Today is National Airborne Day

The US Army started flirting with Airborne – read parachute inserted – troops as early as 1917 when Brigadier General Billy Mitchell proposed the idea. Nothing came of that proposal however until 1940 when the Army spun up a test platoon. The first official jump occurred on 16 August 1940. This test platoon led to the formation of the 501st and 502nd Parachute Infantry Battalions in 1941.

WWII saw the development and use of a wide array of Airborne tactics, from the Pathfinders, to massed jumps to smaller insertions. The original two battalions expanded to 5 full Airborne Divisions; the 82nd was the first, then the 101st, 11th, 13th, and 17th. Of the Airborne divisions in WWII, the 82nd and 101st saw the bulk of combat – all in the ETO. The 11th saw limited action in the Pacific. The 13th and 17th had limited roles in Europe near the end of the war with Operation Varsity.

Post war, only two Airborne divisions survived; the 82nd and the 101st. In 1968 the Screaming Eagles were converted into an Air Mobile division. The unit has however kept much of the Airborne regalia.

The 11th was reactivated in 2022. The bulk of the 11th Airborne is stationed in Alaska either at JB Elmendorf – Richardson or Ft. Wainwright.

Today, the Airborne Force consists of the 82nd Airborne division, the 11th Airborne division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Airborne troopers – whether parachute inserted or not – have fought in every conflict the United States has been in since WWII.

AIRBORNE!!