The German successes with airborne assaults lead the United States and Allied Forces to form their own airborne units. A U.S. Army Test Platoon was established in June 1940. The name of this platoon was later changed to the 501st Parachute Battalion, when it was reorganized as the first permanent US Army airborne infantry unit in September 1940.
As the airborne program expanded the 82nd Airborne Division was activated. Airborne units, at this time, usually consisted of one parachute infantry regiment (PIR) and two glider infantry regiments (GIR) when first activated. The 82nd Airborne Division was first organized with 17,000 men, but later half of these men would remain in the 82nd and the other half would become the 101st Airborne Division.
There were several different types of units that made up the 101st when first formed; there were the glider infantry regiments the 401st and the 327th and a parachute infantry regiment the 502nd. At first the 101st was organized as a reserve unit, but on August 15, 1942 the division was disbanded and reconstituted as part of the active duty Army, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The first division commander, Major General William C. Lee, was quoted saying "The 101st has no history but it does have a 'Rendezvous with Destiny'."
The 101st was moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in October 1942. At Fort Bragg they started training for their future missions. During the training, at Fort Bragg, a rivalry between the parachute and glider elements developed. The paratroopers received extra pay or "parachute pay" for their dangerous duties while the glider troops had equally dangerous duties, but received no extra pay.
The division participated in the first test of their abilities at Fort Bragg when they participated in local maneuvers. Closely following these maneuvers, the 101st left for Tennessee to take part in the Tennessee Maneuvers. At the same time as these maneuvers, the 506th PIR was attached to the division. During the impressive performance by the "Screaming Eagles", MG Lee was injured in a glider incident. He would later remark " Next time I'll take a parachute." These maneuvers also showed the true capabilities of the U.S. Airborne Forces, and proved that the glider troops deserved and would receive extra pay for their hazardous duty.
In 1944, the 101st was then ordered to deploy overseas to England to continue training. Later in January 1944 the division received the attachment of yet another parachute regiment, the 501st. The 101st then went through another change when MG Lee, their first Commanding General, had a heart attack. In February 1944, he was sent back to the States and former commander of the 82nd, Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor, took command of the 101st. Then in the early months of 1944, the division lost the 401st GIR to the 82nd, when they were permanently transferred.. The 101st Airborne Division then continued its training until June 6,1944 when the division joined their first campaign, the invasion of Normandy in
The 101st was moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in October 1942. At Fort Bragg they started training for their future missions. During the training, at Fort Bragg, a rivalry between the parachute and glider elements developed. The paratroopers received extra pay or "parachute pay" for their dangerous duties while the glider troops had equally dangerous duties, but received no extra pay.
The division participated in the first test of their abilities at Fort Bragg when they participated in local maneuvers. Closely following these maneuvers, the 101st left for Tennessee to take part in the Tennessee Maneuvers. At the same time as these maneuvers, the 506th PIR was attached to the division. During the impressive performance by the "Screaming Eagles", MG Lee was injured in a glider incident. He would later remark " Next time I'll take a parachute." These maneuvers also showed the true capabilities of the U.S. Airborne Forces, and proved that the glider troops deserved and would receive extra pay for their hazardous duty.
In 1944, the 101st was then ordered to deploy overseas to England to continue training. Later in January 1944 the division received the attachment of yet another parachute regiment, the 501st. The 101st then went through another change when MG Lee, their first Commanding General, had a heart attack. In February 1944, he was sent back to the States and former commander of the 82nd, Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor, took command of the 101st. Then in the early months of 1944, the division lost the 401st GIR to the 82nd, when they were permanently transferred.. The 101st Airborne Division then continued its training until June 6,1944 when the division joined their first campaign, the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
The Division was active in three major campaigns. The first campaign was D-Day or the invasion of France. Operation Market-Garden in Holland was their second campaign. Their third and most notable campaign of WWII was the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest.
In the Siege of Bastogne the 101st Airborne Division was holding within the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the Ardennes mountain range converged on the small town of Bastogne, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack. The siege lasted from December 20 to December 27 when the besieged 101st forces were relieved by elements of General Patton's Third Army.
On 1 August 1945, the 501 PIR was moved to France while the rest of the division was based around Zell am See and Kaprun in the Austrian alps. The division was deactivated 30 November 1945.
For their efforts during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division was awarded four campaign streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations. The division suffered 1,766 Killed In Action; 6,388 Wounded In Action; and 324 Died of Wounds during World War II.
The 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, in 1948 and again in 1950. It was reactivated again in 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and in March 1956, the 101st was transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to be reorganized as a combat division. The 101st was reactivated as a "pentomic" division with five battle groups in place of its World War II structure that featured regiments and battalions.
In the mid-1960s, the 1st Brigade and support troops were deployed to the Republic of Vietnam, followed by the rest of the division in late 1967. The 101st was deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the Vietnam People's Army (NVA) infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley for most of the war.
In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in 15 campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970.
In 1968, the 101st took on the structure and equipment of an airmobile division. Following its return from Vietnam, the division was rebuilt with one brigade (3d) and supporting elements on jump status, using the assets of what had been the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The remaining two brigades and supporting units were organized as airmobile. With the exception of certain specialized units, such as the pathfinders and parachute riggers, in early 1974 the Army terminated jump status for the division.
Concurrently the 101st introduced the Airmobile Badge (renamed later that year as the Air Assault Badge), the design of which was based on the Glider Badge of World War II. Initially the badge was only authorized for wear while assigned to the division, but in 1978 the Army authorized it for service-wide wear. Soldiers continued to wear the garrison cap with glider patch, bloused boots, and the cloth wing oval behind their wings, as had division paratroopers before them. A blue beret was authorized for the division in the early 1970s until revoked at the end of 1978.
The division also was authorized to wear a full color (white eagle) shoulder patch insignia instead of the subdued green eagle shoulder patch that was worn as a combat patch by soldiers who fought with the 101st in Vietnam, a distinction shared with the 1st and 5th Infantry divisions.
In January 1991, the 101st once again had its "Rendezvous with Destiny" in Iraq during the combat air assault into enemy territory. The 101st sustained no soldiers killed in action during the 100-hour war and captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war. The 101st Aviation Regiment, fired the first shots of the war when eight AH-64 helicopters successfully destroyed two Iraqi early warning radar sites.
The division has supported humanitarian relief efforts in Rwanda and Somalia, then later supplied peacekeepers to Haiti and Bosnia.
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) was the first conventional unit to deploy in support of the American War on Terrorism. The 2d Brigade, "Strike", built around the 502d Infantry, was largely deployed to Kosovo on peacekeeping operations, with some elements of 3rd Battalion, 502nd, deploying after 9/11 as a security element in the U.S. CENTCOM AOR with the Fort Campbell-based 5th Special Forces Group. The Division quickly deployed its 3rd Brigade, the 187th Infantry's
Rakkasans, as the first conventional unit to fight as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
After an intense period of combat in rugged Shoh-I-Khot Mountains of eastern Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda with elements of the 10th Mountain Division, the
Rakkasans redeployed to Fort Campbell only to find the 101st awaiting another deployment order. In 2008, the 101st 4th BCT Red and White "Curraahee" including the 1st and the 2nd Battalions, 506th Infantry "Band of Brothers" were deployed to Afghanistan. The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade deployed to Afghanistan as Task Force Destiny in early 2008 to Bagram Air Base. 159th Combat Aviation Brigade deployed as Task Force Thunder to Afghanistan in early 2009.
In 2003, Major General David H. Petraeus ("Eagle 6") led the Screaming Eagles to war during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). General Petraeus led the division into Iraq saying, "Guidons, Guidons. This is Eagle 6. The 101st Airborne Division's next Rendezvous with Destiny is North to Baghdad. Op-Ord Desert Eagle 2 is now in effect. Godspeed. Air Assault. Out." The division was in V Corps, providing support to the 3rd Infantry Division by clearing Iraqi strongpoints which that division had bypassed. 3rd Battalion 187 inf regt (3rd Brigade) was attached to 3rd Infantry Division and was the main effort in clearing Saddam International Airport.
The Division then went on to a tour of duty as part of the occupation forces of Iraq, using the city of Mosul as their primary base of operations. 1st and 2d Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment (1st Brigade) oversaw the remote airfield Qayarrah West 30 miles (48 km) south of Mosul. The 502d Infantry Regiment (2d Brigade) and 3d Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment were responsible for Mosul itself while the 187th Infantry Regiment (3d Brigade) controlled Tal Afar just north of Mosul.
The division's second deployment to Iraq began in the late summer of 2005. During the second deployment, 2d and 4th Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division were assigned to conduct security operations under the command of Task Force Baghdad, led initially by 3d Infantry Division, which was replaced by 4th Infantry Division. Task Force Band of Brothers' primary mission during its second deployment to Iraq was the training of Iraqi security forces.
When the 101st returned to Iraq, there were no Iraqi units capable of assuming the lead for operations against Iraqi and foreign terrorists. As the division concluded its tour, 33 battalions were in the lead for security in assigned areas, and two of four Iraq divisions in northern Iraq were commanding and controlling subordinate units.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st is currently deployed in Iraq, in the Salah ad Din Province, northeast of Baghdad. The 2d Brigade Combat Team returned from a deployment in Northwest Baghdad, November 2008, and the 3d Brigade Combat Team is currently back from their most recent deployment in the Southern belt region southwest of Baghdad.
Since the attacks on September 11th, the 101st Airborne Division has remained one of the premier fighting forces of the Global War on Terrorism, and continues to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq as a part of OEF and OIF, respectively.
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101st Airborne Division Structure