United States Army 82nd Airborne Division (All-Americans)

U. S. ARMY 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION (ALL-AMERICANS) -  The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army, specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas.   Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps.  The 82nd Airborne Division is one of the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile formations.   Recently the 82nd Airborne has been conducting operations in Iraq.  The 82nd Airborne has been assigned to advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces.

The division was constituted, originally as the 82nd Division, in the National Army on  August 5, 1917, shortly after the American entry into World War I, and was organized on August 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia 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 unit acquired the nickname All-American, which is the basis for its famed "AA" 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, gaining an excellent reputation.

Casualties

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

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 Alaska, Panama, the Far East and the continental United States.

In April 1965, the "All-Americans" entered the civil war in the Dominican Republic, in which more than 3,000 Dominicans died. Spearheaded by the 3rd Brigade, the 82nd deployed in Operation Power Pack.  A year later, the 82nd went into action in Vietnam.  Within the United States, in 1967, the 82nd was sent to deal with the massive 1967 Detroit riot. Within two days of their deployment, the riots ended, with 43 people dead.  From 1969 into the 1970s, the 82nd deployed paratroopers to South Korea and Vietnam.  

On October 25, 1983, elements of the 82nd conducted an Airland Operation to secure Point Salinas Airport following an airborne assault by the 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions who conducted the airfield seizure just hours prior.  On December 20, 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.  Seven months later the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were again called to war.  Four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, 2/325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (AIR) was the Division Ready Force 1 (DRF-1) and the initial ground force, as President George Bush's "Line in the Sand" speech to Saddam Hussein part of the largest deployment of American troops since Vietnam as part of Operation Desert Shield.

In August 1992, the division deployed a task force to the hurricane-ravaged area of South Florida to provide 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 and an additional 6200 National Guard troops deployed for the disaster.  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. There were, as with all disasters, criminals trying to take advantage of the situation, in this case looters and thieves. The presence of the 82nd quickly eliminated that factor from the equation.

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.

The 82nd Airborne Division has not been deactivated and continues to serve.