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FORT CARSON, COLO. -- Aviation training is underway at Fort Carson.

Soldiers from the 1st Batallion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division make up one unit of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. They call themselves the "Task Force Gunfighter Batallion," and they are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

"We prepare ourselves for any situation because they're always changing," Sgt. George Zantos, one of the battalion's flight medics, said. "You don't really know what to expect, but we have good training to make up for it."

The training at the Mountain Post is called "High Altitude Mountain Environment Training" (HAMET), comprised of crucial excercises for the unit's aircrafts.

"Helicoptors, just like any other aircraft, are limited by the environment due to aerodynamics," pilot CW3 Micah Howell said.

HAMET training will be conducted at Fort Carson during the next few weeks because the altitude and terrain is similar to Afghanistan, where some mountains exceed 15,000 feet.

"It will replicate the conditions that we will face down range," Major Lee Ambrose said. "The importance of our team training together is paramount. You can not replicate that in any other way."

Though most of the training takes place in the air, the focus of the mission is to protect what is on the ground.

"[The ground crews] may be pinned down by enemy fire, and we have the power to repel enemy forces," Howell said, who pilots one of the unit's Blackhawk attack helicoptors.

And it is the same for the soldiers on board medevac aircrafts.

"Anything from combat trauma to accidents that happen," Zantos said. "Anytime anyone is hurt, whether out in the field or on base, we move in to take them into the nearest treatment facility."

Ask any soldier in the Combat Aviation Brigade why they do what they do, and you will likely hear the same response.

"The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade motto is, 'We fly for the troops,'" Ambrose said. "That is the number one reason we are here today. We are doing everything possible to get the best possible training, so that when we deploy, the troops on the ground can count on our support everytime."

Other units with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade are also training in Louisiana and Hawaii.

The entire brigade is expected to deploy to Afghanistan early next year.