, network communications, resupply, and medical support, and adds maintenance help to the other battalions when needed.

Where the CH-47 company sits

The Chinook sits in one place in the CAB: the heavy lift company of 12 CH-47s inside the general support aviation battalion. The ECAB's general support battalion carries the same 12-aircraft company but two air ambulance companies. The general support battalion in the theater brigade variant the manual labels TAB-GS has two heavy lift companies of 12 CH-47s each.

FM 3-04 names the CH-47 the primary aircraft for cargo. The aircraft carries three 463L pallets or 10 standard warehouse pallets, seats 33 passengers with baggage, or loads 24 litter patients. FM 3-04 calls the CH-47 the only Army aircraft able to carry the 155-millimeter towed howitzer. The general support battalion's tasks include support to areas for forward arming and refueling, and the manual's CH-47F table notes the aircraft can be configured with 2,400 gallons of usable fuel as a mobile refueling system, called Fat Cow.

The 12-aircraft company predates the manual. A December 2009 DVIDS story reports that Company B, 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment completed training to receive 12 new CH-47Fs before a deployment to Afghanistan in March 2010. A CRS report updated January 30, 2025 relays an April 2024 Army plan, reported by Defense News, to give the 101st Airborne Division an extra battalion of 32 CH-47Fs.

How many CABs, and what changed after the manual

The count has moved. The January 2025 CRS report relays a plan to replace the modular CAB with brigades tailored to division types: eight heavy CABs and four light CABs in the Active Component, with conversions running from 2024 to the fall of 2029. The FY2026 budget figure is 11.

The May 1, 2025 Letter to the Force, signed by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Gen. Randy A. George, said the Army would reduce one air cavalry squadron per CAB in the Active Component, consolidate aviation sustainment requirements, and cancel procurement of the Gray Eagle. The May 2026 CRS report records the result from Army Staff information: the 3-17 air cavalry squadron at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, deactivated on October 15, 2025, and six more squadrons on December 15, 2025. Seven CAB medical evacuation units were restructured on December 16, 2025.

A second look may follow. CRS cites press reports that at a May 12, 2026 House appropriations hearing, asked about Army helicopter procurement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said parts of the initiative needed another look. Driscoll told the House Armed Services Committee on May 15, 2026 that the Army would take a hard look. CRS states that whether a formal relook would happen was not known.

What to check

• Does an organization chart cite FM 3-04 of March 27, 2025, or the April 6, 2020 edition it supersedes?
• Does a description of an Active Component CAB still show an air cavalry squadron? CRS lists seven deactivated between October 15 and December 15, 2025.
• Is the unit a CAB, an ECAB, or a theater aviation brigade? The number of heavy lift companies in the general support battalion differs.
• Does a count of CABs carry its source and date: 11 in the FY2026 budget, or the eight heavy and four light of the 2024 plan?
• When a document says maintenance company, does it mean a battalion's own company or the aviation support company in the aviation support battalion?

Azcuna's ELLMENT for the CH-47 puts the Chinook's public technical manuals, the Army sling-load manuals and a unit's own SOPs on a laptop or tablet that answers a repairer's or flight engineer's question with no network and cites the manual and page. Azcuna submitted it as a concept white paper to the Army's xTech|Search 10 competition in October 2026.

Sources

1. 1FM 3-04, Army Aviation · Headquarters, Department of the Army (March 27, 2025)
2. 22025 Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) Force Structure and Organizational Proposals: Background and Issues for Congress (R48606) · Congressional Research Service (updated May 21, 2026)
3. 3The 2024 Army Force Structure Transformation Initiative (R47985) · Congressional Research Service (updated January 30, 2025)
4. 4Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative · Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army, via army.mil (May 1, 2025)
5. 56th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade Boeing Unit Fielding Ceremony · 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, via DVIDS (December 22, 2009)

Where this shows up in our work

• ELLMENT for the CH-47 Chinook answers a repairer's or flight engineer's question from the Chinook's manuals and the Army sling-load manuals and cites the page, with no network.
• TRACE, the offline S1000D and IETM viewer opens S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 and PDF technical manuals on a tablet with every marking intact.