---
title: "The Army is running a classified mission with black helicopters over Washington, D.C."
description: "First, America had to grapple with the 'storm Area 51' raid. Now black helicopters are hovering ominously over Washington, D.C."
date: "2019-07-22"
modified: "2019-07-22"
authors:
  - name: "Jeff Schogol"
    job_title: "Senior Pentagon Reporter"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jeff-schogol.md"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/the-army-is-running-a-classified-mission-with-black-helicopters-over-washington-d-c/"
categories:
  - "Aircraft"
  - "Army"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Helicopters"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "United States"
tags:
  - "Northern Command"
---

# The Army is running a classified mission with black helicopters over Washington, D.C.

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/19975105-3.jpg>)

First, America had to grapple with the 'storm Area 51' raid. Now black helicopters are hovering ominously over Washington, D.C.

Bloomberg's Tony Capaccio
[first reported](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-22/army-lets-slip-that-it-s-conducting-secret-operation-around-d-c>) on Monday that the Army has requested $1.55 million for a classified mission involving 10 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility" at Fort Belvoir, Va.

[From Bloomberg](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-22/army-lets-slip-that-it-s-conducting-secret-operation-around-d-c>):

*"Without additional funding, the Army will not be able to perform this classified mission," the Defense Department said.*

*"Soldiers from assault helicopter company and aviation maintenance units will be supporting the mission with 10 UH-60s and maintenance capabilities for four months," according to the document, referring to the Black Hawks.*

It was not immediately clear what this mission is, which service members might be involved, or why it is taking place in the nation's capital.

The mission began in early fiscal 2019, said Army spokesman Wayne Hall, who referred questions about how much the operation costs to the Defense Department.

“The mission is an actual operation and the duration is undetermined," Hall told Task & Purpose on Monday. “The nature of the mission is classified."

I'm just going to leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAHSb5WwADU

## Author
Jeff Schogol is the former senior Pentagon reporter for Task & Purpose. He reported on both the Department of Defense as a whole and individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jdschogol/>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-schogol-188a9317/>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JeffSchogol>)

## More

- [Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashes in Minnesota](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/national-guard-helicopter-missing.md>)
- [Army receives a new Black Hawk helicopter, pilot optional](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-pilot-optional-black-hawk.md>)
- [3 Idaho Army National Guard soldiers killed in helicopter crash](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/idaho-army-national-guard-soldiers-killed-helicopter-crash.md>)
- [The Army’s Potential Apache And Black Hawk Replacement Is Ready To Take Flight](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/bell-v-280-valor-prototype.md>)
- [The Army’s Self-Flying Black Hawk Helicopter Is One Step Closer To Reality](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-unmanned-black-hawk.md>)
- [No survivors expected after Army Black Hawk helicopter and passenger plane collide in DC](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-blackhawk-helicopter-plane-collision.md>)
- [The Army’s Black Hawk fleet has a serious mishap problem](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-black-hawk-crashes.md>)
- [This futuristic twin-blade helicopter may be the Army’s replacement for the iconic Black Hawk](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-black-hawk-replacement-defiant-x-video.md>)