{"id":268899,"date":"2024-08-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=268899"},"modified":"2024-08-30T00:07:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T00:07:42","slug":"101st-airborne-division-conducts-historic-air-assault-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=268899","title":{"rendered":"101st Airborne Division conducts historic air assault mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) depart the Oxford-University Airport, Miss. during forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations on August 14, 2024.<\/p>\n

(U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Raymond Valdez)
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. \u2013On Aug. 28, 2024, more than 3000 Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team \u201cSTRIKE\u201d, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) finished their second rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in eight months. However, the beginning of the exercise was transformative and historic. The 2MBCT conducted a \u201clarge-scale, long-range\u201d air assault (L2A2) operation consisting of 80 aircrafts, across three states, flying from Fort Campbell, Ky. to Fort Johnson, La.\u00a0Aug. 13-17.<\/p>\n

After traveling for over 500 miles, including stops at six forward arming and refueling points (FARPs), scattered over multiple southern states, the 2MBCT arrived at JRTC..<\/p>\n

The movement method was not a typical way a brigade travels to \u201cThe Box\u201d, but a way that was reminiscent to the founding of the 101st. Traditionally, units move by ground to Fort Johnson, spend several days preparing before entering the combat scenario. The Strike Brigade moved by air-to-ground into simulated-contested landing zones. \u00a0Thus began a two-week bout with the well-known opposing forces \u201cGeronimo,\u201d 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legacy that we have, dating all the way back to World War II when we were an Airborne Division fighting in Europe,\u201d\u00a0said U.S. Army Col. Travis McIntosh, the deputy commanding officer for support for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) \u201cYour 101st Airborne Division now is Air Mobile–it\u2019s Air Assault, we have a number of helicopters. That\u2019s how we fight in this division and we\u2019re demonstrating that from Kentucky and Tennessee all the way down to Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) arrive in Tunica, Miss. Air Center to conduct forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations on August 13, 2024.
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This was much more than an aviation mission. On Aug. 13, troops and equipment from across the Division began their movement from Fort Campbell to FARP\u00a0s across Mississippi and Louisiana. The sites, far from a simple pit stop along the operational path, provided vital sustainment for the troops and helicopters along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur birds [aircraft] are able to come in get fueled, get armed and continue the fight,\u201d said 1st Lt. James Tate, a quartermaster officer with Echo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. \u201cWe can puddle hop across and get the birds further over a shorter period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ability to send an entire brigade into an enemy area of operations further and faster is not the only aspect that allows this type of exercise to succeed \u2013 it also needs to be done at night.<\/p>\n

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\n Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) take off into the night in AH-64 “Apache” helicopters during a large-scale, long-range Air Assault on Aug. 14, 2024, at Monroe Regional Airport, La. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Brianna Badder)
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\u201cWe conduct all our operations under a period of darkness,\u201d said Tate. \u201cWe like the birds to get in, receive their fuel, get armed and off of our pads within 12 to 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quick turnaround represents a massive amount of coordination from within the division but training like this is only made possible by the support of the local communities, airports, and National Guard locations who hosted the FARPs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are overwhelmed by the support from the community,\u201d said McIntosh. \u201cFrom law enforcement to the elected and appointed officials, airport management, emergency services, Louisiana National Guard, support has really poured on to the 101st Airborne Division here and we couldn\u2019t be more grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Soldiers of the Strike Brigade descended into JRTC for their training in an auxiliary manner as the Army continues to modernize, innovate and transform its warfighting capabilities. The L2A2 displays the combat power of today with 101st, just as airborne paratroopers did in World War II. The 101st doesn\u2019t just keep older ways of combat entry relevant but to make those unique abilities the future of combat operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re experimenting on some of the most modern equipment that the Army has fielded and we\u2019re looking forward to providing that feedback to the Army,\u201d said McIntosh. \u201cWe\u2019re demonstrating the capability that\u2019s only seen in the 101st Airborne Division and that\u2019s long-range air assault.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) depart the Oxford-University Airport, Miss. during forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations on August 14, 2024. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Raymond Valdez) (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Raymond Valdez) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. \u2013On Aug. 28, 2024, more than 3000 Soldiers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268901,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=268899"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268904,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268899\/revisions\/268904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/268901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=268899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=268899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=268899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}