FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- August 16 marked the 72nd anniversary of 101st Airborne Division being activated. As the only Air Assault Division in the Army, the Screaming Eagles is easily one of the most recognized U.S. military divisions in history and this milestone offers a great opportunity to reflect on the division and Fort Campbell's proud legacy.
The 101st Airborne Division's first commander, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, said upon its organization that the division had no history, but a "rendezvous with destiny." Those foretelling words proved true and since then, the Division has had numerous "Rendezvous with Destiny."
World War II
The 101st Airborne Division, following its activation and initial training, embarked for the European Theater of Operations in September 1943. In the early morning hours of June 6th, 1944, later known as D-Day, the division parachuted into the Contentin Peninsula, becoming the first Allied Soldiers to set foot onto occupied France. Charged with clearing the way at the Omaha beachheads for the 4th Infantry Division, the 101st eventually linked the Utah and Omaha beachheads and liberated the city of Carentan. The Screaming Eagles returned the European Theatre of Operations after a month of combat.
On Sept. 17, 1944, the Screaming Eagles jumped into The Netherlands heading Operation Market Garden. Holding a narrow 16-mile corridor through enemy-held terrain, the division fought for 72 days. In late-November 1944, the division returned to France to reassemble, however their time there was short. In mid-December the Screaming Eagles were recalled to the front during the Battle of the Bulge.
During the battle, their mission was to counteract the German offensive through the Ardennes Mountain region. Defending a critical road junction at Bastogne, Belgium, the Screaming Eagles were surrounded by German enemy forces that demanded their surrender. Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe famously replied, "To the German commander: Nuts! -- The American commander," and the Screaming Eagles continued to fight on until the siege was lifted.
"Lieutenant Col. Harry Kinnard, then the division operations officer, recalled that McAulliffe initially said "Us surrender, aw nuts!" and suggested to McAuliffe that he just write "Nuts" in reply," said Capt. Tyler Reid, division historian. "Kinnard, who commanded 1st Battalion of 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in 1944, went on to be very influential in the development of Air Mobile and Air Assault doctrine in the early 1960s, and it all started here."
Air Assault
During the Vietnam war, Kinnard helped pioneer the airmobile concept of sending troops into battle using helicopters. Kinnard had been a battalion commander in the 501st and jumped into Normandy before moving up to division staff. His experiences with the 101st Airborne Division and Air Assault operations helped him immensely after being selected to command the 11th Air Assault Division Test.
"Since 1948, Fort Campbell has been the Army center for the cutting edge of vertical envelopment warfare, a term used because encompasses both the parachute and the helicopter," said John O'Brien, installation historian. "Kinnard took with him a lot of officers and NCOs from the 101st, so it's kind of this Fort Campbell, Air Assault, Kinnard triangle. A lot of what was accomplished in vertical envelopment warfare was pioneered here at Fort Campbell."
The Screaming Eagles would eventually go on to become the Army's first nuclear capable Pentomic Division. On Sept. 21, 1956, reactivation ceremonies marked the return of the 101st Airborne Division to active duty at Fort Campbell, Ky. after several reactivations and inactivations for the division.
Civil Rights
A year after their reactivation, paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division were sent to Little Rock, Ark., to enforce the 1954 Supreme Court ruling ending school segregation in Brown vs. Board of Education, on Sept. 24, 1957.
Chosen for their ability to quickly deploy on short notice, division Soldiers arrived to end a three-week standoff.
The Soldiers of the 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry Regiment, met little resistance as they escorted nine black students to and from Central High School.
Vietnam War
On July 29, 1965, the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam. The remainder of the division followed in late 1967.
On Jan. 31, 1968, the enemy launched the most prevalent single attack of the war -- the Tet Offensive. Throughout the assault, the 101st Airborne Division engaged in combat operations extending as far south as Saigon and as far north as Quang Tri Province.
In August 1968, the Screaming Eagles earned a new designation, the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), after trading in their parachutes for helicopter operations. After the Tet Offensive, the division settled into Thua Thien Province where they continued offensive operations until redeployment to the United States in early 1972.
In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in numerous campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970.
Post-Vietnam
"The 101st, the only Air Assault division in the Army, was pioneering rapid deployment airborne forces around the world and after Vietnam that included the helicopter in Air Assault techniques," said O'Brien. "The Army was changing, and the U.S. would no longer be participating in land war in Asia and focus was now on Central Europe. Between 1972-1974, the 101st leadership came up with doctrine, equipment, organization, tactics, where an airmobile division could be relevant on that battlefield. They came up with the Air Assault doctrine."
In February 1974, then-Maj. Gen. Sidney Berry signed Division General Order 179 authorizing wear of the new Airmobile qualification badge, which was later renamed the Air Assault Badge.
Reflecting a shift in structure and orientation, the division was re-designated as the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Oct. 4, 1974.
In 1976, the entire division deployed to Germany to participate in Reforger exercises where the new Air Assault doctrine was thoroughly tested and validated.
Adding to Fort Campbell's long history of elite Vertical Envelopment Forces were the then 160th Task Force in 1982 and 5th Special Forces Group in 1988.
Sinai/Humanitarian/Peacekeeping
In late March 1982, elements of the 101st Airborne Division began six-month deployments to the Sinai Peninsula as members of the Multinational Force and Observers, supporting the commitment of the United States to the peacekeeping force established under the terms of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. Throughout 1984, the division participated in 15 major exercises in the United States and abroad.
In 1985, what was a seemingly routine MFO tour of duty for the 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, ended in tragedy for the division. Returning to Fort Campbell from the Sinai, Dec. 12, 1985, 248 Screaming Eagles were killed in an aircraft crash near Gander, Newfoundland.
During the later 1980s and early 1990s, the division saw numerous deployments in support of stability and support operations worldwide. The 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell-based units were deployed to humanitarian relief efforts and peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Haiti, the Sinai Peninsula, Central and South America, Bosnia, Kosovo and Honduras.
Persian Gulf War
On Jan. 17, 1990, the division's Screaming Eagles fired the first shots in the allied war against Iraq and its occupation of neighboring Kuwait.
The mission of "Task Force Normandy" involved two teams of Apache attack helicopters from the division's 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment. They destroyed two Iraqi radar posts about 20 minutes before allied fighter jets roared into Baghdad.
The division deployed for six months to the Middle East in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was there that the Screaming Eagles conducted the longest and largest Air Assault operations to date during the liberation of Kuwait, effectively securing Iraqi territory in the Euphrates River Valley.
No 101st Soldiers were killed in action during the 100-hour war, and they captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war. The 101st redeployed in May 1991.
1991 through 2001
The division spent 1991 through 2001 all over the world. Fort Campbell-based units deployed to central and south America for hurricane relief, civil assistance projects, peacekeeping and peace enforcement.
Bits and pieces of the 101st were deployed as multi-national forces observers, monitoring the border between Egypt and Israel in the Sinai Peninsula, and in Honduras and Cuba, guarding Cuban migrants.
These deployments served as preparation for the war that would come in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Global War on Terrorism
"America was viciously attacked in what officials are calling an act of war, [and] I agree with that assessment," said then-Maj. Gen. Richard A. Cody, commanding general of 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell, at a press conference, Sept. 12, 2001.
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 3rd Brigade, 101st Abn. Div., also known as the Rakkasans, deployed in November 2011 to Afghanistan as the first conventional unit to fight as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
At that time, the 2nd Brigade, 101st Abn. Div., was largely deployed to Kosovo on peacekeeping operations, with some elements of 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, deploying after 9/11 as a security element alongside the Fort Campbell-based 5th Special Forces Group in the U.S. Central Command area of operation.
In March 2002, the Rakkasans were, in part, responsible for offensive operations in the Shoh-I-Khot Valley that delivered a debilitating blow to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, conducting Operation Anaconda, which was often credited as the largest battle of out of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. After a challenging six-month deployment, 3rd Brigade redeployed.
In anticipation of combat operations against the regime of Saddam Hussein, the division deployed to Kuwait in February and March 2003. Fighting its way from Najaf, through Karbala and Hillah, the division ultimately consolidated in southern Baghdad in April 2003.
While the division was an integral part of the initial ground war that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, it also found its missions beginning to transition into stability and support operations.
In 2003, the 101st started a program out of necessity. In addition to its mission, there were power facilities, dams, and other areas that required security.
The division and fellow units could not handle the task of having to guard these facilities. There were simply too many. In response, the division commanding general at that time, then-Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, organized a program called the Joint Iraqi Security Company, developed in Mosul in 2003.
According to O'Brien, that program became the basis upon which the new Iraqi army was formed, laying the foundation and framework for the new Iraqi army to which the U.S. Armed Forces handed over control of Iraq. The 101st Airborne Division has a very distinct connection to the early days of what became the Iraqi security forces after the U.S. troop withdrawal.
In early 2004, the division redeployed to Fort Campbell. During the year that followed, the 101st Airborne Division recovered and reorganized under the new Army Transformation Organizational structure, just prior to its second deployment to Iraq.
In November 2005, the Division Headquarters, 101st CAB, and 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams deployed to Iraq for a second time. As Task Force Band of Brothers, the division assumed responsibility for the northern half of Iraq, which was the largest area of operations.
Under the new modular structure, 2nd and 4th Brigade Combat Teams and the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade were attached to other Multinational Division or Multinational Force commands in other areas of Iraq.
The majority of the division deployed in late 2007. The division's 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams and elements of the Sustainment Brigade deployed independently to Iraq where each served under the command of different multinational divisions then conducting combat operations throughout Iraq.
Soldiers of the 49th Quartermaster deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan to support combat and combat support operations. The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade deployed to Afghanistan, and the unit was eventually relieved by the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Afghanistan-OIF
In March 2008, the Headquarters (and Special Troops Battalion), 101st Airborne Division, joined the 4th Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Sustainment Brigade in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As Combined Joint Task Force 101, the division headquarters, supported by attached Coalition units, was responsible for Regional Command-East.
The Soldiers of CJTF-101 thrived in their role as both Soldier/diplomats and warriors, helping restore the Afghan people's confidence and trust in their government, while improving their quality of life through more than 2,500 innovative development projects.
On May 2, 2011, Special Forces Soldiers and Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda and responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Shortly after bin Laden's death, President Barack Obama visited Fort Campbell to thank 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Soldiers and Soldiers in the Division.
The Division's efforts in Afghanistan resulted in successful and decisive operations, producing a significantly improved Afghan National Security Force committed to the defense of their country.
Present
Currently, 159th CAB and 2nd BCT are wrapping up their deployments in Afghanistan while sister brigades, 3rd BCT and 1st BCT prepare for their next "rendezvous with destiny" as part of the upcoming rotation of forces.
"At any given time, since 9/11, someone from 101st or Fort Campbell installation has been in combat -- somewhere," said Reid. "Sometimes the whole division, sometimes half, one brigade in Iraq while another in Afghanistan … bottom line is the 101st is always somewhere making history."
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