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82nd Airborne Division

December 15, 2023

The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas[1] with a U.S. Department of Defense mandate to be "on-call to fight any time, anywhere" at "the knife's edge of technology and readiness."[2] Primarily based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division.[3]

82nd Airborne Division
Insignia of the 82nd Airborne Division
Active1917–1920
1921–present
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeAirborne light infantry
RoleAirborne assault
SizeDivision
Part of XVIII Airborne Corps
Garrison/HQFort Liberty, North Carolina, U.S.
Nickname(s)"America's Guard of Honor"
"All American Division"
"82nd Division"
"Eighty Deuce"
"The 82nd"
Motto(s)"All The Way!"
"Death From Above"
Color of berets  Maroon
March"The All-American Soldier"
EngagementsWorld War I

World War II

Cold War

War on Terror

WebsiteOfficial Website of the Division
Commanders
CommanderMG J. Patrick Work
Deputy Commander – OperationsCOL Andrew Saslav
Deputy Commander – SupportVacant
Deputy Commander – PlansBrigadier Neil Den-McKay, British Army
Command Sergeant MajorCSM Randolph Delapena
Notable
commanders		Complete list of commanders
Insignia
Shoulder sleeve insignia (subdued)
Combat service identification badge
Flag
Seal

The division was organized on 25 August 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia, (now publicly owned) and later served with distinction on the Western Front in the final months of World War I. Since its initial members came from all 48 states, the division acquired the nickname All-American, which is the basis for its "AA" on the shoulder patch. The division later served in World War II where, in August 1942, it was reconstituted as the first airborne division of the U.S. Army and fought in numerous campaigns during the war.

Origins edit

 
Review of the 328th Infantry Regiment at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Georgia, 1 February 1918

The 82nd Division was first constituted during World War I on 5 August 1917 as an infantry division in the National Army. It was organized and formally activated on 25 August 1917 at Camp Gordon, Georgia.[4] At the time, the division consisted entirely of newly conscripted soldiers. Original enlisted men assigned to the division came from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, but during October 1917, a large number were transferred to fill shortages in Regular Army and National Guard units, and replacements for them were received mostly from New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.[5][6] The citizens of Atlanta held a contest to give a nickname to the new division, and in April 1918, Major General Eben Swift, the commanding general, chose "All American" to reflect the unique composition of the 82nd—it had soldiers from all 48 states in the Union.[7] The bulk of the division was two infantry brigades, each commanding two regiments. The 163rd Brigade commanded the 325th Infantry Regiment and the 326th Infantry Regiment along with the 320th Machine Gun Battalion. The 164th Brigade commanded the 327th Infantry Regiment and the 328th Infantry Regiment and the 321st Machine Gun Battalion.[8] Also in the division were the 157th Field Artillery Brigade, composed of the 319th, 320th and 321st Field Artillery Regiments and the 307th Trench Mortar Battery; a divisional troops contingent, and a division train. The division sailed to Europe in May 1918 to join the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), commanded by General John Pershing, on the Western Front.[9]

World War I edit

Brigadier General William P. Burnham, who had previously commanded the 164th Brigade, led the division during most of its training and movement to Europe. In early April 1918, the division embarked from the ports in Boston, New York and Brooklyn to Liverpool, England, where the division fully assembled by mid-May 1918.[10] From there, the division moved to Continental Europe, leaving Southampton and arriving at Le Havre, France.[10] The 82nd division then moved to the British-occupied region of the Somme, where it began sending small numbers of troops and officers to the front lines to gain combat experience. On June 16, it moved by rail to the French sector. The division was briefly assigned to I Corps before falling under the command of IV Corps until late August. It was then moved to the Woëvre front.[10]

Battle of Saint-Mihiel edit

As part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) deployed during WWI, the 82nd Division began training with British forces in Picardy as early as May 10, 1918. From there they moved to the hotly contested French border region of Lorraine, which they occupied from June 16 to September 11 in preparation for the Saint-Mihiel offensive.[10]

 
Doughboys of Company B, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division, serving in a front line trench, France, 1 July 1918

As the attack on the Saint-Mihiel salient began on September 12, the division engaged in a holding mission to prevent Imperial German Army forces from attacking the right flank of the First Army. This defensive action allowed the 163rd Brigade and 327th Infantry Regiment to advance north-east, raiding the communes of Port-sur-Seille, Eply, Bois de Cheminot, and Bois Fréhaut. Meanwhile, the 328th Infantry Regiment advanced on the west of the Moselle River, made contact with the 90th Division, and entered the town of Norroy, to consolidate American troop positions.[10]

By September 17, the Saint-Mihiel offensive had stabilized, and preparations for the infamous Meuse-Argonne offensive began. On September 20, the 82nd Division was relieved by the French 69th Division. The 82nd Division was then stationed near Triaucourt and Rarécourt, near the First Army.[10] During this operation, the 82nd Division suffered casualties from heavy artillery fire which the fresh American soldiers were completely unused to. The division was moved into reserve from September 26 to October 3 while it assembled near Varennes-en-Argonne to train and prepare for the Meuse-Argonne offensive.[10]

Meuse-Argonne Offensive edit

 
328th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Division advances in preparation to capture Hill 223 on 7 October 1918.

The division mobilized to the Clermont area in Argonne (just west of Verdun) starting on September 24, stationed there to act as a reserve for the US First Army.[11] On 3 October, Major General George B. Duncan, commander of the 77th Division, relieved William Burnham of his duties and took over as commander of the 82nd.

On the night of October 6th, 1918, the 164th Brigade relieved troops of the 28th Division, which were holding the front line from south of Fléville to La Forge, along the eastern bank of the Aire River. On October 7 the 82nd Division, minus the 163rd Brigade, which remained in reserve, attacked the northeastern edge of the Argonne Forest, taking "Hill 223" in the process. The division's right flank entered the commune of Cornay but later withdrew southeast. The division's left flank took the high ground northwest of Châtel-Chéhéry. On October 9, the division's left flank advanced to form a line along the French pylons on the road to the Belgian city of la Louvière.[10]

Throughout October, the division advanced north-east along the Aire (Aisne) river. On 10 October, it relieved troops of the 1st Division in Ardennes at Fléville and Sommerance. The 82nd Division then relaunched an attack on Cornay and the Belgian city of Enghien, successfully re-establishing the front there. On October 11, the right flank of the division took the high ground north of the Rance river while the left flank continued to advance along the Aire. The next day, the 42nd Division relieved the 82nd's troops in Sommerance. Attacking with fresh troops, the 82nd broke through the Hindenburg Line on October 15th.[10]

 
Members of the 82nd Airborne on the road to Ravin aux Pierre (lit. "Stone Ravine") France, October 1918.

On October 18th, the 82nd Division relieved the 78th division at Champigneulle. Three days later it advanced to the Ravin aux Pierres. On 31 October, the 82nd, except the artillery, was relieved by the 77th Division and the 80th Division, and assembled in the Argonne Forest to regroup. On 10 November, it moved again to training areas in Bourmont, where it remained until the Armistice of 11 November 1918.[10]

Post-war edit

The division suffered 995 killed and 7,082 wounded, for a total of 8,077 casualties.[12] Following the war's end, the division moved to training areas near Prauthoy, where it remained through February 1919.[10] It returned to the United States in April and May, and was demobilized and deactivated at Camp Mills, New York, on 27 May.[4]

Interwar period edit

The 82nd Division was officially demobilized, but existed on paper as a unit of the Organized Reserve.[13]

World War II edit

Initial training and conversion edit

The 82nd Division was redesignated on 13 February 1942 as Division Headquarters, 82nd Division, ordered into active service on 25 March 1942, and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, under the command of Major General Omar N. Bradley. During this period, the division brought together three officers who would ultimately steer the U.S. Army during the following two decades: Matthew Ridgway, James M. Gavin, and Maxwell D. Taylor.[14] Under Major General Bradley, the 82nd Division's Chief of Staff was George Van Pope.[15]

On 15 August 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General Ridgway, became the first airborne division in the history of the U.S. Army, and was redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division. The 82nd was selected after deliberations by the U.S. Army General Staff because of a number of factors; it was not a Regular Army or National Guard unit ("many traditionalists in those components wanted nothing to do with such an experimental force"), its personnel had all completed basic training, and it was stationed in an area that had good weather and flying facilities.[16] The division initially consisted of the 325th, 326th and 327th Infantry Regiments, and supporting units. The 327th was soon transferred to help form the 101st Airborne Division and was replaced by the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, leaving the division with two regiments of glider infantry and one of parachute infantry. In February 1943 the division received another change when the 326th was transferred to the 13th Airborne Division, being replaced by the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under James M. Gavin, then a colonel, who was later to command the division.

North Africa and Italy edit

In April 1943, paratroopers from the 82nd, under the command of Major General Ridgway, sailed into the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and landed in North Africa as part of the Allied plan to invade Sicily. The division's first two combat operations were parachute assaults into Sicily on July 9 and Salerno on 13 September 1943.[13] The initial assault on Sicily, by the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, under Colonel Gavin, was the first regimental-sized combat parachute assault conducted by the United States Army.[citation needed] The first glider assault did not occur until Operation Neptune as part of the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. Troopers arrived in Italy by landing craft at Maiori, Naples, and Salerno.[17]

During the invasion of Italy, Ridgway considered Will Lang Jr. of TIME magazine an honorary member of the division.

In January 1944, the 504th, commanded by Colonel Reuben Tucker, which was temporarily detached to fight at Anzio, adopted the nickname "Devils in Baggy Pants", taken from an entry in a German officer's diary.[citation needed]

Normandy edit

 
Members of the 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division, check their equipment before taking off from an airfield in Saltby, Leicestershire, England, to participate in the invasion of Europe, 1944.

With two air drops under its belt, the 82nd Airborne was ready for the second "D-Day" operation in the division's history; Operation Neptune, or the amphibious assault portion of Allied invasion of Normandy. The division conducted Mission Boston, a component of the Operation Overlord plan.

In preparation for the operation, the division was significantly reorganized. To ease the integration of replacement troops, rest, and refitting following the fighting in Italy, the 504th PIR did not rejoin the division for the invasion. Two new parachute infantry regiments (PIRs), the 507th and the 508th, provided it, along with the veteran 505th, a three-parachute infantry regiment punch. The 325th was also reinforced by the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the 401st GIR, bringing it up to a strength of three battalions.

On 5 and 6 June these paratroopers, parachute artillery elements, and the 319th and 320th, boarded hundreds of transport planes and gliders to begin history's largest airborne assault at the time (only Operation Market Garden later that year would be larger). During the June 6th assault, a 508th platoon leader, First Lieutenant Robert P. Mathias, would be the first U.S. Army officer killed by German fire.[18] On 7 June, after this first wave of attack, the 325th GIR would arrive by glider to provide a division reserve.

In Normandy, the 82nd gained its first Medal of Honor of the war, belonging to Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper of the 325th GIR.[19] When the division was relieved in early July, the 82nd had seen a month straight of severe combat. Casualties had been heavy. Losses included 5,245 troopers killed, wounded, or missing- a 46% casualty rate. Major General Ridgway's post-battle report stated in part, "... 33 days of action without relief, without replacements. Every mission accomplished. No ground gained was ever relinquished."[13]

Following Normandy, the 82nd Airborne Division returned to England to rest and refit for future airborne operations. The 82nd became part of the newly organized XVIII Airborne Corps, which consisted of the 17th, 82nd, and 101st Airborne Divisions. Ridgway was given command of the corps but was not officially promoted to lieutenant general until 1945. His recommendation for succession as division commander was Brigadier General James M. Gavin, previously the 82nd's assistant division commander. Upon being promoted to Major General in October of 1944 at the age of 37, Gavin became the youngest general since the Civil War to command a U.S. Army division.[20]

Market Garden edit

On August 2nd, 1944, the division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army. In September, planning for Operation Market Garden (the Allied invasion of the Netherlands) began in earnest. The operation called for three (at minimum) airborne divisions to seize and hold key bridges and roads deep behind German lines. The 504th PIR, now back at full strength, was reassigned to the 82nd, while the 507th was assigned to the 17th Airborne Division, at the time training in England.

 
Men of the 82nd Airborne Division drop near Grave in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden.

On 17 September, the "All American" Division conducted its fourth (and final) combat jump of World War II. Fighting off German counterattacks, the division captured its objectives between Grave, and Nijmegen. The division failed to initially capture Nijmegen Bridge when the opportunity presented itself early in the battle. When the British XXX Corps arrived in Nijmegen, six hours ahead of schedule, they found themselves having to fight to take a bridge that should have already been in allied hands. In the afternoon of Wednesday 20 September 1944, the 82nd Airborne Division successfully conducted an opposed assault crossing of the Waal river. War correspondent Bill Downs, who witnessed the assault, described it as "a single, isolated battle that ranks in magnificence and courage with Guam, Tarawa, Omaha Beach. A story that should be told to the blowing of bugles and the beating of drums for the men whose bravery made the capture of this crossing over the Waal possible."[17]

The Market Garden salient was held in a defensive operation for several weeks until the 82nd was relieved by Canadian troops, and sent into reserve in France. During the operation, 19-year-old Private John R. Towle of the 504th PIR was posthumously awarded the 82nd Airborne Division's second Medal of Honor of World War II.

The Bulge edit

 
Men of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment advancing through a snow-covered forest during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944

On 16 December 1944, the Germans launched a surprise offensive through the Ardennes Forest, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge. In SHAEF reserve, the 82nd was committed on the northern face of the bulge near Elsenborn Ridge.

On 20 December 1944, the 82nd Airborne Division was assigned to take Cheneux which had been captured byKampfgruppe Peiper. On 21–22 December 1944, the 82nd Airborne faced counterattacks from two Waffen SS divisions which included the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (lit. translation "The SS Body Standard Division") and the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. The Waffen SS efforts to relieve the Kampfgruppe Peiper failed due to the stubborn defense of the 82nd Airborne, the 30th ID, 2nd ID, and other units.[21]

On 23 December, the Germans attacked from the south and overran the 325th GIR holding the Baraque- Fraiture crossroads on the 82nd's southern flank, endangering the entire 82nd Airborne division. The 2nd SS Panzers objective was to outflank the 82nd Airborne. It was not an attack designed to reach Peiper, but it was his last chance, nonetheless. If it did outflank the 82nd, it could have opened a corridor and reached the stranded yet still powerful Kampfgruppe. But the attack came too late.[citation needed]

On 24 December 1944, the 82nd Airborne Division with an official strength of 8,520 men was facing off against a vastly superior combined force of 43,000 men and over 1,200 armored fighting and artillery vehicles and pieces.[22] Due to these circumstances, the 82nd Airborne Division was forced to withdrawal for the first time in its combat history.[23] The Germans pursued their retreat with the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions. The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich engaged the 82nd until 28 December when it and what was left of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte were ordered to move south to meet General George Patton's forces attacking in the area of Bastogne.[24] Some units of the 9th SS Panzer including the 19th Panzer Grenadier Regiment stayed and fought the 82nd. They were joined by the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division. The 9th SS Panzer tried to breakthrough by attacking the 508 and 504 PIR positions, but ultimately failed.[25] The failure of the 9th and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions to break through the 82nd lines marked the end of the German offensive in the northern shoulder of the Bulge. The German objective now became one of defense.

On 3 January 1945, the 82nd Airborne Division conducted a counterattack. On the first day's fighting the 82nd Airborne overran the 62nd Volksgrenadiers and the 9th SS Panzer's positions capturing 2,400 prisoners.[26] The 82nd Airborne suffered high casualties in the process. The attached 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion was all but destroyed during these attacks. Of the 826 men who went into the Ardennes, only 110 came out. Having lost its charismatic leader Lt. Colonel Joerg, and almost all its men either wounded, killed, or frostbitten, the 551 was never reconstituted. The few soldiers who remained were later absorbed into units of the 82nd Airborne.[27]

After several days of fighting, the destruction of the 62nd Volksgrenadiers, and what had been left of the 9th SS Panzer Division was complete. For the 82nd Airborne Division the first part of the Battle of the Bulge had ended.[28]

Into Germany edit

After helping to secure the Ruhr, the 82nd Airborne Division took over Ludwigslust past the Elbe River, accepting the surrender of over 150,000 men of Lieutenant General Kurt von Tippelskirch's 21st Army on 2 May 1945. General Omar Bradley, commanding the U.S. 12th Army Group, stated in a 1975 interview with Gavin that Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, commanding the Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group, had told him that German opposition was too great to cross the Elbe. When Gavin's 82nd crossed the river, in company with the British 6th Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Division moved 36 miles in one day and captured over 100,000 troops, causing great laughter in Bradley's 12th Army Group headquarters.[29]

Following Germany's surrender, the 82nd Airborne Division entered Berlin for occupation duty, replacing the 2nd Armored Division in August 1945.[30]: 94  The division was relieved by the 78th Infantry Division early in November 1945.[30]: 131  While in Berlin, General George S. Patton was so impressed with the 82nd's "honor guard" that he said, "In all my years in the Army and all the honor guards I have ever seen, the 82nd's honor guard is undoubtedly the best." Hence the "All-American" became also known as "America's Guard of Honor".[31] The war ended before their scheduled participation in the Allied invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall.

Composition edit

During WWII the division was composed of the following units:[32]

Attached paratrooper units:

Casualties edit

  • Total battle casualties: 9,073[33]
  • Killed in action: 1,619[33]
  • Wounded in action: 6,560[33]
  • Missing in action: 279[33]
  • Prisoner of war: 615[33]

Awards edit

During World War II the division and its members were awarded the following awards:[34]

Cold War edit

Post–World War II edit

 
82nd Airborne Division, circa 1952

The 82nd Airborne division returned to the United States on 3 January 1946 on the RMS Queen Mary. The 82nd initially was staged at Camp Shanks, New York, where they drilled for the coming Victory Parade, to be held in New York City on January 12th, 1946. In 1947 the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was assigned to the 82nd and was reflagged as the 3d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (redesignated as the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment effective 15 December 1947).[35] Instead of being demobilized, the 82nd found a permanent home at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, designated a Regular Army division on 15 November 1948. The 82nd was not sent to the Korean War, as both Presidents Truman and Eisenhower chose to keep it in strategic reserve in the event of a Soviet ground attack anywhere in the world. Life in the 82nd during the 1950s and 1960s consisted of intensive training exercises in all environments and locations, including Panama, the Far East, and the continental United States.

Pentomic organization edit

In 1957, the division implemented the pentomic organization (officially Reorganization of the Airborne Division (ROTAD)) in order to better prepare for tactical nuclear war in Europe. Five battle groups (each with a headquarters and service company, five rifle companies and a mortar battery) replaced the division's three regiments of three battalions each. The division's battle groups were:[36]

  • 1st Airborne Battle Group (ABG), 187th Infantry (reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division on 8 February 1959)(1)[37]
  • 1st ABG, 325th Infantry
  • 2nd ABG, 501st Infantry
  • 1st ABG, 503d Infantry (reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division on 1 July 1958)(2)[38]
  • 2nd ABG, 503rd Infantry (reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division on 24 June 1960)[38]
  • 1st ABG, 504th Infantry (reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division on 11 December 1958)[39]
  • 2nd ABG, 504th Infantry (assigned effective 9 May 1960)(1)[40]
  • 1st ABG, 505th Infantry (reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division on 15 January 1959)[41]
(1) 1st ABG, 504th Infantry and 1st ABG, 505th Infantry were reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division in central West Germany to provide airborne capability in Germany; in turn, 1–187th and 1-503d were reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division in southern Germany to the 82nd Airborne Division
(2) 2nd ABG, 503rd Infantry was reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division and stationed in Okinawa to provide airborne capability in the Pacific on 24 June 1960. This ABG was reassigned to the 173d Airborne Brigade on 26 March 1963.[38]
  • the Division Artillery consisted of:
    • Battery A, 319th Artillery
    • Battery B, 319th Artillery
    • Battery C, 319th Artillery (Battery C, 320th Artillery after 1960; C-319th accompanied the 2d ABG, 503d Infantry on its assignment to the 25th Infantry Division)[42]
    • Battery D, 320th Artillery
    • Battery E, 320th Artillery
    • Battery B, 377th Artillery
  • additional division elements consisted of:
    • 82nd Medical Company
    • 82nd Signal Battalion
    • 82nd Aviation Company
    • Troop A, 17th Cavalry
    • 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion
    • 407th Supply and Transportation Battalion (The 82nd Quartermaster Parachute Supply and Maintenance Company [activated 1 March 1945] was reorganized and redesignated as Company B, 407th S&T Battalion.)[43]
    • 782nd Maintenance Battalion

The pentomic organization was unsuccessful, and the division reorganized into three brigades of three battalions (the Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD) organization) in 1964.

Dominican Republic and Vietnam deployments edit

In April 1965, the "All-Americans" invaded the Dominican Republic. Spearheaded by the 3rd Brigade, the 82nd deployed in Operation Power Pack.

 
Members of the 3rd Brigade fill and stack sandbags around personnel bunker at Phu Bai Combat Base, 6 March 1968.

During the Tet Offensive, which swept across South Vietnam in January/February 1968, the 3rd Brigade was en route to Chu Lai within 24 hours of receiving its orders. The 3rd Brigade performed combat duties in the Huế – Phu Bai area of the I Corps sector. Later the brigade moved south to Saigon, and fought in the Mekong Delta, the Iron Triangle and along the Cambodian border, serving nearly 22 months. While the 3rd Brigade was deployed, the division created a provisional 4th Brigade, consisting of 4th Battalion, 325th Infantry; 3d Battalion, 504th Infantry; and 3d Battalion, 505th Infantry. An additional unit, the 3d Battalion, 320th Artillery, was activated under Division Artillery to support the 4th Brigade.

The units assigned and attached to the 3d Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division were as follows:[44]

  • Brigade Infantry:
    • 1st Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry
    • 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry
    • 1st Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry
  • Brigade Artillery:
    • 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 321st Artillery (105mm)
  • Brigade Aviation:
    • Company A, 82nd Aviation Battalion
  • Brigade Reconnaissance:
    • Troop B, 1st Squadron (Armored), 17th Cavalry
    • Company O (Ranger), 75th Infantry
  • Brigade Support:
    • 82nd Support Battalion
    • 58th Signal Company
    • Company C, 307th Engineer Battalion (Airborne)
    • 408th Army Security Agency Detachment
    • 52nd Chemical Detachment
    • 518th Military Intelligence Detachment
    • 307th Medical (Airborne) Headquarters and Alpha Company

The deployment of the 3rd Brigade took place with significant problems and controversy. In The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965–1973, author Shelby L. Stanton describes how, other than the 82nd, only two under-strength Marine and four skeletonized Army divisions were left stateside by the beginning of 1968. MACV, desperate for additional manpower, wanted the division to deploy to Vietnam, and the Department of the Army, wishing to retain its "sole readily deployable strategic reserve, the last real vestige of actual Army divisional combat potency in the United States left to the Pentagon," compromised by sending the 3d Brigade. As Stanton wrote:

The division had been so rushed to get this brigade to the battlefront that it ignored individual deployment criteria. Paratroopers who had just returned from Vietnam now found themselves suddenly going back. The howl of soldier complaints was so vehement that the Department of the Army was soon forced to give each trooper who had deployed to Vietnam with the 3d Brigade the option of returning to Fort Bragg or remaining with the unit. To compensate for the abrupt departures from home for those who elected to stay with the unit, the Army authorized a month leave at the soldiers' own expense or a two-week leave with government aircraft provided for special flights back to North Carolina. Of the 3,650 paratroopers who had deployed from Fort Bragg, 2,513 elected to return to the United States at once. MACV had no paratroopers to replace them, and overnight the brigade was transformed into a separate light infantry brigade, airborne in name only.

Urban riots in 1967–68 edit

1967 Detroit Riot edit

On 24 July 1967, shortly before midnight, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the U.S. military to occupy Detroit.[45] At 1:10 am, 4,700 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, under the command of Lieutenant General John L. Throckmorton, arrived in Detroit[46] and began working in the streets, coordinating refuse removal, tracing persons who had disappeared in the confusion, and carrying out routine military functions, such as the establishment of mobile patrols, guard posts, and roadblocks.[47]

Rioting peaked in high intensity. The 82nd worked alongside the 101st to secure east of Woodward, while the National Guard took land west of Woodward. "Incidents" began to decline as paratroopers constantly patrolled the perimeter with M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, and M48 tanks, while the police began making arrests on those violating curfew regulations or who were caught looting. On 27 July, with a sense of normalcy returned to the city, in part due to the presence of Army and National Guard troops, and the riot was officially declared over. The Army began to scale down in order to return to their normal duties, leaving the control back to local authorities.[48]

Although Army paratroopers exercised some restraint on firepower due to being racially integrated, as well as their combat experience in Vietnam (as opposed to the mainly white and inexperienced National Guard troops), the 82nd was directly responsible for at least one death. On 29 July, two days after the riot officially ended, 82nd Captain Randolph Smith fatally shot a 19-year-old black man carrying a transistor radio named Ernest Roquemore.[49] Three other individuals were injured by shotgun fire from police in the same incident. The Army and Detroit Police were on a joint patrol in order to recover looted items within the vicinity.[50]

On 30 July, the 82nd and the 101st completely left Detroit and moved back to Selfridge for redeployment to their home stations, a process that continued gradually until August 2.[47]

1968 riots in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore edit

 
An 82nd paratrooper on guard duty near the passing motorists and the destroyed building on 8 April 1968, during the rioting in Washington, D.C.

The 82nd was called in to tackle civil disturbances in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore in the wake of the nationwide riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on 4 April 1968. In Washington, D.C., the first of 21 aircraft carrying the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd landed at Andrews Air Force Base on 6 April, with the 82nd's 2nd Brigade Combat Team joining up later.[51] In total, more than 2,000 82nd paratroopers were among the 11,850 federal troops to assist the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the D.C. Army National Guard in Washington. By then, the rioting had largely ended, but isolated looting and arson continued for a few more days. On 8 April, when D.C. was considered pacified, the 1st Brigade was later moved to Baltimore in assisting the Maryland National Guard and the Baltimore Police Department because of the ongoing city's disorder there, leaving the 2nd Brigade the only 82nd unit in Washington.[51]

The 82nd brigades in D.C. and Baltimore worked with other federal, state, and local forces in maintaining order, detaining looters, clearing any signs of trouble, assisting crews clearing debris from the main traffic arteries, and helping sanitation, food store, and public utility employees to restore essential services within devastated areas.[52] On 12 April, orders were issued for federal troops and National Guardsmen stationed in both cities to return to their home stations. The 1st Brigade was among the federal forces that left Baltimore by midnight the same day and three days later, the 2nd Brigade went into an assembly area at Bolling Air Force Base, where they eventually departed back to Fort Bragg sometime later.[53]

Post-Vietnam Operations edit

From 1969 into the 1970s, the 82nd deployed paratroopers to South Korea and Vietnam on more than 180DBT (Days Bad Time) for exercises in potential future battlegrounds. The division received three alerts. One was for Black September 1970. Paratroopers were on their way to Amman, Jordan when the mission was aborted. In May 1971 they were used to help national guard and Washington DC police to round up and arrest protestors.[54] Nine years later in August 1980, the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry was alerted and deployed to conduct civil disturbance duty at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, during the Cuban refugee internment. War in the Middle East in the fall of 1973 brought the 82nd to full alert. President Gerald Ford put the unit on high alert in case the administration decided to intervene in the Boston desegregation busing crisis.[55] In May 1978, the division was alerted to a possible drop into Zaire. In November 1979, the division was alerted for a possible operation to rescue the American hostages in Iran. The division formed the nucleus of the newly created Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), a mobile force at a permanently high state of readiness.[citation needed]

Invasion of Grenada – Operation Urgent Fury edit

 
Southern Objective: Cuban-built Point Salinas Airport, Grenada, 1983
Main article: United States invasion of Grenada

On 25 October 1983, elements of the 82nd conducted an Airland Operation to secure Point Salines Airport following an airborne assault by the 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions who conducted the airfield seizure just hours prior. The first 82nd unit to deploy was a task force of the 2d and 3d Battalions (Airborne), 325th Infantry. On 26 October and 27, the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry, and the 1st and 2nd Battalions (Airborne), 508th Infantry, deployed to Grenada with support units. 2-505 deployed as well. Military operations ended in early November (Note: that C/2-325 did not deploy due to being a newly formed COHORT unit, in its place B/2-505 deployed, landing at Point Salines. The 82nd expanded its missions from the airhead at Salines to weed out Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and Grenadan People's Revolutionary Army soldiers Each proceeding battalion pushed a single company forward with A/2-504 deploying only one company out of the entire brigade. The operation was flawed in several areas and identified areas needing attention to enhance the United States RDF doctrine. Newly issued Battledress Uniforms (BDUs) were not designed for the tropical environment; communication between Army ground forces and Navy and Air Force aircraft lacked interoperability and even food and other logistic support to ground forces were hampered due to communication issues between the services. The operation proved the division's ability to act as a rapid deployment force. The first aircraft carrying troopers from the 2–325th touched down at Point Salines 17 hours after H-Hour notification.[citation needed]

In March 1988, a brigade task force made up of two battalions from the 504th Infantry and 3d Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry, conducted a parachute insertion and air/land operation into Honduras as part of Operation Golden Pheasant. The deployment was billed as a joint training exercise, but the paratroopers were ready to fight. The deployment caused the Sandinistas to withdraw to Nicaragua. Operation Golden Pheasant prepared the paratroopers for future combat in an increasingly unstable world.[citation needed]

Panama: Operation Just Cause edit

 
Tactical map of Operation Just Cause showing major points of attack

On 20 December 1989, the "All-American", as part of the United States invasion of Panama, conducted their first combat jump since World War II onto Torrijos International Airport, Panama. The goal of the 1st Brigade task force, which was made up of the 1–504th and 2–504th INF as well as 4–325th INF and Company A, 3–505th INF, and 3–319th FAR, was to oust Manuel Noriega from power. They were joined on the ground by 3–504th INF, which was already in Panama. The invasion was initiated with a night combat jump and airfield seizures; the 82nd conducted follow-on combat air assault missions in Panama City and the surrounding areas of the Gatun Locks. The operation continued with an assault of multiple strategic installations, such as the Punta Paitilla Airport in Panama City and a Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) garrison and airfield at Rio Hato, where Noriega also maintained a residence. The attack on La Comandancia (PDF HQ) touched off several fires, one of which destroyed most of the adjoining and heavily populated El Chorrillo neighborhood in downtown Panama City. The 82nd Airborne Division secured several other key objectives such as Madden Dam, El Ranacer Prison, Gatun Locks, Gamboa and Fort Cimarron. Overall, the operation involved 27,684 U.S. troops and over 300 aircraft, including C-130 Hercules, AC-130 Spectre gunship, OA-37B Dragonfly observation, and attack aircraft, C-141 and C-5 strategic transports, F-117A Nighthawk stealth aircraft and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. The invasion of Panama was the first combat deployment for the AH-64, the HMMWV, and the F-117A. In the short six years since the Invasion of Grenada, Operation Just Cause demonstrated how quickly the US Armed Forces could adapt and overcome the mistakes and equipment interoperability issues to conduct a quick and decisive victory. In all, the 82nd Airborne Division suffered six of the 23 fatalities of the operation. The paratroopers began redeployment to Fort Bragg on 12 January 1990. Operation Just Cause concluded on 31 Jan 1990, just 42 days (D+42) since the invasion started.[citation needed]

Organization 1989 edit

 
82nd Airborne Division 1989 (click to enlarge)

At the end of the Cold War the division was organized as follows:

Post–Cold War edit

Persian Gulf War edit

 
Ground operations during Operation Desert Storm, with the 82nd Airborne Division positioned at the left flank

Seven months later the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were again called to war. Four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990, the 4th Battalion (Airborne), 325th Infantry was the Division Ready Force 1 (DRF-1) and the initial ground force invaded Iraq on the orders of President George Bush Sr. after his "Line in the Sand"[85] speech to Saddam Hussein part of the largest deployment of American troops since Vietnam as part of "Operation Desert Shield." The 4–325th INF immediately deployed to Riyadh and Thummim, Saudi Arabia. Their role was to guard the royal family as part of the agreement with King Fahd to station troops in and around the kingdom. The DRF 2 and 3 (1–325 and 2-325 INF, respectively) began drawing the "line in the sand" near al Jubail by building defenses for possible retrograde operations. Soon after, the rest of the division followed. There, intensive intelligence operations began in anticipation of desert fighting against the heavily armored Iraqi Army.

On 16 January 1991, Operation Desert Storm began when American war planes attacked Iraqi targets. As the air war began, 2nd Brigade of the 82nd initially deployed near an airfield in the vicinity of the ARAMCO oil facilities outside Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia. While 1st Brigade and 3d Brigade consolidated at the Division HQ (CHAMPION Main) near Dhahran in Coinciding with the start of the air war, three National Guard Light-Medium Truck companies, the 253d (NJARNG), 1122d (AKARNG), and the 1058th (MAARNG) joined 2d Brigade of the 82nd. In the coming weeks using primarily the 5-Ton cargo trucks of these NG truck companies, the 1st Brigade moved north to "tap line road" in the vicinity of Rafha, Saudi Arabia. Eventually, these National Guard truck units effectively "motorized" the 325th Infantry, providing the troop ground transportation required for them to keep pace with the French Division Daguet during the invasion. Extensive ground operations began almost six weeks later.

The 2–325th INF was the division's spearhead for the ground war who took positions over the Iraqi border 24 hours in advance of U.N. coalition forces at 8:00 a.m., February 22, 1991, on Objectives Tin Man and Rochambeau. On 23 February, 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers protected the XVIII Airborne Corps flank as fast-moving armor and mechanized units moved deep inside south-western Iraq. After the second day, the 1st Brigade moved forward to extend the Corps flank along with 3d Brigade. The 82nd drove deep into Iraq and captured thousands of Iraqi soldiers and tons of equipment, weapons, and ammunition. During that time, the 82nd's band and MP company processed 2,721 prisoners. After the liberation of Kuwait and the surrender of the Iraqi Army, the 82nd redeployed to Fort Bragg.[citation needed]

Hurricane Andrew edit

In August 1992, the 82nd Airborne deployed a task force to the hurricane-ravaged area of South Florida to provide so-called "humanitarian assistance" following Hurricane Andrew. For more than 30 days, troopers provided food, shelter and medical attention to the Florida population as part of the U.S. military Domestic Emergency Planning System. The 82nd was part of over 20,000 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard and an additional 6200 National Guard troops deployed for the disaster.[86]

They also provided security and a sense of safety for the victims of the storm who were without power, doors, windows and in many cases roofs. The 82nd Airborne were deployed to "eliminate" what were officially designated "looters and thieves."[87]

Operation Uphold Democracy: Haiti edit

On 16 September 1994, the 82nd Airborne Division joined Operation Uphold Democracy. The 82nd was scheduled to make combat parachute jumps into Pegasus Drop Zone and PAPIAP Drop Zone (Port-au-Prince Airport), in order to help oust Raoul Cédras and to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency. At the same time, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell were negotiating with Cédras to restore Aristide to power, the 82nd's first wave was in the air, with paratroopers waiting at Green Ramp to air-land in Haïti once the airfields there had been seized. When the Haitian military verified from sources outside Pope Air Force Base that the 82nd was on the way, Cédras stepped down, averting the invasion.[citation needed]

Former Vice President Al Gore would later travel to Fort Bragg to personally thank the paratroopers of the 82nd for their actions, noting in a speech on 19 September 1994, that the 82nd's reputation was enough to change Cédras' mind:

But it did get a little close there for a while. As you may know, there were 61 planes in the air headed toward Haïti at the time they finally agreed. And at one point General Biamby came in and told General Cédras that he had just gotten word on his telephone that the airplanes had taken off from Pope Air Force Base, with soldiers from Fort Bragg, and that both disconcerted them and caused them to be suspicious of the intent of the negotiations, but it also created a situation where immediately after that, the key points they had been refusing to agree to were agreed to, a date certain, other matters that I won't go into in detail here.[citation needed]

Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage edit

On 12 December 1994, the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry, with the 2nd Platoon of Company C, 307th Engineer Battalion, deployed as part of Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage. The battalion deployed from Fort Bragg "to restore order" against what American officials termed "Cuban refugees" who had attacked and injured a number of Air Force personnel and one marine while protesting their detainment at Empire Range along the Panama Canal. The battalion participated in the safeguarding of the Cuban refugees, a camp cordon and reorganization, and the active patrolling in and around the refugee camps in and around the Panamanian jungle along the Panama canal for two months. General Engineering support in the area of camp establishment/improvement operations was provided by the Sappers of the habitually associated Task Force Panther Engineer platoon, 2/C-307th. (Task Force Panther was commanded by LTC Lloyd J. Austin III, who would later be the first African American General to commander of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Secretary of Defense.) This support included the planning of camp power requirements, pouring of 78 concrete pads, three-foot bridges, a set of "mock doors" for airborne pre-jump training, and a system of decks for the muddy camp. During the deployment, the paratroopers experienced a 92-degree Christmas Day and returned to Fort Bragg on 14 February 1995.[citation needed]

Operation Joint Endeavor: Bosnia edit

Battalions of the 82nd prepared for a possible parachute jump to support elements of the 1st Armored Division which had been ordered to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Endeavor. Only after engineers of the 1st Armored Division bridged the Sava River on 31 December 1995 without hostilities did the 82nd begin to draw down against plans for a possible airborne operation there. The 82nd's 49th Public Affairs Detachment was deployed in support of the 1st Armored Division and air-landed in Tuzla with the 1AD TAC CP and began PA operations to include establishing the first communications in print and radio and covering the crossing of the Sava River by the main forces.[citation needed]

Centrazbat '97 edit

 
Closing ceremonies of CENTRAZBAT '97 in Chirchik

In September 1997 the 82nd traveled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for CENTRAZBAT '97. Paratroopers from Ft. Bragg, NC flew 8000 miles on U.S. Air Force C-17s and jumped into an airfield in Shimkent, Kazakhstan. Forty soldiers from the three republics joined 500 paratroopers on the exercise-opening jump. Marine Gen. John Sheehan, then-commander in chief of the Atlantic Command, was first out of the aircraft. The 82nd joined units from Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Russia in the two-week-long NATO training mission. Members of the international press and local reporters from WRAL-TV and the Fayetteville Observer were also embedded with the 82nd Airborne.[88]

Operation Allied Force: Kosovo edit

In March 1999 the TF 2–505th INF deployed to Albania and forward-deployed along the Albania/Kosovo border in support of Operation Allied Force, NATO's bombing campaign against Serbian forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic. In September 1999, TF 3–504th INF deployed in support of Operation Joint Guardian, replacing TF 2–505th INF. TF 3–504th INF was replaced in March 2000 by elements of the 101st Airborne Division. On 1 October 1999, the 1–508th ABCT (SETAF) made a combat jump in "Operation Rapid Guardian": 500-foot altitude jump near Pristina.[citation needed]

Global War on Terror edit

 
The Army 82nd Airborne Division performs a mass paratroop jump with during the 2006 Joint Service Open House hosted at Andrews Air Force Base, 20 May 2006.

Operation Enduring Freedom II & III, 2002–2003 edit

After 11 September attacks on the United States, the 82nd's 49th Public Affairs Detachment deployed to Afghanistan in October 2001 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom along with several individual 82nd soldiers who deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility to support combat operations.

In June 2002, elements of the division headquarters and TF Panther (HQ 3d Brigade; 1–504th INF, 1–505th INF, 3–505th INF, 1–319th FA) deployed to Afghanistan. In January 2003, TF Devil (HQ 1st Brigade, 2–504th INF, 3–504th INF, 2–505th INF, 3–319th FA) relieved TF Panther.[89]


Operation Iraqi Freedom I, 2003–2004 edit

 
U.S. Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division patrol the streets of the Al Sudeek district of Mosul, Iraq, in January 2005.

In March 2003, 2–325 of the 2nd BCT was attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment as part of a special operations task force to conduct a parachute assault to seize Saddam International Airport in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 21 March 2003, Company D, 2-325 crossed the Saudi Arabia–Iraq border as part of Task Force Hunter to escort HIMARS artillery systems to destroy Iraqi artillery batteries in the western Iraqi desert. Upon cancellation of the parachute assault to seize the airport, the battalion returned to its parent 2nd Brigade at Talil Airfield near An Nasariyah, Iraq. The 2nd Brigade then conducted operations in Samawah, Fallujah, and Baghdad. The brigade returned to the United States by the end of February 2004.[citation needed]

The early days of the 82nd Airborne's participation in the deployment were chronicled by embedded journalist Karl Zinsmeister in his 2003 book Boots on the Ground: A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq.

In April 2003, according to Human Rights Watch, soldiers from a subordinate unit, the 325th Infantry, allegedly fired indiscriminately into a crowd of Iraqi civilians protesting their presence in the city of Fallujah, killing and wounding many civilians. The battalion suffered no casualties.[90]

The 3rd Brigade deployed to Iraq in the summer, redeploying to the U.S. in spring 2004. The 1st Brigade deployed in January 2004. The last units of the division left by the end of April 2004. The 2nd Brigade deployed on 7 December 2004 to support the free elections and returned on Easter Sunday in 2005. During this initial deployment, 36 soldiers from the division were killed and about 400 were wounded, out of about 12,000 deployed. On 21 July 2006, the 1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment, along with a platoon from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment and a troop from 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, returning in December 2006.

Rapid deployment operations edit

Afghanistan edit

In late September 2004 the National Command Authority alerted TF 1–505th INF for an emergency deployment to Afghanistan in support of that October's elections.

Iraq edit

In December 2004, the task forces based on 2–325th AIR and 3–325th AIR were deployed to Iraq to secure the environment for the country's national elections. Thanks in part to the efforts of these paratroopers, more than eight million Iraqis were able to cast their first meaningful ballots.[citation needed]

Operation Enduring Freedom VI, 2005–2008 edit

The 1st Brigade of the 82nd deployed in April 2005 in support of OEF 6, and returned in April 2006. 1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment deployed in support of OEF 6 from July through November 2005.[citation needed]

In March 2006, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and Security Forces (SECFOR) consisting of mostly Rangers and 82nd Airborne, deployed as part of a special operations task force to conduct various special operations and diplomatic security. 2007 February 18, seven soldiers from the task force died in a helicopter crash. The deployment would end a month later (March 2007).[91]

In January 2007, then Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez deployed the division headquarters to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, accompanied by 4th BCT and the Aviation Brigade, as Commander, Combined Joint Task Force-82 (CJTF-82)and Regional Command – East for Operation Enduring Freedom VIII. The 3d BCT, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was extended for 120 days to increase the troop strength against the Taliban spring offensive. Extended to 15-month deployment, 4th BCT, which included 1–508th Infantry Regiment, 2–508th Infantry Regiment, and 4–73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2–321st Field Artillery, and 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, was commanded by then Col. Martin P. Schweitzer and remained in Khowst Province from January 2007 until April 2008. The 2–508th IR worked to establish and maintain firebases in and around the Ghazni province while actively patrolling their operational area. The 1–508 PIR served in Regional Command-South. Working mostly out of Kandahar province as the theater tactical force, they mentored the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF), conducting combined operations with both ANSF and NATO partners in the Helmand province.[92] Supporting the division were the 36th Engineer Brigade, and the 43d Area Support Group.

Hurricane Katrina edit

 
SGT Loeffler and his team, from Company C, 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, wade through the flooded streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA during a patrol in support of Joint Task Force Katrina

The 82nd Airborne's 3rd Brigade, 505th Infantry Regiment, and the division's 319th Field Artillery Regiment along with supporting units deployed to support search-and-rescue / security operations in New Orleans, Louisiana after the city was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. About 5,000 paratroopers commanded by Major General William B. Caldwell IV, operated out of New Orleans International Airport.[citation needed]

Reorganization edit

In January 2006, the division began reorganizing from a division based organization to a brigade combat team-based organization. Activated elements include a 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (1–508th INF, 2–508th INF, 4–73rd Cav (RSTA), 2–321st FA, 782nd BSB, and STB, 4th BCT) and the inactivation of the Division Artillery, 82nd Signal Battalion, 307th Engineer Battalion, and 313th Military Intelligence Battalion. The 82nd Division Support Command (DISCOM) was redesignated as the 82nd Sustainment Brigade. A pathfinder unit was reactivated within the 82nd when the Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the inactivating 313th Military Intelligence Battalion was transferred to the 2d Battalion, 82nd Aviation Regiment and converted to a pathfinder role as the battalion's Company F.[citation needed]

Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2006–2009, "The Surge" edit

In December 2006, 2nd BCT deployed once again to Iraq in support of OIF. On 4 January 2007, 2nd Brigade deployed to northern Bagdad in the Sumer and Talbiyah district, returning 8 March 2008. On 4 June 2007, 1st Brigade deployed to Southern Iraq, returning 15 July 2008. Since the deployment began, the division has lost 37 paratroopers. Since 11 September 2001, the division has lost 20 paratroopers in Afghanistan and 101 paratroopers in Iraq.[citation needed]

 
A U.S. Paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division makes an arrest in June 2007, during the Iraq War.

Operation Enduring Freedom, 2007–2008 edit

In January 2007, then Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez deployed the division headquarters to Bagram, Afghanistan, accompanied by 4th BCT and the Aviation Brigade, as Commander, Combined Joint Task Force-82 (CJTF-82)and Regional Command – East for Operation Enduring Freedom VIII. The 3d BCT, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was extended for 120 days to increase the troop strength against the Taliban spring offensive. Extended to 15-month deployment, 4th BCT, which included 1–508th Infantry Regiment, 2–508th Infantry Regiment, and 4–73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2–321st Field Artillery, and 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, was commanded by then Col. Martin P. Schweitzer and remained in Khowst Province from January 2007 until April 2008. The 2–508th IR worked to establish and maintain firebases in and around the Ghazni province while actively patrolling their operational area. The 1–508 PIR served in Regional Command-South. Working mostly out of Kandahar province as the theater tactical force, they mentored the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF), conducting combined operations with both ANSF and NATO partners in the Helmand province.[92] Supporting the division were the 36th Engineer Brigade, and the 43d Area Support Group.

Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, 2008–2011 edit

 
U.S. Army and Iraqi army soldiers board a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in Camp Ramadi, Iraq, 2009.

In December 2008, the 3d BCT deployed to Baghdad, Iraq and redeployed to Ft. Bragg in November 2009. In August 2009, 1st BCT deployed once again to Iraq and redeployed late July 2010.

During the months of August and September 2009, 4th BCT deployed again to Afghanistan and returned in August 2010 having lost 38 soldiers.[citation needed]

In May 2011 1–505 (Task Force 1 Panther) deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Dispersed throughout the country, 1st battalion was attached to various Special Operations elements. 1st battalion redeployed to Fort Bragg, NC in February 2012 having lost two paratroopers.

The 2d Brigade deployed to the Anbar Province in Iraq in May 2011 for the last time in support of Operation New Dawn with the mission to advise, train and assist the Iraqi Security Forces and lead the responsible withdrawal of U.S. Forces - Iraq. Elements of 2d Brigade were among the last US combat units to withdraw from Baghdad. The brigade suffered the loss of the last American service member in Iraq, SPC. David E. Hickman, on 14 November 2011. They were part of the long convoy of equipment and troops who exited Iraq into Kuwait as OIF came to an end.[93]

2010 Haiti earthquake – Operation Unified Response edit

As part of Operation Unified Response, the 2d BCT, on rotation as the division's Global Response Force, was alerted and deployed forces to Haiti later that same day for the mission to provide humanitarian assistance following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.[93] Paratroopers distributed water and food during the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief.[94]

Just two months following redeployment from Haiti in 2010, elements of 2d BCT (Red Falcons) deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to serve as trainers for the Afghan National Security Forces.[95] In October 2011, the Division Headquarters returned to Afghanistan, where they relieved the 10th Mountain Division as the Headquarters of Regional Command-South.

In February 2012, 4th BCT deployed to Kandahar province. Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, formed an overwhelming force in Kandahar. Zhari district in southern Kandahar is where Dadullah was recruiting a high number of jihadists. 4th BCT of the 82nd held the 5-month siege from March 2012 to the end of July, witnessing some of the most intense combat since the initial deployments since 2001, 4th BCT inflicted massive casualties among the Taliban. Performing with an almost perfect strategic plan, 4th BCT drove Dadullah and his men out of Kandahar to the Northeastern province of Kunar, where Dadullah was killed by airstrikes.[citation needed]

As of April 2012, the 1st BCT was deployed to Afghanistan, operating in Ghazni Province, Regional Command-East. The paratroopers took control of Ghazni from the Polish Armed Forces, allowing the Polish Task Force White Eagle (pl:Polski Kontyngent Wojskowy w Afganistanie) to consolidate around the provincial seat in northern Ghazni.[96]

In June 2012, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team deployed as part of the Global Response Force (GRF) in support of heavy combat operations conducted by the 1st Infantry Division. The Brigade was spread across much of RC-East Afghanistan.

In December 2013, elements of the 4th Brigade deployed again to Afghanistan and they were joined by the 1st Brigade in spring 2014.[97] Since 11 September 2001, the division has lost 106 paratroopers in Afghanistan and 139 paratroopers in Iraq.[citation needed]

Operation Inherent Resolve edit

On 19 December 2014, Stars & Stripes, a daily military newspaper, announced 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's 3rd Brigade Combat Team would deploy to Iraq to train, advise, and assist Iraq's Security Forces.[98]

On 3 November 2016, it was reported that 1,700 soldiers from the 2d Brigade Combat Team will deploy to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in Iraq, to take part in Operation Inherent Resolve. They will replace the 2d Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division and will advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces currently trying to retake Mosul from ISIS fighters.[99]

On 27 March 2017, it was reported that 300 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne's 2nd Brigade Combat Team will temporarily deploy to northern Iraq to provide additional advise-and-assist combating ISIS, particularly to speed up the offensive against ISIS in Mosul.[100][101]

On 31 December 2019, approximately 750 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's Immediate Response Force were authorized to be deployed to Iraq in response to events which saw the United States' embassy in the country stormed.[102]

From the start of January 2017 to September 2017, the division suffered the loss of five paratroopers killed in action.[103][104][105][106][107]

Syria intervention edit

It was confirmed in July 2020 that the 82nd Airborne Division did in fact have combat deployments in Syria.[108][109]

Operation Freedom's Sentinel edit

The 1st BCT deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel from June 2017 to March 2018.[110][111][112] Two soldiers were killed in action when their convoy was purposefully hit by a vehicle filled with explosives.[113]

The 3rd BCT deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel from July 2019 to March 2020. In February 2020 soldiers from the 1st BCT, 10th Mountain Division were deployed to Afghanistan to replace the 3rd BCT as part of a unit rotation.[114]

Iranian threat in Iraq edit

The 82nd Airborne was called to deploy in Iraq upon after rioting civilians outside of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq breached the outer gates of the Green Zone. On 1 January 2020, the first 750 troops began mobilizing to Kuwait and bases in the Baghdad area. On the direct orders of Donald Trump, Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike at the Baghdad airport. Iranian influence on Iraqi militia groups was believed to play a part at the rioting at the U.S. embassy. Actions by the Iranians and the U.S. have increased tensions in the region not seen since before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The 82nd airborne was among the first military units to be mobilized in response to this escalation and tensions. An additional 3,500 to 4,000 troops were ordered to deploy to Kuwait in response to Iranian threats in the region.[115][116]

 
Paratroopers departing Hamid Karzai International Airport during the 2021 Kabul Airlift

Evacuation of Kabul edit

In August 2021, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, particularly the Immediate Response Force, deployed to Afghanistan to secure the evacuation of American diplomats and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants as the Taliban seized land and converged on Kabul. Throughout Operation Allies Refuge, the 82nd Airborne Division served as the Operational Command, Task Force 82.

Operation Allies Refuge, led by Major General Chris Donahue, is a combined and joint ongoing NATO command post composed of forces representing NATO allied Nations, 1st Brigade Combat Team "Devil", aviation capabilities from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade "Pegasus", medical capabilities from the 44th Medical Brigade, riot control capabilities from the 16th Military Police Brigade, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command who oversaw sustainment in the joint operational area from a command post in Kuwait.[117][118]

Division organization 2023 edit

 
82nd Airborne Division organization since 6 April 2023
 
82nd Airborne Division paratroopers conduct mass-attack training jump (3:55)
 
Paratroopers from 504th Infantry fire a FGM-148 Javelin at targets during Decisive Action 19–08.5.
 
A paratrooper from 505th Infantry conducts joint patrol with an Iraqi policeman in Samarra, Iraq.
 
A paratrooper from 325th Infantry conducts overwatch in Afghanistan.
 
US Special Forces extraction by Company A, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Regiment in Afghanistan

The 82nd Airborne Division consists of a division headquarters and headquarters battalion, three infantry brigade combat teams, a division artillery, a combat aviation brigade, and a division sustainment brigade.[119][120] The 82nd DIVARTY commands all artillery battalions.[121] The 82nd Airborne Sustainment Brigade commands all brigade support battalions.[citation needed]

The division's 3rd Brigade was known as the Golden Brigade, 1970–2000. The division's 4th Brigade Combat Team inactivated in fall of 2013: the Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team;[131] the 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment; and the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion were inactivated with some of the companies of the 782nd used to augment support battalions in the remaining three brigades. The 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry joined the 1st Brigade Combat Team and formed the core of the newly activated 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment. The 2nd Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment joined the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, while the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment joined the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.[citation needed]

Traditions edit

To commemorate the 1944 Waal assault river crossing made by the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 307th Engineer Battalion (Airborne) during Operation Market Garden, an annual Crossing of the Waal competition is staged on the anniversary of the operation at McKellar's Lake near Fort Liberty. The winning company receives a paddle.[132] The paddle signifies that in the original crossing, many paratroopers had to row with their weapons because the canvas boats lacked sufficient paddles.[citation needed]

Honors edit

Campaign participation credit edit

 
Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division descend under a parachute canopy to earn foreign jump wings during the 11th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, 6 December 2008.
 
Paratroopers of the 82nd airborne division jump at the 2014 Market Garden memorial, Landgoed Den Heuvel, Groesbeek, Netherlands, 18 September 2014
  • World War I
  1. St. Mihiel
  2. Meuse-Argonne
  3. Lorraine 1918
  • World War II
  1. Sicily
  2. Naples-Foggia
  3. Normandy (with arrowhead)
  4. Rhineland (with arrowhead)
  5. Ardennes-Alsace
  6. Central Europe
  • Armed Forces Expeditions
  1. Dominican Republic
  2. Grenada
  3. Panama
  • Southwest Asia
  1. Defense of Saudi Arabia
  2. Liberation and Defense of Kuwait
 
Iraqi commandos in June 2010, training under the supervision of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne
  • Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
  • Operation New Dawn (OND)
  • Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR)

Medal of Honor recipients edit

World War I edit

  1. Lt. Col. Emory J. Pike
  2. Corp. Alvin C. York

World War II edit

  1. Pvt. John R. Towle
  2. Pfc. Charles N. Deglopper
  3. 1st Sgt. Leonard A. Funk Jr.
  4. Pvt. Joe Gandara[133]

Vietnam War edit

  1. SSG Felix M. Conde-Falcon[133]
  2. Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez[134][135]

Decorations edit

  1.   Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for Sainte-Mère-Église.
  2. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for Operation Market Garden.
  3. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for Chiunzi Pass/Naples/Foggia awarded to the following units of the 82nd Airborne: 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 307th Engineer Battalion (2nd), 80th Anti-aircraft Battalion and Company H, 504 PIR
  4. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for the Battle of Samawah, April 2003, awarded to the following unit of the 82nd Airborne: 2nd Brigade Combat Team (325th Airborne Infantry Regiment)
  5. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for Operation Turki Bowl, OIF, November 2007, awarded to the following unit of the 82nd Airborne: 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade, 505th PIR
  6.   Valorous Unit Citation (Army) for Operation Iraqi Freedom (3rd Brigade Combat Team, OIF 1)
  7. Valorous Unit Citation (Army) for actions on the objective in the Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya. While attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Cited in Department of the Army General Order 2009–10
  8.   Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Southwest Asia.
  9.   Superior Unit Award (Army) US Army Garrison, Ft Bragg 11 September 2001 – 15 April 2006 Cited in DAGO 2009–29
  10.   French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for Sainte-Mère-Église.
  11. French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for Cotentin.
  12. French Croix de Guerre, World War II, Fourragère
  13. Belgian Fourragere 1940
  14. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes
  15. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in Belgium And Germany.
  16.   Military William Order, for bravery and valiant service in battle at Nijmegen 1944 during Market Garden (worn as an Orange Lanyard) 8 October 1945.[136]

Notable members edit

See also edit

Notes edit

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  2. ^ 82nd Airborne Division, Army.mil, dated 16 May 2018, last accessed 11 September 2018
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  6. ^ 82nd Division, Summary of Operations in the World War. Washington, D.C.: American Battle Monuments Commission (U.S. Government Printing Office). 1944. p. 1.
  7. ^ Rutledge, G.K (2 April 1918). "Name for 82nd Division to be Chosen by next Sunday". The Atlanta Georgian. p. 1.
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  17. ^ a b Megellas, James (2007). All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe. Random House Publishing Group. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-307-41448-9.
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Further reading edit

  • Alexander, Mark, and John Sparry. Jump Commander: In Combat with the 82nd Airborne in World War II. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2010. ISBN 1-935149-28-8 OCLC 506253036
  • Angress, Werner T. Witness to the Storm: A Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, 1920–1945. Durham, NC: Miriam Angress, 2012. ISBN 1-4774-5701-1 OCLC 804824030
  • Anzuoni, Robert P. I'm the 82nd Airborne Division!: A History of the All American Division in World War II After Action Reports. Atglen, PA : Schiffer Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7643-2347-4 OCLC 62555533
  • Anzuoni, Robert P. The All American: An Illustrated History of the 82nd Airborne Division, 1917 to the Present. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2001. ISBN 0-7643-1321-5 OCLC 49935879
  • Barry, Robert F. Power Pack: The Dominican Republic, 1965–1966. Portsmouth, Va: Messenger, 1965. OCLC 6655474
  • Baugh, James Emory. From Skies of Blue: My Experiences with the Eighty-Second Airborne During World War II. New York: iUniverse, 2003. ISBN 0-595-74982-8 OCLC 64584040
  • Breuer, William B. Drop Zone, Sicily: Allied Airborne Strike, July 1943. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1983. ISBN 0-89141-196-8 OCLC 9945654
  • Burriss, T. Moffatt. Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82nd Airborne in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 2000. ISBN 1-57488-258-9 OCLC 43903491
  • Caraccilo, Dominic J. The Ready Brigade of the 82nd Airborne in Desert Storm: A Combat Memoir by the Headquarters Company Commander. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1993. ISBN 0-89950-829-4 OCLC 27265069
  • Carter, Ross S. Those Devils in Baggy Pants. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Books, 1996. ISBN 0-89966-613-2 OCLC 68043161
  • Cooke, James J. The All-Americans at War: The 82nd Division in the Great War, 1917–1918. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1999. ISBN 0-275-95740-3 OCLC 39210048
  • Cooksey, Jon. Crossing the Waal: The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division at Nijmegen. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military, 2005. ISBN 1-84415-228-6 OCLC 57200754
  • Covington, Henry L. A Fighting Heart, An Unofficial Story of the 82nd Airborne Division. Fayetteville, NC: T. Davis, 1949. OCLC 4139070
  • Dawson, Buck. Saga of the All American. Atlanta: Albert Love Enterprises, 1946. OCLC 3595988
  • Francois, Dominique. 82nd Airborne Division 1917–2005. Bayeux: Heimdal, 2006. ISBN 2-84048-215-0 OCLC 64967339
  • Gavin, James M. On to Berlin: Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943–1946. New York: Viking Press, 1978. ISBN 0-670-52517-0 OCLC 3204743
  • Grey, Stephen. Into the Viper's Nest: The First Pivotal Battle of the Afghan War. Minneapolis: Zenith Press, 2010. ISBN 0-7603-3897-3 OCLC 548583278
  • Heilman, William H. A Pilot's Tale: Flying Helicopters in Vietnam. Hooks, Tex.?: William H. Heilman, 2008. ISBN 1-4357-1185-8 OCLC 671642623
  • Hoyt, Edwin Palmer. The Invasion Before Normandy: The Secret Battle of Slapton Sands. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House, 1999. ISBN 0-8128-8562-7 OCLC 41712914
  • Imai, Kesaharu. Grenada : October 25 to November 2, 1983. Tokyo: World Photo Press, 1984. OCLC 16348601
  • Langdon, Allen. Ready: The History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, World War II. [Fort Bragg, N.C.]: The Division, 1986. OCLC 16221387
  • Lebenson, Leonard. Surrounded by Heroes: Six Campaigns with Division Headquarters, 82nd Airborne Division, 1942–1945. Drexel Hill, PA: Casemate, 2007. ISBN 1-932033-58-0 OCLC 124985055
  • LoFaro, Guy Sword of St. Michael: The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2011. ISBN 0-306-82023-4 OCLC 659768768
  • Lunteren, Frank van. The Battle of the Bridges: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden. Philadelphia: Casemate Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-61200-232-3
  • Lunteren, Frank van. Birth of a Regiment: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Sicily and Salerno. New York: Permuted Press, LLC, 2022.
  • Lunteren, Frank van. Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Batlle of the Bulge. Philadelphia: Casemate Publishing, 2015.
  • Lunteren, Frank van. Spearhead of the Fifth Army: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Italy, from the Winter Line to Anzio. Philadelphia, Casemate Publishing, 2016.
  • Marshall, S. L. A., Carl Sandburg, and H. Garver Miller. Night Drop: The American Airborne Invasion of Normandy. Boston: Little, Brown, 1962. OCLC 1260577
  • McCann, John P. Passing Through: The 82nd Airborne Division in Northern Ireland 1943–44. Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland: Colourpoint Books, 2005. ISBN 1-904242-41-3 OCLC 60883703
  • McKenzie, John D. On Time, on Target: The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 2000. ISBN 0-89141-714-1 OCLC 42863044
  • McManus, John C. September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far. New York: New American Library, 2012. ISBN 0-451-23706-4 OCLC 741538553
  • Megellas, James. All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. ISBN 0-89141-784-2 OCLC 50810144
  • Mrozek, Steven J. 82nd Airborne Division. Paducah, Ky: Turner Pub. Co, 1997. ISBN 1-56311-364-3 OCLC 52963023
  • Nordyke, Phil. All American, All the Way: The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7603-2201-5 OCLC 60757547
  • Nordyke, Phil. The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7603-2617-7 OCLC 64961665
  • Ruggero, Ed. Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe, July 1943. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0-06-008875-3 OCLC 51978036
  • Saunders, Tim. Nijmegen, Grave, and Groesbeek. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper, 2001. ISBN 0-85052-815-1 OCLC 49594764
  • Thompson, Leroy. The All Americans: The 82nd Airborne. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles Publishers, 1988. ISBN 0-7153-9182-8 OCLC 19393819
  • Zinsmeister, Karl. Boots on the Ground: A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq. New York: Truman Talley Books/St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0-312-32663-7 OCLC 52775207
  • Zinsmeister, Karl, Dan Jurgens, and Raul Trevino. Combat Zone: True Tales of GIs in Iraq. New York, NY: Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0-7851-1516-1 OCLC 61373604

External links edit

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to 82nd Airborne Division.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 82nd Airborne Division.
  • Fort Bragg Homepage 1 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  • Historical Account of the 82nd Airborne Division
  • All American: The Story of the 82nd Airborne Division – World War II unit history booklet, 1945
  • 82nd Airborne Combat Footage DVD World War II Normandy June 1944
  • 82nd AB Combat Footage DVD World War II including Operation Market Garden September 1944
  • The 82nd Airborne Division
  • THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION
  • The 82nd Airborne during World War II
  • 82nd Airborne Division, NYC Victory Parade, 12 Jan 1946
  • The short film Big Picture: Arctic Night is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film Big Picture: All American is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film Big Picture: This is Our Strength is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-17A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-18A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-19A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-20A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-25A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-27A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-28A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  • "Droppingzones (GPS) on D-day 101st and 82nd Airborne Division"
  • [1] 23 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine

December 15, 2023
82nd, airborne, division, airborne, infantry, division, united, states, army, specializing, parachute, assault, operations, into, hostile, areas, with, department, defense, mandate, call, fight, time, anywhere, knife, edge, technology, readiness, primarily, ba. The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas 1 with a U S Department of Defense mandate to be on call to fight any time anywhere at the knife s edge of technology and readiness 2 Primarily based at Fort Liberty North Carolina the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps The 82nd Airborne Division is the U S Army s most strategically mobile division 3 82nd Airborne DivisionInsignia of the 82nd Airborne DivisionActive1917 19201921 presentCountry United StatesBranch United States ArmyTypeAirborne light infantryRoleAirborne assaultSizeDivisionPart ofXVIII Airborne CorpsGarrison HQFort Liberty North Carolina U S Nickname s America s Guard of Honor All American Division 82nd Division Eighty Deuce The 82nd Motto s All The Way Death From Above Color of berets MaroonMarch The All American Soldier EngagementsWorld War I Battle of Saint Mihiel Meuse Argonne OffensiveWorld War II Operation Husky Operation Avalanche Operation Overlord Operation Market Garden Ardennes Alsace Western Allied invasion of GermanyCold War Occupation of the Dominican Republic Vietnam War Invasion of Grenada Operation Golden Pheasant Invasion of Panama Persian Gulf WarWar on Terror War in Afghanistan Iraq War Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Freedom s SentinelWebsiteOfficial Website of the DivisionCommandersCommanderMG J Patrick WorkDeputy Commander OperationsCOL Andrew SaslavDeputy Commander SupportVacantDeputy Commander PlansBrigadier Neil Den McKay British ArmyCommand Sergeant MajorCSM Randolph DelapenaNotablecommandersComplete list of commandersInsigniaShoulder sleeve insignia subdued Combat service identification badgeFlagSeal The division was organized on 25 August 1917 at Camp Gordon Georgia now publicly owned and later served with distinction on the Western Front in the final months of World War I Since its initial members came from all 48 states the division acquired the nickname All American which is the basis for its AA on the shoulder patch The division later served in World War II where in August 1942 it was reconstituted as the first airborne division of the U S Army and fought in numerous campaigns during the war Contents 1 Origins 2 World War I 2 1 Battle of Saint Mihiel 2 2 Meuse Argonne Offensive 2 3 Post war 3 Interwar period 4 World War II 4 1 Initial training and conversion 4 2 North Africa and Italy 4 3 Normandy 4 4 Market Garden 4 5 The Bulge 4 6 Into Germany 4 7 Composition 4 8 Casualties 4 9 Awards 5 Cold War 5 1 Post World War II 5 2 Pentomic organization 5 3 Dominican Republic and Vietnam deployments 5 4 Urban riots in 1967 68 5 4 1 1967 Detroit Riot 5 4 2 1968 riots in Washington D C and Baltimore 5 5 Post Vietnam Operations 5 6 Invasion of Grenada Operation Urgent Fury 5 7 Panama Operation Just Cause 5 8 Organization 1989 6 Post Cold War 6 1 Persian Gulf War 6 2 Hurricane Andrew 6 3 Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti 6 4 Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage 6 5 Operation Joint Endeavor Bosnia 6 6 Centrazbat 97 6 7 Operation Allied Force Kosovo 7 Global War on Terror 7 1 Operation Enduring Freedom II amp III 2002 2003 7 2 Operation Iraqi Freedom I 2003 2004 7 3 Rapid deployment operations 7 3 1 Afghanistan 7 3 2 Iraq 7 4 Operation Enduring Freedom VI 2005 2008 7 5 Hurricane Katrina 7 6 Reorganization 7 7 Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006 2009 The Surge 7 8 Operation Enduring Freedom 2007 2008 7 9 Operations Enduring Freedom Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn 2008 2011 7 10 2010 Haiti earthquake Operation Unified Response 7 11 Operation Inherent Resolve 7 11 1 Syria intervention 7 12 Operation Freedom s Sentinel 7 13 Iranian threat in Iraq 7 14 Evacuation of Kabul 8 Division organization 2023 9 Traditions 10 Honors 10 1 Campaign participation credit 10 2 Medal of Honor recipients 10 2 1 World War I 10 2 2 World War II 10 2 3 Vietnam War 10 3 Decorations 11 Notable members 12 See also 13 Notes 14 Further reading 15 External linksOrigins edit nbsp Review of the 328th Infantry Regiment at Camp Gordon Atlanta Georgia 1 February 1918The 82nd Division was first constituted during World War I on 5 August 1917 as an infantry division in the National Army It was organized and formally activated on 25 August 1917 at Camp Gordon Georgia 4 At the time the division consisted entirely of newly conscripted soldiers Original enlisted men assigned to the division came from Alabama Georgia and Tennessee but during October 1917 a large number were transferred to fill shortages in Regular Army and National Guard units and replacements for them were received mostly from New England and the Mid Atlantic states 5 6 The citizens of Atlanta held a contest to give a nickname to the new division and in April 1918 Major General Eben Swift the commanding general chose All American to reflect the unique composition of the 82nd it had soldiers from all 48 states in the Union 7 The bulk of the division was two infantry brigades each commanding two regiments The 163rd Brigade commanded the 325th Infantry Regiment and the 326th Infantry Regiment along with the 320th Machine Gun Battalion The 164th Brigade commanded the 327th Infantry Regiment and the 328th Infantry Regiment and the 321st Machine Gun Battalion 8 Also in the division were the 157th Field Artillery Brigade composed of the 319th 320th and 321st Field Artillery Regiments and the 307th Trench Mortar Battery a divisional troops contingent and a division train The division sailed to Europe in May 1918 to join the American Expeditionary Forces AEF commanded by General John Pershing on the Western Front 9 World War I editBrigadier General William P Burnham who had previously commanded the 164th Brigade led the division during most of its training and movement to Europe In early April 1918 the division embarked from the ports in Boston New York and Brooklyn to Liverpool England where the division fully assembled by mid May 1918 10 From there the division moved to Continental Europe leaving Southampton and arriving at Le Havre France 10 The 82nd division then moved to the British occupied region of the Somme where it began sending small numbers of troops and officers to the front lines to gain combat experience On June 16 it moved by rail to the French sector The division was briefly assigned to I Corps before falling under the command of IV Corps until late August It was then moved to the Woevre front 10 Battle of Saint Mihiel editAs part of the American Expeditionary Forces AEF deployed during WWI the 82nd Division began training with British forces in Picardy as early as May 10 1918 From there they moved to the hotly contested French border region of Lorraine which they occupied from June 16 to September 11 in preparation for the Saint Mihiel offensive 10 nbsp Doughboys of Company B 328th Infantry Regiment 82nd Division serving in a front line trench France 1 July 1918As the attack on the Saint Mihiel salient began on September 12 the division engaged in a holding mission to prevent Imperial German Army forces from attacking the right flank of the First Army This defensive action allowed the 163rd Brigade and 327th Infantry Regiment to advance north east raiding the communes of Port sur Seille Eply Bois de Cheminot and Bois Frehaut Meanwhile the 328th Infantry Regiment advanced on the west of the Moselle River made contact with the 90th Division and entered the town of Norroy to consolidate American troop positions 10 By September 17 the Saint Mihiel offensive had stabilized and preparations for the infamous Meuse Argonne offensive began On September 20 the 82nd Division was relieved by the French 69th Division The 82nd Division was then stationed near Triaucourt and Rarecourt near the First Army 10 During this operation the 82nd Division suffered casualties from heavy artillery fire which the fresh American soldiers were completely unused to The division was moved into reserve from September 26 to October 3 while it assembled near Varennes en Argonne to train and prepare for the Meuse Argonne offensive 10 Meuse Argonne Offensive edit nbsp 328th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Division advances in preparation to capture Hill 223 on 7 October 1918 The division mobilized to the Clermont area in Argonne just west of Verdun starting on September 24 stationed there to act as a reserve for the US First Army 11 On 3 October Major General George B Duncan commander of the 77th Division relieved William Burnham of his duties and took over as commander of the 82nd On the night of October 6th 1918 the 164th Brigade relieved troops of the 28th Division which were holding the front line from south of Fleville to La Forge along the eastern bank of the Aire River On October 7 the 82nd Division minus the 163rd Brigade which remained in reserve attacked the northeastern edge of the Argonne Forest taking Hill 223 in the process The division s right flank entered the commune of Cornay but later withdrew southeast The division s left flank took the high ground northwest of Chatel Chehery On October 9 the division s left flank advanced to form a line along the French pylons on the road to the Belgian city of la Louviere 10 Throughout October the division advanced north east along the Aire Aisne river On 10 October it relieved troops of the 1st Division in Ardennes at Fleville and Sommerance The 82nd Division then relaunched an attack on Cornay and the Belgian city of Enghien successfully re establishing the front there On October 11 the right flank of the division took the high ground north of the Rance river while the left flank continued to advance along the Aire The next day the 42nd Division relieved the 82nd s troops in Sommerance Attacking with fresh troops the 82nd broke through the Hindenburg Line on October 15th 10 nbsp Members of the 82nd Airborne on the road to Ravin aux Pierre lit Stone Ravine France October 1918 On October 18th the 82nd Division relieved the 78th division at Champigneulle Three days later it advanced to the Ravin aux Pierres On 31 October the 82nd except the artillery was relieved by the 77th Division and the 80th Division and assembled in the Argonne Forest to regroup On 10 November it moved again to training areas in Bourmont where it remained until the Armistice of 11 November 1918 10 Post war edit The division suffered 995 killed and 7 082 wounded for a total of 8 077 casualties 12 Following the war s end the division moved to training areas near Prauthoy where it remained through February 1919 10 It returned to the United States in April and May and was demobilized and deactivated at Camp Mills New York on 27 May 4 Interwar period editThe 82nd Division was officially demobilized but existed on paper as a unit of the Organized Reserve 13 World War II editInitial training and conversion edit The 82nd Division was redesignated on 13 February 1942 as Division Headquarters 82nd Division ordered into active service on 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Camp Claiborne Louisiana under the command of Major General Omar N Bradley During this period the division brought together three officers who would ultimately steer the U S Army during the following two decades Matthew Ridgway James M Gavin and Maxwell D Taylor 14 Under Major General Bradley the 82nd Division s Chief of Staff was George Van Pope 15 On 15 August 1942 the 82nd Infantry Division now commanded by Major General Ridgway became the first airborne division in the history of the U S Army and was redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division The 82nd was selected after deliberations by the U S Army General Staff because of a number of factors it was not a Regular Army or National Guard unit many traditionalists in those components wanted nothing to do with such an experimental force its personnel had all completed basic training and it was stationed in an area that had good weather and flying facilities 16 The division initially consisted of the 325th 326th and 327th Infantry Regiments and supporting units The 327th was soon transferred to help form the 101st Airborne Division and was replaced by the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment leaving the division with two regiments of glider infantry and one of parachute infantry In February 1943 the division received another change when the 326th was transferred to the 13th Airborne Division being replaced by the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment under James M Gavin then a colonel who was later to command the division North Africa and Italy edit In April 1943 paratroopers from the 82nd under the command of Major General Ridgway sailed into the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and landed in North Africa as part of the Allied plan to invade Sicily The division s first two combat operations were parachute assaults into Sicily on July 9 and Salerno on 13 September 1943 13 The initial assault on Sicily by the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team under Colonel Gavin was the first regimental sized combat parachute assault conducted by the United States Army citation needed The first glider assault did not occur until Operation Neptune as part of the D Day landings of 6 June 1944 Troopers arrived in Italy by landing craft at Maiori Naples and Salerno 17 During the invasion of Italy Ridgway considered Will Lang Jr of TIME magazine an honorary member of the division In January 1944 the 504th commanded by Colonel Reuben Tucker which was temporarily detached to fight at Anzio adopted the nickname Devils in Baggy Pants taken from an entry in a German officer s diary citation needed Normandy edit nbsp Members of the 508th PIR 82nd Airborne Division check their equipment before taking off from an airfield in Saltby Leicestershire England to participate in the invasion of Europe 1944 With two air drops under its belt the 82nd Airborne was ready for the second D Day operation in the division s history Operation Neptune or the amphibious assault portion of Allied invasion of Normandy The division conducted Mission Boston a component of the Operation Overlord plan In preparation for the operation the division was significantly reorganized To ease the integration of replacement troops rest and refitting following the fighting in Italy the 504th PIR did not rejoin the division for the invasion Two new parachute infantry regiments PIRs the 507th and the 508th provided it along with the veteran 505th a three parachute infantry regiment punch The 325th was also reinforced by the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the 401st GIR bringing it up to a strength of three battalions On 5 and 6 June these paratroopers parachute artillery elements and the 319th and 320th boarded hundreds of transport planes and gliders to begin history s largest airborne assault at the time only Operation Market Garden later that year would be larger During the June 6th assault a 508th platoon leader First Lieutenant Robert P Mathias would be the first U S Army officer killed by German fire 18 On 7 June after this first wave of attack the 325th GIR would arrive by glider to provide a division reserve In Normandy the 82nd gained its first Medal of Honor of the war belonging to Private First Class Charles N DeGlopper of the 325th GIR 19 When the division was relieved in early July the 82nd had seen a month straight of severe combat Casualties had been heavy Losses included 5 245 troopers killed wounded or missing a 46 casualty rate Major General Ridgway s post battle report stated in part 33 days of action without relief without replacements Every mission accomplished No ground gained was ever relinquished 13 Following Normandy the 82nd Airborne Division returned to England to rest and refit for future airborne operations The 82nd became part of the newly organized XVIII Airborne Corps which consisted of the 17th 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions Ridgway was given command of the corps but was not officially promoted to lieutenant general until 1945 His recommendation for succession as division commander was Brigadier General James M Gavin previously the 82nd s assistant division commander Upon being promoted to Major General in October of 1944 at the age of 37 Gavin became the youngest general since the Civil War to command a U S Army division 20 Market Garden edit On August 2nd 1944 the division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army In September planning for Operation Market Garden the Allied invasion of the Netherlands began in earnest The operation called for three at minimum airborne divisions to seize and hold key bridges and roads deep behind German lines The 504th PIR now back at full strength was reassigned to the 82nd while the 507th was assigned to the 17th Airborne Division at the time training in England nbsp Men of the 82nd Airborne Division drop near Grave in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden On 17 September the All American Division conducted its fourth and final combat jump of World War II Fighting off German counterattacks the division captured its objectives between Grave and Nijmegen The division failed to initially capture Nijmegen Bridge when the opportunity presented itself early in the battle When the British XXX Corps arrived in Nijmegen six hours ahead of schedule they found themselves having to fight to take a bridge that should have already been in allied hands In the afternoon of Wednesday 20 September 1944 the 82nd Airborne Division successfully conducted an opposed assault crossing of the Waal river War correspondent Bill Downs who witnessed the assault described it as a single isolated battle that ranks in magnificence and courage with Guam Tarawa Omaha Beach A story that should be told to the blowing of bugles and the beating of drums for the men whose bravery made the capture of this crossing over the Waal possible 17 The Market Garden salient was held in a defensive operation for several weeks until the 82nd was relieved by Canadian troops and sent into reserve in France During the operation 19 year old Private John R Towle of the 504th PIR was posthumously awarded the 82nd Airborne Division s second Medal of Honor of World War II The Bulge edit nbsp Men of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment advancing through a snow covered forest during the Battle of the Bulge December 1944On 16 December 1944 the Germans launched a surprise offensive through the Ardennes Forest which became known as the Battle of the Bulge In SHAEF reserve the 82nd was committed on the northern face of the bulge near Elsenborn Ridge On 20 December 1944 the 82nd Airborne Division was assigned to take Cheneux which had been captured byKampfgruppe Peiper On 21 22 December 1944 the 82nd Airborne faced counterattacks from two Waffen SS divisions which included the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler lit translation The SS Body Standard Division and the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen The Waffen SS efforts to relieve the Kampfgruppe Peiper failed due to the stubborn defense of the 82nd Airborne the 30th ID 2nd ID and other units 21 On 23 December the Germans attacked from the south and overran the 325th GIR holding the Baraque Fraiture crossroads on the 82nd s southern flank endangering the entire 82nd Airborne division The 2nd SS Panzers objective was to outflank the 82nd Airborne It was not an attack designed to reach Peiper but it was his last chance nonetheless If it did outflank the 82nd it could have opened a corridor and reached the stranded yet still powerful Kampfgruppe But the attack came too late citation needed On 24 December 1944 the 82nd Airborne Division with an official strength of 8 520 men was facing off against a vastly superior combined force of 43 000 men and over 1 200 armored fighting and artillery vehicles and pieces 22 Due to these circumstances the 82nd Airborne Division was forced to withdrawal for the first time in its combat history 23 The Germans pursued their retreat with the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich engaged the 82nd until 28 December when it and what was left of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte were ordered to move south to meet General George Patton s forces attacking in the area of Bastogne 24 Some units of the 9th SS Panzer including the 19th Panzer Grenadier Regiment stayed and fought the 82nd They were joined by the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division The 9th SS Panzer tried to breakthrough by attacking the 508 and 504 PIR positions but ultimately failed 25 The failure of the 9th and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions to break through the 82nd lines marked the end of the German offensive in the northern shoulder of the Bulge The German objective now became one of defense On 3 January 1945 the 82nd Airborne Division conducted a counterattack On the first day s fighting the 82nd Airborne overran the 62nd Volksgrenadiers and the 9th SS Panzer s positions capturing 2 400 prisoners 26 The 82nd Airborne suffered high casualties in the process The attached 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion was all but destroyed during these attacks Of the 826 men who went into the Ardennes only 110 came out Having lost its charismatic leader Lt Colonel Joerg and almost all its men either wounded killed or frostbitten the 551 was never reconstituted The few soldiers who remained were later absorbed into units of the 82nd Airborne 27 After several days of fighting the destruction of the 62nd Volksgrenadiers and what had been left of the 9th SS Panzer Division was complete For the 82nd Airborne Division the first part of the Battle of the Bulge had ended 28 Into Germany edit After helping to secure the Ruhr the 82nd Airborne Division took over Ludwigslust past the Elbe River accepting the surrender of over 150 000 men of Lieutenant General Kurt von Tippelskirch s 21st Army on 2 May 1945 General Omar Bradley commanding the U S 12th Army Group stated in a 1975 interview with Gavin that Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery commanding the Anglo Canadian 21st Army Group had told him that German opposition was too great to cross the Elbe When Gavin s 82nd crossed the river in company with the British 6th Airborne Division the 82nd Airborne Division moved 36 miles in one day and captured over 100 000 troops causing great laughter in Bradley s 12th Army Group headquarters 29 Following Germany s surrender the 82nd Airborne Division entered Berlin for occupation duty replacing the 2nd Armored Division in August 1945 30 94 The division was relieved by the 78th Infantry Division early in November 1945 30 131 While in Berlin General George S Patton was so impressed with the 82nd s honor guard that he said In all my years in the Army and all the honor guards I have ever seen the 82nd s honor guard is undoubtedly the best Hence the All American became also known as America s Guard of Honor 31 The war ended before their scheduled participation in the Allied invasion of Japan Operation Downfall Composition edit During WWII the division was composed of the following units 32 325th Glider Infantry Regiment received the 2nd Battalion 401st Glider Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division on 1 March 1945 which was reflagged 3rd Battalion 325th GIR 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned 15 August 1942 replaced 327th Infantry Regiment relieved that same date 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned 10 February 1943 replaced 326th Infantry Regiment which departed on 4 February 1943 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion 80th Airborne Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion 82nd Parachute Maintenance Company assigned 1 March 45 307th Airborne Medical Company 82nd Airborne Division Artillery 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 75 mm 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 105 mm 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 75 mm 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 75 mm Special Troops Headquarters activated 1 Mar 45 Headquarters Company 82nd Airborne Division 82nd Airborne Signal Company 407th Airborne Quartermaster Company 782nd Airborne Ordnance Company Reconnaissance Platoon assigned 1 March 45 Military Police Platoon Band assigned 1 March 45 Attached paratrooper units 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment attached 14 June 1944 27 August 1944 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment attached 14 June 1944 21 June 1944 23 January 1945 through 9 May 1945 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment attached 1 11 January 1945 23 26 January 1945 3 5 February 1945 9 10 February 1945 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion attached 26 December 1944 13 January 1945 21 27 January 1945 Casualties edit Total battle casualties 9 073 33 Killed in action 1 619 33 Wounded in action 6 560 33 Missing in action 279 33 Prisoner of war 615 33 Awards edit During World War II the division and its members were awarded the following awards 34 Distinguished Unit Citations 15 Medal of Honor 4 Private John R Towle KIA Private First Class Charles N Deglopper KIA First Sergeant Leonard A Funk Jr Private Joe Gandara KIA issued 18 March 2014 Distinguished Service Cross 37 Distinguished Service Medal 2 Silver Star 898 Legion of Merit 29 Soldier s Medal 49 Bronze Star Medal 1 894 Air Medal 15Cold War editPost World War II edit nbsp 82nd Airborne Division circa 1952 source source source source source The 82nd Airborne division returned to the United States on 3 January 1946 on the RMS Queen Mary The 82nd initially was staged at Camp Shanks New York where they drilled for the coming Victory Parade to be held in New York City on January 12th 1946 In 1947 the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was assigned to the 82nd and was reflagged as the 3d Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment redesignated as the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment effective 15 December 1947 35 Instead of being demobilized the 82nd found a permanent home at Fort Bragg North Carolina designated a Regular Army division on 15 November 1948 The 82nd was not sent to the Korean War as both Presidents Truman and Eisenhower chose to keep it in strategic reserve in the event of a Soviet ground attack anywhere in the world Life in the 82nd during the 1950s and 1960s consisted of intensive training exercises in all environments and locations including Panama the Far East and the continental United States Pentomic organization edit In 1957 the division implemented the pentomic organization officially Reorganization of the Airborne Division ROTAD in order to better prepare for tactical nuclear war in Europe Five battle groups each with a headquarters and service company five rifle companies and a mortar battery replaced the division s three regiments of three battalions each The division s battle groups were 36 1st Airborne Battle Group ABG 187th Infantry reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division on 8 February 1959 1 37 1st ABG 325th Infantry 2nd ABG 501st Infantry 1st ABG 503d Infantry reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division on 1 July 1958 2 38 2nd ABG 503rd Infantry reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division on 24 June 1960 38 1st ABG 504th Infantry reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division on 11 December 1958 39 2nd ABG 504th Infantry assigned effective 9 May 1960 1 40 1st ABG 505th Infantry reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division on 15 January 1959 41 1 1st ABG 504th Infantry and 1st ABG 505th Infantry were reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division in central West Germany to provide airborne capability in Germany in turn 1 187th and 1 503d were reassigned from the 24th Infantry Division in southern Germany to the 82nd Airborne Division 2 2nd ABG 503rd Infantry was reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division and stationed in Okinawa to provide airborne capability in the Pacific on 24 June 1960 This ABG was reassigned to the 173d Airborne Brigade on 26 March 1963 38 dd the Division Artillery consisted of Battery A 319th Artillery Battery B 319th Artillery Battery C 319th Artillery Battery C 320th Artillery after 1960 C 319th accompanied the 2d ABG 503d Infantry on its assignment to the 25th Infantry Division 42 Battery D 320th Artillery Battery E 320th Artillery Battery B 377th Artillery additional division elements consisted of 82nd Medical Company 82nd Signal Battalion 82nd Aviation Company Troop A 17th Cavalry 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion 407th Supply and Transportation Battalion The 82nd Quartermaster Parachute Supply and Maintenance Company activated 1 March 1945 was reorganized and redesignated as Company B 407th S amp T Battalion 43 782nd Maintenance BattalionThe pentomic organization was unsuccessful and the division reorganized into three brigades of three battalions the Reorganization Objective Army Division ROAD organization in 1964 Dominican Republic and Vietnam deployments edit In April 1965 the All Americans invaded the Dominican Republic Spearheaded by the 3rd Brigade the 82nd deployed in Operation Power Pack nbsp Members of the 3rd Brigade fill and stack sandbags around personnel bunker at Phu Bai Combat Base 6 March 1968 During the Tet Offensive which swept across South Vietnam in January February 1968 the 3rd Brigade was en route to Chu Lai within 24 hours of receiving its orders The 3rd Brigade performed combat duties in the Huế Phu Bai area of the I Corps sector Later the brigade moved south to Saigon and fought in the Mekong Delta the Iron Triangle and along the Cambodian border serving nearly 22 months While the 3rd Brigade was deployed the division created a provisional 4th Brigade consisting of 4th Battalion 325th Infantry 3d Battalion 504th Infantry and 3d Battalion 505th Infantry An additional unit the 3d Battalion 320th Artillery was activated under Division Artillery to support the 4th Brigade The units assigned and attached to the 3d Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division were as follows 44 Brigade Infantry 1st Battalion Airborne 505th Infantry 2nd Battalion Airborne 505th Infantry 1st Battalion Airborne 508th Infantry Brigade Artillery 2nd Battalion Airborne 321st Artillery 105mm Brigade Aviation Company A 82nd Aviation Battalion Brigade Reconnaissance Troop B 1st Squadron Armored 17th Cavalry Company O Ranger 75th Infantry Brigade Support 82nd Support Battalion 58th Signal Company Company C 307th Engineer Battalion Airborne 408th Army Security Agency Detachment 52nd Chemical Detachment 518th Military Intelligence Detachment 307th Medical Airborne Headquarters and Alpha CompanyThe deployment of the 3rd Brigade took place with significant problems and controversy In The Rise and Fall of an American Army U S Ground Forces in Vietnam 1965 1973 author Shelby L Stanton describes how other than the 82nd only two under strength Marine and four skeletonized Army divisions were left stateside by the beginning of 1968 MACV desperate for additional manpower wanted the division to deploy to Vietnam and the Department of the Army wishing to retain its sole readily deployable strategic reserve the last real vestige of actual Army divisional combat potency in the United States left to the Pentagon compromised by sending the 3d Brigade As Stanton wrote The division had been so rushed to get this brigade to the battlefront that it ignored individual deployment criteria Paratroopers who had just returned from Vietnam now found themselves suddenly going back The howl of soldier complaints was so vehement that the Department of the Army was soon forced to give each trooper who had deployed to Vietnam with the 3d Brigade the option of returning to Fort Bragg or remaining with the unit To compensate for the abrupt departures from home for those who elected to stay with the unit the Army authorized a month leave at the soldiers own expense or a two week leave with government aircraft provided for special flights back to North Carolina Of the 3 650 paratroopers who had deployed from Fort Bragg 2 513 elected to return to the United States at once MACV had no paratroopers to replace them and overnight the brigade was transformed into a separate light infantry brigade airborne in name only Urban riots in 1967 68 edit 1967 Detroit Riot edit On 24 July 1967 shortly before midnight President Lyndon B Johnson ordered the U S military to occupy Detroit 45 At 1 10 am 4 700 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions under the command of Lieutenant General John L Throckmorton arrived in Detroit 46 and began working in the streets coordinating refuse removal tracing persons who had disappeared in the confusion and carrying out routine military functions such as the establishment of mobile patrols guard posts and roadblocks 47 Rioting peaked in high intensity The 82nd worked alongside the 101st to secure east of Woodward while the National Guard took land west of Woodward Incidents began to decline as paratroopers constantly patrolled the perimeter with M16 rifles M60 machine guns and M48 tanks while the police began making arrests on those violating curfew regulations or who were caught looting On 27 July with a sense of normalcy returned to the city in part due to the presence of Army and National Guard troops and the riot was officially declared over The Army began to scale down in order to return to their normal duties leaving the control back to local authorities 48 Although Army paratroopers exercised some restraint on firepower due to being racially integrated as well as their combat experience in Vietnam as opposed to the mainly white and inexperienced National Guard troops the 82nd was directly responsible for at least one death On 29 July two days after the riot officially ended 82nd Captain Randolph Smith fatally shot a 19 year old black man carrying a transistor radio named Ernest Roquemore 49 Three other individuals were injured by shotgun fire from police in the same incident The Army and Detroit Police were on a joint patrol in order to recover looted items within the vicinity 50 On 30 July the 82nd and the 101st completely left Detroit and moved back to Selfridge for redeployment to their home stations a process that continued gradually until August 2 47 1968 riots in Washington D C and Baltimore edit nbsp An 82nd paratrooper on guard duty near the passing motorists and the destroyed building on 8 April 1968 during the rioting in Washington D C The 82nd was called in to tackle civil disturbances in Washington D C and Baltimore in the wake of the nationwide riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr on 4 April 1968 In Washington D C the first of 21 aircraft carrying the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd landed at Andrews Air Force Base on 6 April with the 82nd s 2nd Brigade Combat Team joining up later 51 In total more than 2 000 82nd paratroopers were among the 11 850 federal troops to assist the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the D C Army National Guard in Washington By then the rioting had largely ended but isolated looting and arson continued for a few more days On 8 April when D C was considered pacified the 1st Brigade was later moved to Baltimore in assisting the Maryland National Guard and the Baltimore Police Department because of the ongoing city s disorder there leaving the 2nd Brigade the only 82nd unit in Washington 51 The 82nd brigades in D C and Baltimore worked with other federal state and local forces in maintaining order detaining looters clearing any signs of trouble assisting crews clearing debris from the main traffic arteries and helping sanitation food store and public utility employees to restore essential services within devastated areas 52 On 12 April orders were issued for federal troops and National Guardsmen stationed in both cities to return to their home stations The 1st Brigade was among the federal forces that left Baltimore by midnight the same day and three days later the 2nd Brigade went into an assembly area at Bolling Air Force Base where they eventually departed back to Fort Bragg sometime later 53 Post Vietnam Operations edit From 1969 into the 1970s the 82nd deployed paratroopers to South Korea and Vietnam on more than 180DBT Days Bad Time for exercises in potential future battlegrounds The division received three alerts One was for Black September 1970 Paratroopers were on their way to Amman Jordan when the mission was aborted In May 1971 they were used to help national guard and Washington DC police to round up and arrest protestors 54 Nine years later in August 1980 the 1st Battalion Airborne 504th Infantry was alerted and deployed to conduct civil disturbance duty at Fort Indiantown Gap Pennsylvania during the Cuban refugee internment War in the Middle East in the fall of 1973 brought the 82nd to full alert President Gerald Ford put the unit on high alert in case the administration decided to intervene in the Boston desegregation busing crisis 55 In May 1978 the division was alerted to a possible drop into Zaire In November 1979 the division was alerted for a possible operation to rescue the American hostages in Iran The division formed the nucleus of the newly created Rapid Deployment Forces RDF a mobile force at a permanently high state of readiness citation needed Invasion of Grenada Operation Urgent Fury edit nbsp Southern Objective Cuban built Point Salinas Airport Grenada 1983Main article United States invasion of Grenada On 25 October 1983 elements of the 82nd conducted an Airland Operation to secure Point Salines Airport following an airborne assault by the 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions who conducted the airfield seizure just hours prior The first 82nd unit to deploy was a task force of the 2d and 3d Battalions Airborne 325th Infantry On 26 October and 27 the 1st Battalion Airborne 505th Infantry and the 1st and 2nd Battalions Airborne 508th Infantry deployed to Grenada with support units 2 505 deployed as well Military operations ended in early November Note that C 2 325 did not deploy due to being a newly formed COHORT unit in its place B 2 505 deployed landing at Point Salines The 82nd expanded its missions from the airhead at Salines to weed out Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and Grenadan People s Revolutionary Army soldiers Each proceeding battalion pushed a single company forward with A 2 504 deploying only one company out of the entire brigade The operation was flawed in several areas and identified areas needing attention to enhance the United States RDF doctrine Newly issued Battledress Uniforms BDUs were not designed for the tropical environment communication between Army ground forces and Navy and Air Force aircraft lacked interoperability and even food and other logistic support to ground forces were hampered due to communication issues between the services The operation proved the division s ability to act as a rapid deployment force The first aircraft carrying troopers from the 2 325th touched down at Point Salines 17 hours after H Hour notification citation needed In March 1988 a brigade task force made up of two battalions from the 504th Infantry and 3d Battalion Airborne 505th Infantry conducted a parachute insertion and air land operation into Honduras as part of Operation Golden Pheasant The deployment was billed as a joint training exercise but the paratroopers were ready to fight The deployment caused the Sandinistas to withdraw to Nicaragua Operation Golden Pheasant prepared the paratroopers for future combat in an increasingly unstable world citation needed Panama Operation Just Cause edit nbsp Tactical map of Operation Just Cause showing major points of attackOn 20 December 1989 the All American as part of the United States invasion of Panama conducted their first combat jump since World War II onto Torrijos International Airport Panama The goal of the 1st Brigade task force which was made up of the 1 504th and 2 504th INF as well as 4 325th INF and Company A 3 505th INF and 3 319th FAR was to oust Manuel Noriega from power They were joined on the ground by 3 504th INF which was already in Panama The invasion was initiated with a night combat jump and airfield seizures the 82nd conducted follow on combat air assault missions in Panama City and the surrounding areas of the Gatun Locks The operation continued with an assault of multiple strategic installations such as the Punta Paitilla Airport in Panama City and a Panamanian Defense Forces PDF garrison and airfield at Rio Hato where Noriega also maintained a residence The attack on La Comandancia PDF HQ touched off several fires one of which destroyed most of the adjoining and heavily populated El Chorrillo neighborhood in downtown Panama City The 82nd Airborne Division secured several other key objectives such as Madden Dam El Ranacer Prison Gatun Locks Gamboa and Fort Cimarron Overall the operation involved 27 684 U S troops and over 300 aircraft including C 130 Hercules AC 130 Spectre gunship OA 37B Dragonfly observation and attack aircraft C 141 and C 5 strategic transports F 117A Nighthawk stealth aircraft and AH 64 Apache attack helicopters The invasion of Panama was the first combat deployment for the AH 64 the HMMWV and the F 117A In the short six years since the Invasion of Grenada Operation Just Cause demonstrated how quickly the US Armed Forces could adapt and overcome the mistakes and equipment interoperability issues to conduct a quick and decisive victory In all the 82nd Airborne Division suffered six of the 23 fatalities of the operation The paratroopers began redeployment to Fort Bragg on 12 January 1990 Operation Just Cause concluded on 31 Jan 1990 just 42 days D 42 since the invasion started citation needed Organization 1989 edit nbsp 82nd Airborne Division 1989 click to enlarge At the end of the Cold War the division was organized as follows 82nd Airborne Division Fort Bragg North Carolina 56 Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 1st Brigade 56 Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 504th Infantry 57 56 2nd Battalion 504th Infantry 58 56 3rd Battalion 504th Infantry 59 56 2nd Brigade 56 Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 325th Infantry 60 56 2nd Battalion 325th Infantry 61 56 4th Battalion 325th Infantry 56 3rd Brigade 56 Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 505th Infantry 62 56 2nd Battalion 505th Infantry 63 56 3rd Battalion 505th Infantry 64 56 Aviation Brigade 65 Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 1st Squadron 17th Cavalry Reconnaissance 66 1st Battalion 82nd Aviation Attack 67 2nd Battalion 82nd Aviation General Support 68 Division Artillery 69 70 71 Headquarters amp Headquarters Battery 1st Battalion 319th Field Artillery 18 M102 105mm towed howitzer 72 73 69 71 56 2nd Battalion 319th Field Artillery 18 M102 105mm towed howitzer 74 72 69 71 56 3rd Battalion 319th Field Artillery 18 M102 105mm towed howitzer 75 72 69 71 56 Division Support Command Headquarters amp Headquarters Company 307th Medical Battalion 407th Supply amp Transportation Battalion 782nd Maintenance Battalion 56 Company D 82nd Aviation Aviation Intermediate Maintenance 76 3rd Battalion 73rd Armor 77 3rd Battalion 4th Air Defense Artillery 78 307th Engineer Battalion 79 56 82nd Signal Battalion 80 81 56 313th Military Intelligence Battalion 82 82nd Military Police Company 21st Chemical Company 83 82nd Airborne Division Band 84 Post Cold War editPersian Gulf War edit nbsp Ground operations during Operation Desert Storm with the 82nd Airborne Division positioned at the left flankSeven months later the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were again called to war Four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 the 4th Battalion Airborne 325th Infantry was the Division Ready Force 1 DRF 1 and the initial ground force invaded Iraq on the orders of President George Bush Sr after his Line in the Sand 85 speech to Saddam Hussein part of the largest deployment of American troops since Vietnam as part of Operation Desert Shield The 4 325th INF immediately deployed to Riyadh and Thummim Saudi Arabia Their role was to guard the royal family as part of the agreement with King Fahd to station troops in and around the kingdom The DRF 2 and 3 1 325 and 2 325 INF respectively began drawing the line in the sand near al Jubail by building defenses for possible retrograde operations Soon after the rest of the division followed There intensive intelligence operations began in anticipation of desert fighting against the heavily armored Iraqi Army On 16 January 1991 Operation Desert Storm began when American war planes attacked Iraqi targets As the air war began 2nd Brigade of the 82nd initially deployed near an airfield in the vicinity of the ARAMCO oil facilities outside Abqaiq Saudi Arabia While 1st Brigade and 3d Brigade consolidated at the Division HQ CHAMPION Main near Dhahran in Coinciding with the start of the air war three National Guard Light Medium Truck companies the 253d NJARNG 1122d AKARNG and the 1058th MAARNG joined 2d Brigade of the 82nd In the coming weeks using primarily the 5 Ton cargo trucks of these NG truck companies the 1st Brigade moved north to tap line road in the vicinity of Rafha Saudi Arabia Eventually these National Guard truck units effectively motorized the 325th Infantry providing the troop ground transportation required for them to keep pace with the French Division Daguet during the invasion Extensive ground operations began almost six weeks later The 2 325th INF was the division s spearhead for the ground war who took positions over the Iraqi border 24 hours in advance of U N coalition forces at 8 00 a m February 22 1991 on Objectives Tin Man and Rochambeau On 23 February 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers protected the XVIII Airborne Corps flank as fast moving armor and mechanized units moved deep inside south western Iraq After the second day the 1st Brigade moved forward to extend the Corps flank along with 3d Brigade The 82nd drove deep into Iraq and captured thousands of Iraqi soldiers and tons of equipment weapons and ammunition During that time the 82nd s band and MP company processed 2 721 prisoners After the liberation of Kuwait and the surrender of the Iraqi Army the 82nd redeployed to Fort Bragg citation needed Hurricane Andrew edit In August 1992 the 82nd Airborne deployed a task force to the hurricane ravaged area of South Florida to provide so called humanitarian assistance following Hurricane Andrew For more than 30 days troopers provided food shelter and medical attention to the Florida population as part of the U S military Domestic Emergency Planning System The 82nd was part of over 20 000 Army Navy Air Force Marine Coast Guard and an additional 6200 National Guard troops deployed for the disaster 86 They also provided security and a sense of safety for the victims of the storm who were without power doors windows and in many cases roofs The 82nd Airborne were deployed to eliminate what were officially designated looters and thieves 87 Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti edit On 16 September 1994 the 82nd Airborne Division joined Operation Uphold Democracy The 82nd was scheduled to make combat parachute jumps into Pegasus Drop Zone and PAPIAP Drop Zone Port au Prince Airport in order to help oust Raoul Cedras and to restore Jean Bertrand Aristide to the presidency At the same time former U S President Jimmy Carter and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell were negotiating with Cedras to restore Aristide to power the 82nd s first wave was in the air with paratroopers waiting at Green Ramp to air land in Haiti once the airfields there had been seized When the Haitian military verified from sources outside Pope Air Force Base that the 82nd was on the way Cedras stepped down averting the invasion citation needed Former Vice President Al Gore would later travel to Fort Bragg to personally thank the paratroopers of the 82nd for their actions noting in a speech on 19 September 1994 that the 82nd s reputation was enough to change Cedras mind But it did get a little close there for a while As you may know there were 61 planes in the air headed toward Haiti at the time they finally agreed And at one point General Biamby came in and told General Cedras that he had just gotten word on his telephone that the airplanes had taken off from Pope Air Force Base with soldiers from Fort Bragg and that both disconcerted them and caused them to be suspicious of the intent of the negotiations but it also created a situation where immediately after that the key points they had been refusing to agree to were agreed to a date certain other matters that I won t go into in detail here citation needed Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage edit On 12 December 1994 the 2nd Battalion Airborne 505th Infantry with the 2nd Platoon of Company C 307th Engineer Battalion deployed as part of Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage The battalion deployed from Fort Bragg to restore order against what American officials termed Cuban refugees who had attacked and injured a number of Air Force personnel and one marine while protesting their detainment at Empire Range along the Panama Canal The battalion participated in the safeguarding of the Cuban refugees a camp cordon and reorganization and the active patrolling in and around the refugee camps in and around the Panamanian jungle along the Panama canal for two months General Engineering support in the area of camp establishment improvement operations was provided by the Sappers of the habitually associated Task Force Panther Engineer platoon 2 C 307th Task Force Panther was commanded by LTC Lloyd J Austin III who would later be the first African American General to commander of U S Central Command and U S Secretary of Defense This support included the planning of camp power requirements pouring of 78 concrete pads three foot bridges a set of mock doors for airborne pre jump training and a system of decks for the muddy camp During the deployment the paratroopers experienced a 92 degree Christmas Day and returned to Fort Bragg on 14 February 1995 citation needed Operation Joint Endeavor Bosnia edit Battalions of the 82nd prepared for a possible parachute jump to support elements of the 1st Armored Division which had been ordered to Bosnia Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Endeavor Only after engineers of the 1st Armored Division bridged the Sava River on 31 December 1995 without hostilities did the 82nd begin to draw down against plans for a possible airborne operation there The 82nd s 49th Public Affairs Detachment was deployed in support of the 1st Armored Division and air landed in Tuzla with the 1AD TAC CP and began PA operations to include establishing the first communications in print and radio and covering the crossing of the Sava River by the main forces citation needed Centrazbat 97 edit nbsp Closing ceremonies of CENTRAZBAT 97 in ChirchikIn September 1997 the 82nd traveled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for CENTRAZBAT 97 Paratroopers from Ft Bragg NC flew 8000 miles on U S Air Force C 17s and jumped into an airfield in Shimkent Kazakhstan Forty soldiers from the three republics joined 500 paratroopers on the exercise opening jump Marine Gen John Sheehan then commander in chief of the Atlantic Command was first out of the aircraft The 82nd joined units from Kyrgyzstan Turkey and Russia in the two week long NATO training mission Members of the international press and local reporters from WRAL TV and the Fayetteville Observer were also embedded with the 82nd Airborne 88 Operation Allied Force Kosovo edit In March 1999 the TF 2 505th INF deployed to Albania and forward deployed along the Albania Kosovo border in support of Operation Allied Force NATO s bombing campaign against Serbian forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic In September 1999 TF 3 504th INF deployed in support of Operation Joint Guardian replacing TF 2 505th INF TF 3 504th INF was replaced in March 2000 by elements of the 101st Airborne Division On 1 October 1999 the 1 508th ABCT SETAF made a combat jump in Operation Rapid Guardian 500 foot altitude jump near Pristina citation needed Global War on Terror edit nbsp The Army 82nd Airborne Division performs a mass paratroop jump with during the 2006 Joint Service Open House hosted at Andrews Air Force Base 20 May 2006 Operation Enduring Freedom II amp III 2002 2003 edit After 11 September attacks on the United States the 82nd s 49th Public Affairs Detachment deployed to Afghanistan in October 2001 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom along with several individual 82nd soldiers who deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility to support combat operations In June 2002 elements of the division headquarters and TF Panther HQ 3d Brigade 1 504th INF 1 505th INF 3 505th INF 1 319th FA deployed to Afghanistan In January 2003 TF Devil HQ 1st Brigade 2 504th INF 3 504th INF 2 505th INF 3 319th FA relieved TF Panther 89 Operation Iraqi Freedom I 2003 2004 edit nbsp U S Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division patrol the streets of the Al Sudeek district of Mosul Iraq in January 2005 In March 2003 2 325 of the 2nd BCT was attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment as part of a special operations task force to conduct a parachute assault to seize Saddam International Airport in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom On 21 March 2003 Company D 2 325 crossed the Saudi Arabia Iraq border as part of Task Force Hunter to escort HIMARS artillery systems to destroy Iraqi artillery batteries in the western Iraqi desert Upon cancellation of the parachute assault to seize the airport the battalion returned to its parent 2nd Brigade at Talil Airfield near An Nasariyah Iraq The 2nd Brigade then conducted operations in Samawah Fallujah and Baghdad The brigade returned to the United States by the end of February 2004 citation needed The early days of the 82nd Airborne s participation in the deployment were chronicled by embedded journalist Karl Zinsmeister in his 2003 book Boots on the Ground A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq In April 2003 according to Human Rights Watch soldiers from a subordinate unit the 325th Infantry allegedly fired indiscriminately into a crowd of Iraqi civilians protesting their presence in the city of Fallujah killing and wounding many civilians The battalion suffered no casualties 90 The 3rd Brigade deployed to Iraq in the summer redeploying to the U S in spring 2004 The 1st Brigade deployed in January 2004 The last units of the division left by the end of April 2004 The 2nd Brigade deployed on 7 December 2004 to support the free elections and returned on Easter Sunday in 2005 During this initial deployment 36 soldiers from the division were killed and about 400 were wounded out of about 12 000 deployed On 21 July 2006 the 1st Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment along with a platoon from Battery A 2nd Battalion 319th Field Artillery Regiment and a troop from 1st Squadron 73rd Cavalry Regiment deployed to Tikrit Iraq returning in December 2006 Rapid deployment operations edit Afghanistan edit In late September 2004 the National Command Authority alerted TF 1 505th INF for an emergency deployment to Afghanistan in support of that October s elections Iraq edit In December 2004 the task forces based on 2 325th AIR and 3 325th AIR were deployed to Iraq to secure the environment for the country s national elections Thanks in part to the efforts of these paratroopers more than eight million Iraqis were able to cast their first meaningful ballots citation needed Operation Enduring Freedom VI 2005 2008 edit The 1st Brigade of the 82nd deployed in April 2005 in support of OEF 6 and returned in April 2006 1st Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment deployed in support of OEF 6 from July through November 2005 citation needed In March 2006 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Airborne and Security Forces SECFOR consisting of mostly Rangers and 82nd Airborne deployed as part of a special operations task force to conduct various special operations and diplomatic security 2007 February 18 seven soldiers from the task force died in a helicopter crash The deployment would end a month later March 2007 91 In January 2007 then Maj Gen David M Rodriguez deployed the division headquarters to Bagram Air Base Afghanistan accompanied by 4th BCT and the Aviation Brigade as Commander Combined Joint Task Force 82 CJTF 82 and Regional Command East for Operation Enduring Freedom VIII The 3d BCT 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry was extended for 120 days to increase the troop strength against the Taliban spring offensive Extended to 15 month deployment 4th BCT which included 1 508th Infantry Regiment 2 508th Infantry Regiment and 4 73rd Cavalry Regiment 2 321st Field Artillery and 782nd Brigade Support Battalion was commanded by then Col Martin P Schweitzer and remained in Khowst Province from January 2007 until April 2008 The 2 508th IR worked to establish and maintain firebases in and around the Ghazni province while actively patrolling their operational area The 1 508 PIR served in Regional Command South Working mostly out of Kandahar province as the theater tactical force they mentored the Afghan National Security Force ANSF conducting combined operations with both ANSF and NATO partners in the Helmand province 92 Supporting the division were the 36th Engineer Brigade and the 43d Area Support Group Hurricane Katrina edit nbsp SGT Loeffler and his team from Company C 3rd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division wade through the flooded streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans LA during a patrol in support of Joint Task Force KatrinaThe 82nd Airborne s 3rd Brigade 505th Infantry Regiment and the division s 319th Field Artillery Regiment along with supporting units deployed to support search and rescue security operations in New Orleans Louisiana after the city was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 About 5 000 paratroopers commanded by Major General William B Caldwell IV operated out of New Orleans International Airport citation needed Reorganization edit In January 2006 the division began reorganizing from a division based organization to a brigade combat team based organization Activated elements include a 4th Brigade Combat Team 82nd Airborne Division 1 508th INF 2 508th INF 4 73rd Cav RSTA 2 321st FA 782nd BSB and STB 4th BCT and the inactivation of the Division Artillery 82nd Signal Battalion 307th Engineer Battalion and 313th Military Intelligence Battalion The 82nd Division Support Command DISCOM was redesignated as the 82nd Sustainment Brigade A pathfinder unit was reactivated within the 82nd when the Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the inactivating 313th Military Intelligence Battalion was transferred to the 2d Battalion 82nd Aviation Regiment and converted to a pathfinder role as the battalion s Company F citation needed Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006 2009 The Surge edit In December 2006 2nd BCT deployed once again to Iraq in support of OIF On 4 January 2007 2nd Brigade deployed to northern Bagdad in the Sumer and Talbiyah district returning 8 March 2008 On 4 June 2007 1st Brigade deployed to Southern Iraq returning 15 July 2008 Since the deployment began the division has lost 37 paratroopers Since 11 September 2001 the division has lost 20 paratroopers in Afghanistan and 101 paratroopers in Iraq citation needed nbsp A U S Paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division makes an arrest in June 2007 during the Iraq War Operation Enduring Freedom 2007 2008 edit In January 2007 then Maj Gen David M Rodriguez deployed the division headquarters to Bagram Afghanistan accompanied by 4th BCT and the Aviation Brigade as Commander Combined Joint Task Force 82 CJTF 82 and Regional Command East for Operation Enduring Freedom VIII The 3d BCT 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry was extended for 120 days to increase the troop strength against the Taliban spring offensive Extended to 15 month deployment 4th BCT which included 1 508th Infantry Regiment 2 508th Infantry Regiment and 4 73rd Cavalry Regiment 2 321st Field Artillery and 782nd Brigade Support Battalion was commanded by then Col Martin P Schweitzer and remained in Khowst Province from January 2007 until April 2008 The 2 508th IR worked to establish and maintain firebases in and around the Ghazni province while actively patrolling their operational area The 1 508 PIR served in Regional Command South Working mostly out of Kandahar province as the theater tactical force they mentored the Afghan National Security Force ANSF conducting combined operations with both ANSF and NATO partners in the Helmand province 92 Supporting the division were the 36th Engineer Brigade and the 43d Area Support Group Operations Enduring Freedom Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn 2008 2011 edit nbsp U S Army and Iraqi army soldiers board a Marine Corps CH 53E Super Stallion helicopter in Camp Ramadi Iraq 2009 In December 2008 the 3d BCT deployed to Baghdad Iraq and redeployed to Ft Bragg in November 2009 In August 2009 1st BCT deployed once again to Iraq and redeployed late July 2010 During the months of August and September 2009 4th BCT deployed again to Afghanistan and returned in August 2010 having lost 38 soldiers citation needed In May 2011 1 505 Task Force 1 Panther deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom Dispersed throughout the country 1st battalion was attached to various Special Operations elements 1st battalion redeployed to Fort Bragg NC in February 2012 having lost two paratroopers The 2d Brigade deployed to the Anbar Province in Iraq in May 2011 for the last time in support of Operation New Dawn with the mission to advise train and assist the Iraqi Security Forces and lead the responsible withdrawal of U S Forces Iraq Elements of 2d Brigade were among the last US combat units to withdraw from Baghdad The brigade suffered the loss of the last American service member in Iraq SPC David E Hickman on 14 November 2011 They were part of the long convoy of equipment and troops who exited Iraq into Kuwait as OIF came to an end 93 2010 Haiti earthquake Operation Unified Response edit As part of Operation Unified Response the 2d BCT on rotation as the division s Global Response Force was alerted and deployed forces to Haiti later that same day for the mission to provide humanitarian assistance following the devastating earthquake in Haiti 93 Paratroopers distributed water and food during the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief 94 Just two months following redeployment from Haiti in 2010 elements of 2d BCT Red Falcons deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to serve as trainers for the Afghan National Security Forces 95 In October 2011 the Division Headquarters returned to Afghanistan where they relieved the 10th Mountain Division as the Headquarters of Regional Command South In February 2012 4th BCT deployed to Kandahar province Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah formed an overwhelming force in Kandahar Zhari district in southern Kandahar is where Dadullah was recruiting a high number of jihadists 4th BCT of the 82nd held the 5 month siege from March 2012 to the end of July witnessing some of the most intense combat since the initial deployments since 2001 4th BCT inflicted massive casualties among the Taliban Performing with an almost perfect strategic plan 4th BCT drove Dadullah and his men out of Kandahar to the Northeastern province of Kunar where Dadullah was killed by airstrikes citation needed As of April 2012 the 1st BCT was deployed to Afghanistan operating in Ghazni Province Regional Command East The paratroopers took control of Ghazni from the Polish Armed Forces allowing the Polish Task Force White Eagle pl Polski Kontyngent Wojskowy w Afganistanie to consolidate around the provincial seat in northern Ghazni 96 In June 2012 the 3rd Brigade Combat Team deployed as part of the Global Response Force GRF in support of heavy combat operations conducted by the 1st Infantry Division The Brigade was spread across much of RC East Afghanistan In December 2013 elements of the 4th Brigade deployed again to Afghanistan and they were joined by the 1st Brigade in spring 2014 97 Since 11 September 2001 the division has lost 106 paratroopers in Afghanistan and 139 paratroopers in Iraq citation needed Operation Inherent Resolve edit On 19 December 2014 Stars amp Stripes a daily military newspaper announced 1 000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne s 3rd Brigade Combat Team would deploy to Iraq to train advise and assist Iraq s Security Forces 98 On 3 November 2016 it was reported that 1 700 soldiers from the 2d Brigade Combat Team will deploy to the U S Central Command area of responsibility in Iraq to take part in Operation Inherent Resolve They will replace the 2d Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division and will advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces currently trying to retake Mosul from ISIS fighters 99 On 27 March 2017 it was reported that 300 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne s 2nd Brigade Combat Team will temporarily deploy to northern Iraq to provide additional advise and assist combating ISIS particularly to speed up the offensive against ISIS in Mosul 100 101 On 31 December 2019 approximately 750 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne s Immediate Response Force were authorized to be deployed to Iraq in response to events which saw the United States embassy in the country stormed 102 From the start of January 2017 to September 2017 the division suffered the loss of five paratroopers killed in action 103 104 105 106 107 Syria intervention edit It was confirmed in July 2020 that the 82nd Airborne Division did in fact have combat deployments in Syria 108 109 Operation Freedom s Sentinel edit The 1st BCT deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom s Sentinel from June 2017 to March 2018 110 111 112 Two soldiers were killed in action when their convoy was purposefully hit by a vehicle filled with explosives 113 The 3rd BCT deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom s Sentinel from July 2019 to March 2020 In February 2020 soldiers from the 1st BCT 10th Mountain Division were deployed to Afghanistan to replace the 3rd BCT as part of a unit rotation 114 Iranian threat in Iraq edit The 82nd Airborne was called to deploy in Iraq upon after rioting civilians outside of the U S embassy in Baghdad Iraq breached the outer gates of the Green Zone On 1 January 2020 the first 750 troops began mobilizing to Kuwait and bases in the Baghdad area On the direct orders of Donald Trump Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U S airstrike at the Baghdad airport Iranian influence on Iraqi militia groups was believed to play a part at the rioting at the U S embassy Actions by the Iranians and the U S have increased tensions in the region not seen since before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 The 82nd airborne was among the first military units to be mobilized in response to this escalation and tensions An additional 3 500 to 4 000 troops were ordered to deploy to Kuwait in response to Iranian threats in the region 115 116 nbsp Paratroopers departing Hamid Karzai International Airport during the 2021 Kabul AirliftEvacuation of Kabul edit In August 2021 elements of the 82nd Airborne Division particularly the Immediate Response Force deployed to Afghanistan to secure the evacuation of American diplomats and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants as the Taliban seized land and converged on Kabul Throughout Operation Allies Refuge the 82nd Airborne Division served as the Operational Command Task Force 82 Operation Allies Refuge led by Major General Chris Donahue is a combined and joint ongoing NATO command post composed of forces representing NATO allied Nations 1st Brigade Combat Team Devil aviation capabilities from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Pegasus medical capabilities from the 44th Medical Brigade riot control capabilities from the 16th Military Police Brigade 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command who oversaw sustainment in the joint operational area from a command post in Kuwait 117 118 Division organization 2023 edit nbsp 82nd Airborne Division organization since 6 April 2023 nbsp 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers conduct mass attack training jump 3 55 source source source source source source nbsp Paratroopers from 504th Infantry fire a FGM 148 Javelin at targets during Decisive Action 19 08 5 nbsp A paratrooper from 505th Infantry conducts joint patrol with an Iraqi policeman in Samarra Iraq nbsp A paratrooper from 325th Infantry conducts overwatch in Afghanistan nbsp US Special Forces extraction by Company A 2nd Battalion 82nd Aviation Regiment in AfghanistanThe 82nd Airborne Division consists of a division headquarters and headquarters battalion three infantry brigade combat teams a division artillery a combat aviation brigade and a division sustainment brigade 119 120 The 82nd DIVARTY commands all artillery battalions 121 The 82nd Airborne Sustainment Brigade commands all brigade support battalions citation needed nbsp 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Liberty North Carolina nbsp nbsp Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion 82nd Headquarters and Headquarters Company Operations Company Company A Intelligence and Sustainment Company Company B Division Signal Company Company C Gainey Company Provisional 122 82nd Airborne Division Band nbsp nbsp US Army Advanced Airborne School nbsp nbsp 49th Public Affairs Detachment 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team Devil Brigade nbsp nbsp Headquarters and Headquarters Company HHC 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team 1st IBCT nbsp nbsp 3rd Squadron 73rd Cavalry Regiment nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion 504th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 504th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 501st Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 127th Brigade Engineer Battalion 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Falcon Brigade 123 nbsp nbsp Headquarters and Headquarters Company HHC 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team 2nd IBCT nbsp nbsp 1st Squadron 73rd Cavalry Regiment nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 508th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Panther Brigade nbsp nbsp Headquarters and Headquarters Company HHC 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team 3rd IBCT nbsp nbsp 5th Squadron 73rd Cavalry Regiment nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion 505th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 505th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion 508th Infantry Regiment nbsp nbsp 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion 82nd Division Artillery nbsp nbsp Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 82nd Airborne Division Artillery 124 nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment nbsp nbsp 3rd Battalion 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Pegasus Brigade 125 nbsp nbsp Headquarters and Headquarters Company Combat Aviation Brigade 82nd Airborne Division 65 nbsp nbsp 1st Squadron Attack Reconnaissance 17th Cavalry Regiment AH 64E Apache 126 nbsp nbsp 1st Battalion Attack 82nd Aviation Regiment AH 64E Apache 127 nbsp nbsp 2nd Battalion Assault 82nd Aviation Regiment UH 60M Black Hawk 128 nbsp nbsp 3rd Battalion General Support 82nd Aviation Regiment CH 47 Chinook and UH 60 Black Hawk nbsp nbsp Company D 82nd Aviation Regiment MQ 1C Gray Eagle 129 nbsp nbsp 122nd Aviation Support Battalion 82nd Division Sustainment Brigade 130 nbsp nbsp Division Sustainment Troops Battalion nbsp nbsp 189th Division Sustainment Support Battalion nbsp nbsp 82nd Brigade Support Battalion nbsp nbsp 307th Brigade Support Battalion nbsp nbsp 407th Brigade Support BattalionThe division s 3rd Brigade was known as the Golden Brigade 1970 2000 The division s 4th Brigade Combat Team inactivated in fall of 2013 the Special Troops Battalion 4th Brigade Combat Team 131 the 2nd Battalion 321st Field Artillery Regiment and the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion were inactivated with some of the companies of the 782nd used to augment support battalions in the remaining three brigades The 4th Squadron 73rd Cavalry joined the 1st Brigade Combat Team and formed the core of the newly activated 2nd Battalion 501st Infantry Regiment The 2nd Battalion 508th Infantry Regiment joined the 2nd Brigade Combat Team while the 1st Battalion 508th Infantry Regiment joined the 3rd Brigade Combat Team citation needed Traditions editTo commemorate the 1944 Waal assault river crossing made by the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 307th Engineer Battalion Airborne during Operation Market Garden an annual Crossing of the Waal competition is staged on the anniversary of the operation at McKellar s Lake near Fort Liberty The winning company receives a paddle 132 The paddle signifies that in the original crossing many paratroopers had to row with their weapons because the canvas boats lacked sufficient paddles citation needed Honors editCampaign participation credit edit nbsp Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division descend under a parachute canopy to earn foreign jump wings during the 11th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop at Fort Liberty North Carolina 6 December 2008 nbsp Paratroopers of the 82nd airborne division jump at the 2014 Market Garden memorial Landgoed Den Heuvel Groesbeek Netherlands 18 September 2014World War ISt Mihiel Meuse Argonne Lorraine 1918World War IISicily Naples Foggia Normandy with arrowhead Rhineland with arrowhead Ardennes Alsace Central EuropeArmed Forces ExpeditionsDominican Republic Grenada PanamaSouthwest AsiaDefense of Saudi Arabia Liberation and Defense of Kuwait nbsp Iraqi commandos in June 2010 training under the supervision of soldiers from the 82nd AirborneOperation Enduring Freedom OEF Operation Iraqi Freedom OIF Operation New Dawn OND Operation Inherent Resolve OIR Medal of Honor recipients edit World War I edit Lt Col Emory J Pike Corp Alvin C YorkWorld War II edit Pvt John R Towle Pfc Charles N Deglopper 1st Sgt Leonard A Funk Jr Pvt Joe Gandara 133 Vietnam War edit SSG Felix M Conde Falcon 133 Master Sergeant Roy P Benavidez 134 135 Decorations edit nbsp Presidential Unit Citation Army for Sainte Mere Eglise Presidential Unit Citation Army for Operation Market Garden Presidential Unit Citation Army for Chiunzi Pass Naples Foggia awarded to the following units of the 82nd Airborne 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 307th Engineer Battalion 2nd 80th Anti aircraft Battalion and Company H 504 PIR Presidential Unit Citation Army for the Battle of Samawah April 2003 awarded to the following unit of the 82nd Airborne 2nd Brigade Combat Team 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment Presidential Unit Citation Army for Operation Turki Bowl OIF November 2007 awarded to the following unit of the 82nd Airborne 5th Squadron 73rd Cavalry 3rd Brigade 505th PIR nbsp Valorous Unit Citation Army for Operation Iraqi Freedom 3rd Brigade Combat Team OIF 1 Valorous Unit Citation Army for actions on the objective in the Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya While attached to the 3rd Brigade 1st Armored Division Cited in Department of the Army General Order 2009 10 nbsp Meritorious Unit Commendation Army for Southwest Asia nbsp Superior Unit Award Army US Army Garrison Ft Bragg 11 September 2001 15 April 2006 Cited in DAGO 2009 29 nbsp French Croix de Guerre with Palm World War II for Sainte Mere Eglise French Croix de Guerre with Palm World War II for Cotentin French Croix de Guerre World War II Fourragere Belgian Fourragere 1940 Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in Belgium And Germany nbsp Military William Order for bravery and valiant service in battle at Nijmegen 1944 during Market Garden worn as an Orange Lanyard 8 October 1945 136 Notable members editGeneral Lloyd Austin born 1953 Commanding General of XVIII Airborne Corps Commanding General of CENTCOM 28th Secretary of Defense 137 Master Sergeant Roy P Benavidez Medal of Honor Recipient Vietnam War General of the Army Omar Bradley Moffatt Burriss politician from South Carolina Jason Crow member of the U S House of Representatives for Colorado s 6th congressional district 138 Fashion critic choreographer Bruce Darnell born 1957 Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards born 1966 LTG Michael Flynn born 1958 former commander of the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and Division G 2 139 Actor Dennis Franz born 1944 Leonard A Funk Jr 508th P I R WW2 Medal of Honor recipient and credited as the most highly decorated U S Army Airborne soldier of the Second World War General James M Gavin Colonel Chris Gibson born 1964 former commander of the 2d Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment and later commander of the division s 2d Brigade Combat Team now a New York Congressman Melvin O Handrich Medal of Honor Recipient Korean War First Special Service Force and Company I 508th Parachute Infantry in World War II Mark T Vande Hei born 1966 Col En ret prior engineer platoon leader in 3 325th Infantry 140 Real life Goodfellas movie mobster Henry Hill served as a cook in the Division from 1960 to 1963 Sean D Jordan judge Clint Lorance born 1984 officer convicted of second degree murder for battlefield deaths pardoned Wes Moore 63rd Governor of Maryland Platoon Forward Observer and Member of USA National Bobsled Team Lou Moreira 141 142 143 144 145 146 Country music singer Craig Morgan born 1964 Patrick Murphy Under Secretary of the Army born 1973 Actor Noble Craig Vietnam War R amp B singer Lou Rawls Sergeant in B Co 2 505 ABN INF 1956 58 Senator Jack Reed born 1949 Dennis Richmond journalist Syracuse University football coach Ben Schwartzwalder General Henry Hugh Shelton Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001 John Steele who famously got hung up on a parapet of the church bell tower when jumping into Sainte Mere Eglise during the first hours of D Day Senator Strom Thurmond 325th Glider Infantry Regiment in World War II Actor William Windom Benjamin H Vandervoort who led the 2nd Battalion 505th PIR on D Day and the 3rd Battalion 504th PIR during Operation Market Garden Sergeant Alvin C YorkSee also editList of commanders of 82nd Airborne Division United States 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum British Parachute Regiment Maroon beret United States military beret flash Genevieve Duboscq Medal of Honor Airborne Monica Lin Brown World War II combat jump airfields RAF Balderton RAF Barkston Heath RAF Chalgrove RAF Cottesmore RAF Folkingham RAF Merryfield RAF Membury RAF North Witham RAF Ramsbury RAF Saltby RAF SpanhoeNotes edit Sof Eric 82nd Airborne Division Spec Ops Magazine 25 November 2012 Archived from the original on 1 September 2017 82nd Airborne Division Army mil dated 16 May 2018 last accessed 11 September 2018 Kelly Jack 15 February 2002 Reconfigure Army divisions to make military stronger The Baltimore Sun Archived from the original on 23 November 2018 Retrieved 17 June 2016 a b Lineage and Honors Information 82nd Airborne Division United States Army Center of Military History Archived from the original on 8 June 2010 Retrieved 22 December 2009 Wilson John B 1998 Maneuver and Firepower The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades Washington D C Center of Military History United States Army p 60 82nd Division Summary of Operations in the World War Washington D C American Battle Monuments Commission U S Government Printing Office 1944 p 1 Rutledge G K 2 April 1918 Name for 82nd Division to be Chosen by next Sunday The Atlanta Georgian p 1 McGrath John J 2004 The Brigade A History Its Organization and Employment in the US Army Combat Studies Institute Press p 172 ISBN 978 1 4404 4915 4 82nd Division Composition World War I United States Army Center of Military History Archived from the original on 8 June 2010 Retrieved 22 December 2009 a b c d e f g h i j k 82nd Division Record of Events World War I United States Army Center of Military History Archived from the original on 8 June 2010 Retrieved 22 December 2009 Verier Mike 2001 82nd Airborne Division All American London Ian Allan p 8 Army Almanac A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States United States Government Printing Office 1959 p 587 a b c 82nd Airborne Division History 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office Archived from the original on 25 December 2009 Retrieved 1 September 2012 Blair Clay 1985 Ridgeway s Paratroopers The American Airborne in World War II Naval Institute Press pp Plate 11 Doyle Charles H Terrell Stewart 1988 Stand in the Door Williamstown New Jersey Phillips Publications p 104 Wilson John B 1998 Maneuver and Firepower The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades Washington D C Center of Military History United States Army p 165 a b Megellas James 2007 All the Way to Berlin A Paratrooper at War in Europe Random House Publishing Group p 165 ISBN 978 0 307 41448 9 Ambrose S E 2002 D Day Pocket Books p 24 82nd Airborne Division WWII Medal of Honor Recipients LoneSentry com Ruggero Ed 29 May 2007 The First Men In US Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D Day Harper Collins p 307 ISBN 978 0 06 073129 8 Four Stars of Valor The Combat history of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II Nordyke P 2006 p 329 331 Timothy J The Ardennes on Fire The First Day of the German Assault 2010 pp 56 58 Gavin J On To Berlin Battles of an Airborne Commander 1943 1946 1978 p 239 Nordyke P All American All the Way The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II 2005 p 655 LoFaro G The Sword of St Michael The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II 2011 p 481 Gavin J On To Berlin Battles of an Airborne Commander 1943 1946 1978 p 249 The Last Battle published in the Journal Army April 2001 pp 38 39 82nd Airborne After Action Report Ellis John 1990 Brute force allied strategy and tactics in the Second World War Deutsch p 440 ISBN 978 0 233 97958 8 a b Stivers William Carter Donald 2017 The City becomes a Symbol The U S Army in the occupation of Berlin 1945 1949 PDF US Army Center of Military History ISBN 978 0 16 093973 0 nbsp This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Reynolds David 1 September 1998 Paras An Illustrated History of Britain s Airborne Forces Sutton p 220 ISBN 978 0 7509 1723 0 Order of Battle of the US Army WWII ETO 82nd Airborne Division US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 23 May 2020 a b c d e Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II Final Report Statistical and Accounting Branch Office of the Adjutant General 1 June 1953 82nd Airborne Division US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 May 2020 505th Infantry History army mil Steven J Mrozek 1997 82nd Airborne Division Turner Pub Co p 65 ISBN 978 1 56311 364 2 OCLC 52963023 1st Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 a b c U S Army Center of Military History Lineage and Honors Information History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 1st Battalion 504th Infantry Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History CMH History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 2d Battalion 504th Infantry Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History CMH History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 1st Battalion 505th Infantry Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 3d Battalion 319th Field Artillery Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 407th SUPPORT BATTALION Archived from the original on 16 October 2017 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Vietnam Order of Battle by Captain Ret Shelby L Stanton p 83 Lyndon B Johnson Remarks to the Nation After Authorizing the Use of Federal Troops in Detroit The American Presidency project 24 July 1967 Archived from the original on 13 September 2018 Retrieved 16 April 2018 Timeline Detroits great rebellion com Retrieved 17 February 2022 a b Paul J Scheips 2005 The Role of Federal Military Forces PDF United States Army Center of Military History p 196 Paul J Scheips 2005 The Role of Federal Military Forces PDF United States Army Center of Military History pp 194 196 A time of tragedy a special report Detroit s riot from 3 30 A M 23 July 1967 when it began until the moment it stopped p 13 16 3 September 1967 Detroit Free Press from Detroit Michigan Page 21 a b Paul J Scheips 2005 The Role of Federal Military Forces PDF United States Army Center of Military History p 288 Paul J Scheips 2005 The Role of Federal Military Forces PDF United States Army Center of Military History pp 288 89 and 327 32 Paul J Scheips 2005 The Role of Federal Military Forces PDF United States Army Center of Military History pp 296 97 and 322 1971 May Day Protests at AllExperts Associatepublisher com 3 May 1971 Archived from the original on 18 July 2012 Retrieved 13 June 2012 Wilentz Sean 2008 The age of Reagan a history 1974 2008 1st ed New York NY Harper ISBN 978 0 06 074480 9 OCLC 182779124 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Hagerman Bart 1990 U S A Airborne 50th Anniversary 1940 1990 Turner Publishing Company ISBN 978 0 938021 90 2 Retrieved 2 July 2020 1st Battalion 504th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 2nd Battalion 504th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 3rd Battalion 504th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 1st Battalion 325th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 2nd Battalion 325th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 1st Battalion 505th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 2nd Battalion 505th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 3rd Battalion 505th Infantry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 a b Headquarters and Headquarters Company Combat Aviation Brigade 82nd Airborne Division Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History 1st Squadron 17th Cavalry Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 1st Battalion 82nd Aviation Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 2nd Battalion 82nd Aviation Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 a b c d Field Artillery February 1990 US Army Field Artillery School 1990 Retrieved 27 June 2020 Field Artillery February 1987 US Army Field Artillery School 1987 Retrieved 27 June 2020 a b c d Field Artillery December 1989 US Army Field Artillery School 1988 Retrieved 27 June 2020 a b c McKenney Janice E Field Artillery Army Lineage Series Part 2 PDF US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 1st Battalion 319th Field Artillery Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 26 June 2020 2nd Battalion 319th Field Artillery Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 26 June 2020 3rd Battalion 319th Field Artillery Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 26 June 2020 Company D 82nd Aviation Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 Reactivated unit gives 82nd Airborne an armored component that packs a Marine Corps style punch Army Times 31 October 2018 Retrieved 27 June 2020 3rd Battalion 4th Air Defense Artillery Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 307th Engineer Battalion Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 26 June 2020 Raines Rebecca Robbins Signal Corps PDF US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 82nd Signal Battalion Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 26 June 2020 313th Military Intelligence Battalion Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 21st Chemical Company Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 82nd Airborne Division Band Lineage US Army Center of Military History Retrieved 27 June 2020 Mann Jim 23 August 1990 NEWS ANALYSIS Bush s Line in the Sand Shifts as Objectives Grow Strategy The initial mission was to defend Saudi Arabia Now troops could be used to free hostages liberate Kuwait topple Hussein Los Angeles Times Retrieved 6 February 2014 Ulbrich Jeffrey 82nd Airborne savors helping our own news google com Gainesville Sun Retrieved 16 August 2015 82nd Airborne Division bragg army mil Archived from the original on 25 December 2009 Retrieved 27 July 2015 Gillert Douglas After Jumping Battalion Learns to Crawl archive defense gov US Department of Defense Retrieved 29 December 2015 General Information 82nd Airborne Division Museum Retrieved 14 October 2023 Iraq U S Should Investigate al Falluja Report Human Rights Watch 17 June 2003 Retrieved 1 September 2013 Enduring Freedom Casualties Special Reports CNN a b Transcript DoD News Briefing with Col Schweitzer from Afghanistan Defense gov Archived from the original on 9 January 2014 Retrieved 6 February 2014 a b DVIDS News Falcons say farewell to brigade commander Dvidshub net 6 March 2013 Retrieved 6 February 2014 de Montesquiou Alfred and Mike Melia 16 January 2010 Haiti earthquake survivors get more food and water The San Diego Union Tribune Associated Press Retrieved 1 September 2012 82nd airborne panama tiraleve com br Retrieved 26 April 2021 Contact Support Rc east com Retrieved 6 February 2014 Fort Bragg s 1st Brigade Combat Team to deploy to Afghanistan fayobserver com Archived from the original on 15 December 2013 Retrieved 15 January 2022 1 000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne headed to Iraq Stripes com Army to Deploy 1 700 Paratroopers to Iraq military com 3 November 2016 Army announces new Iraq Afghanistan deployments for 600 soldiers Army Times 29 March 2017 New Details on Surprise Deployment as More Soldiers Head to War Military com 29 March 2017 82nd Airborne Division preparing for deployment amid unrest in Baghdad ABC News 31 December 2019 1st Lt Weston C Lee Military Times Thefallen militarytimes com Retrieved 17 February 2022 Army SPC Allen Levi Stigler Jr Thefallen militarytimes com Retrieved 17 February 2022 Army Sgt Roshain Euvince Brooks Military Times Thefallen militarytimes com Retrieved 17 February 2022 SPC Christopher Michael Harris Thefallen militarytimes com Retrieved 17 February 2022 SGT Jonathon Michael Hunter Thefallen militarytimes com Retrieved 17 February 2022 Klopfenstein Jacob 23 July 2020 Paratrooper from St George dies in Syria authorities confirm KSL Retrieved 23 July 2020 Facebook Facebook Archived from the original on 26 February 2022 Army to Deploy Nearly 6 000 Soldiers to Europe Afghanistan Military com 27 April 2017 Drew Brooks 21 September 2017 More Than 2 000 Paratroopers Deployed To Afghanistan on Short Notice Task amp Purpose Archived from the original on 12 July 2019 Retrieved 6 September 2018 1st Brigade marks end of deployments to Afghanistan Kosovo The Fayetteville Observer Retrieved 6 September 2018 Pentagon identifies two U S troops killed in Afghanistan The Washington Post 1st BCT 10th Mountain Division to replace the 3rd BCT 82nd Airborne Division for unit rotation in the winter of 2020 army mil 5 December 2019 Retrieved 5 October 2020 Copp Tara 3 January 2020 Three defense officials confirm to me that the entire 82nd Airborne Division brigade will be sent to Kuwait in response to Iraq embassy attacks a total of about 4 000 more troops TaraCopp Retrieved 3 January 2020 3 500 more troops from Fort Bragg s 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to Middle East ABC11 Raleigh Durham 3 January 2020 Retrieved 3 January 2020 Biden orders 1 000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure as Taliban surge toward Kabul 15 August 2021 Photos America s longest war ends as last U S troops leave Afghanistan Los Angeles Times 30 August 2021 Fort Bragg Bragg army mil 16 July 2013 Archived from the original on 6 October 2016 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Brooks Drew 22 January 2014 82nd Airborne Division s 4th Brigade Combat Team headed to Afghanistan Fayetteville Observer Retrieved 6 February 2014 Bush Joseph 8 July 2016 82nd ABN DIVARTY changes with a boom Spc Lilliana Magoon Gainey Company uncases colors paves the way for innovation 82nd Airborne Division Retrieved 11 April 2023 Falcon Brigade ready to fight training to win Army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 82nd Airborne Division Artillery Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History CMH History army mil Headquarters and Headquarters Company Combat Aviation Brigade 82nd Airborne Division Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History History army mil 1 17 CAV Heavy Attack Reconnaissance Squadron official Facebook page Facebook last accessed 29 October 2017 1st Battalion 82nd Aviation Regiment History army mil 2d Battalion 82nd Aviation History army mil Company D 82nd Aviation Regiment Lineage and Honors U S Army Center of Military History CMH History army mil Retrieved 17 February 2022 Fort Bragg Archived from the original on 31 August 2015 Retrieved 11 July 2015 Coat of Arms Tioh hqda pentagon mil 1 August 2006 Archived from the original on 23 April 2014 Retrieved 21 July 2014 Wilt Susan 22 September 2008 82nd Airborne engineers re enact famous WWII river crossing U S Army Retrieved 30 October 2012 a b Recipients Valor 24 Medal of Honor The United States Army Retrieved 11 January 2015 Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez public1 nhhcaws local Retrieved 14 November 2021 Roy Perez Benavidez Vietnam War U S Army Medal of Honor Recipient Congressional Medal of Honor Society Retrieved 14 November 2021 in Dutch One of only two non Dutch units receiving this decoration Databank dapperheidsonderscheidingen Militaire Willems Orde Vaandel der 82nd U S Airborne Division niveau MWO 4 Retrieved 10 mei 2016 General Lloyd J Austin III gt U S DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE gt Biography View 5 September 2015 Archived from the original on 5 September 2015 Retrieved 12 March 2022 Congressional Veterans Caucus Jason Crow MilitaryTimes com Military Times Retrieved 15 January 2021 United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation biography of LTG Flynn Lieutenant General Michael T Flynn USA PDF Archived from the original on 6 September 2020 Retrieved 9 May 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Mars Kelli 13 March 2016 Mark T Vande Hei Colonel U S Army Retired NASA Astronaut Nasa gov Retrieved 17 February 2022 Curtis Brian Texas Bodybuilding Champ Chases Olympic Dream Nbcdfw com Retrieved 17 February 2022 Dallas TV crew covers USA Bobsled amp Skeleton hopefuls with Texas ties News Sports Jobs Adirondack Daily Enterprise Retrieved 17 February 2022 Episode 272 Army 82nd Airborne vet Lou Moreira training for Olympic bobsled team Sofrep com Retrieved 17 February 2022 USC News News usc edu 9 November 2015 Team USA Teamusa org Archived from the original on 10 February 2018 United States Olympic Committee Teamusa org Archived from the original on 29 December 2019 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Further reading editAlexander Mark and John Sparry Jump Commander In Combat with the 82nd Airborne in World War II Philadelphia Casemate 2010 ISBN 1 935149 28 8 OCLC 506253036 Angress Werner T Witness to the Storm A Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne 1920 1945 Durham NC Miriam Angress 2012 ISBN 1 4774 5701 1 OCLC 804824030 Anzuoni Robert P I m the 82nd Airborne Division A History of the All American Division in World War II After Action Reports Atglen PA Schiffer Publishing 2005 ISBN 0 7643 2347 4 OCLC 62555533 Anzuoni Robert P The All American An Illustrated History of the 82nd Airborne Division 1917 to the Present Atglen PA Schiffer Pub 2001 ISBN 0 7643 1321 5 OCLC 49935879 Barry Robert F Power Pack The Dominican Republic 1965 1966 Portsmouth Va Messenger 1965 OCLC 6655474 Baugh James Emory From Skies of Blue My Experiences with the Eighty Second Airborne During World War II New York iUniverse 2003 ISBN 0 595 74982 8 OCLC 64584040 Breuer William B Drop Zone Sicily Allied Airborne Strike July 1943 Novato CA Presidio 1983 ISBN 0 89141 196 8 OCLC 9945654 Burriss T Moffatt Strike and Hold A Memoir of the 82nd Airborne in World War II Washington D C Brassey s 2000 ISBN 1 57488 258 9 OCLC 43903491 Caraccilo Dominic J The Ready Brigade of the 82nd Airborne in Desert Storm A Combat Memoir by the Headquarters Company Commander Jefferson N C McFarland 1993 ISBN 0 89950 829 4 OCLC 27265069 Carter Ross S Those Devils in Baggy Pants Cutchogue NY Buccaneer Books 1996 ISBN 0 89966 613 2 OCLC 68043161 Cooke James J The All Americans at War The 82nd Division in the Great War 1917 1918 Westport Conn Praeger 1999 ISBN 0 275 95740 3 OCLC 39210048 Cooksey Jon Crossing the Waal The U S 82nd Airborne Division at Nijmegen Barnsley Pen and Sword Military 2005 ISBN 1 84415 228 6 OCLC 57200754 Covington Henry L A Fighting Heart An Unofficial Story of the 82nd Airborne Division Fayetteville NC T Davis 1949 OCLC 4139070 Dawson Buck Saga of the All American Atlanta Albert Love Enterprises 1946 OCLC 3595988 Francois Dominique 82nd Airborne Division 1917 2005 Bayeux Heimdal 2006 ISBN 2 84048 215 0 OCLC 64967339 Gavin James M On to Berlin Battles of an Airborne Commander 1943 1946 New York Viking Press 1978 ISBN 0 670 52517 0 OCLC 3204743 Grey Stephen Into the Viper s Nest The First Pivotal Battle of the Afghan War Minneapolis Zenith Press 2010 ISBN 0 7603 3897 3 OCLC 548583278 Heilman William H A Pilot s Tale Flying Helicopters in Vietnam Hooks Tex William H Heilman 2008 ISBN 1 4357 1185 8 OCLC 671642623 Hoyt Edwin Palmer The Invasion Before Normandy The Secret Battle of Slapton Sands Lanham MD Scarborough House 1999 ISBN 0 8128 8562 7 OCLC 41712914 Imai Kesaharu Grenada October 25 to November 2 1983 Tokyo World Photo Press 1984 OCLC 16348601 Langdon Allen Ready The History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division World War II Fort Bragg N C The Division 1986 OCLC 16221387 Lebenson Leonard Surrounded by Heroes Six Campaigns with Division Headquarters 82nd Airborne Division 1942 1945 Drexel Hill PA Casemate 2007 ISBN 1 932033 58 0 OCLC 124985055 LoFaro Guy Sword of St Michael The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II Cambridge MA Da Capo Press 2011 ISBN 0 306 82023 4 OCLC 659768768 Lunteren Frank van The Battle of the Bridges The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden Philadelphia Casemate Publishing 2014 ISBN 978 1 61200 232 3 Lunteren Frank van Birth of a Regiment The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Sicily and Salerno New York Permuted Press LLC 2022 Lunteren Frank van Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Batlle of the Bulge Philadelphia Casemate Publishing 2015 Lunteren Frank van Spearhead of the Fifth Army The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Italy from the Winter Line to Anzio Philadelphia Casemate Publishing 2016 Marshall S L A Carl Sandburg and H Garver Miller Night Drop The American Airborne Invasion of Normandy Boston Little Brown 1962 OCLC 1260577 McCann John P Passing Through The 82nd Airborne Division in Northern Ireland 1943 44 Newtownards County Down Northern Ireland Colourpoint Books 2005 ISBN 1 904242 41 3 OCLC 60883703 McKenzie John D On Time on Target The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Novato CA Presidio Press 2000 ISBN 0 89141 714 1 OCLC 42863044 McManus John C September Hope The American Side of a Bridge Too Far New York New American Library 2012 ISBN 0 451 23706 4 OCLC 741538553 Megellas James All the Way to Berlin A Paratrooper at War in Europe New York Ballantine Books 2003 ISBN 0 89141 784 2 OCLC 50810144 Mrozek Steven J 82nd Airborne Division Paducah Ky Turner Pub Co 1997 ISBN 1 56311 364 3 OCLC 52963023 Nordyke Phil All American All the Way The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II St Paul MN Zenith Press 2005 ISBN 0 7603 2201 5 OCLC 60757547 Nordyke Phil The All Americans in World War II A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War St Paul MN Zenith Press 2006 ISBN 0 7603 2617 7 OCLC 64961665 Ruggero Ed Combat Jump The Young Men Who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe July 1943 New York HarperCollins 2003 ISBN 0 06 008875 3 OCLC 51978036 Saunders Tim Nijmegen Grave and Groesbeek Barnsley South Yorkshire Leo Cooper 2001 ISBN 0 85052 815 1 OCLC 49594764 Thompson Leroy The All Americans The 82nd Airborne Newton Abbot Devon David amp Charles Publishers 1988 ISBN 0 7153 9182 8 OCLC 19393819 Zinsmeister Karl Boots on the Ground A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq New York Truman Talley Books St Martin s Press 2003 ISBN 0 312 32663 7 OCLC 52775207 Zinsmeister Karl Dan Jurgens and Raul Trevino Combat Zone True Tales of GIs in Iraq New York NY Marvel Comics 2005 ISBN 0 7851 1516 1 OCLC 61373604External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to 82nd Airborne Division nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to 82nd Airborne Division Fort Bragg Homepage Archived 1 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine Historical Account of the 82nd Airborne Division All American The Story of the 82nd Airborne Division World War II unit history booklet 1945 82nd Airborne Combat Footage DVD World War II Normandy June 1944 82nd AB Combat Footage DVD World War II including Operation Market Garden September 1944 The 82nd Airborne Division THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION The 82nd Airborne during World War II 82nd Airborne Division NYC Victory Parade 12 Jan 1946 The short film Big Picture Arctic Night is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film Big Picture All American is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film Big Picture This is Our Strength is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 17A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 18A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 19A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 20A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 25A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 27A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66 28A 1966 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive Droppingzones GPS on D day 101st and 82nd Airborne Division 1 Archived 23 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 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