An "AC/RC" (Active Component / Reserve Component) formation, the 166th Aviation Brigade was the sole organization responsible for the post-mobilization training of United States Army Reserve & National Guard aviation units.

[7] The 1st Battalion, 337th Regiment (Training Support) specialized in mobilization and de-mobilization for aviation units.

[5] While its Reserve Component battalions have somewhat maintained their former mission of training National Guard and Army Reserve units in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri as they did before the brigade reflagged, they have shifted toward supporting the brigade's primary mission – the mobilization of Combat Aviation Brigades (CABs) by either assisting with ground training, or training and evaluating the CABs' aviation support battalions.

[9] The brigade began to undertake training support duties for units in the process of mobilization and de-mobilization.

It was also tasked to provide support for local authorities in the event of peacetime crises and natural disasters.

Its mission would be to train and mobilize aviation units of the Army's reserve and national guard components.

[9] The brigade became a partner organization of the 1st Infantry Division,[14] which was stationed at Fort Riley and could provide better support than the headquarters of First Army Division West, which was headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado and maintained units all over the western United States.

[10] In the summer of 2008, the brigade's combat service/combat sustainment support battalions took part in equipment testing and training in Rapid City, South Dakota.

[16] The bulk of the brigade spent the summer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to train aviation assets for deploying units.

[19] The brigade returned to Fort Riley for a month before beginning the process over again with pre-mobilization training of the CAB, 28th Infantry Division, and returned to Fort Sill for post-mobilization training in late January 2008.