Tag Archives: Airborne

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LSCO Ready

Organizing and Equipping for Airborne Medical Care in World War II

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Late September, 1944—Nijmegen

Medical personnel shuffled litters in and out. Outside the doors, the courtyard teemed with humanity. Clusters of aid-men loitered in anticipation of the jeeps, which were operated by their casualty collecting detachments. Like foraging ants they traversed the division area, to and from the regimental aid stations, and they would return direct to the imposing walls of the seminary. The seminary looked like an institution of classical learning, if nothing else for the blanket of vines which clung in patches to the dull brick construction. It was the most suitable location they could find for a division hospital. Mostly because of its size.

Had one of the early developers of the American airborne been able to peer into the future and see this sight, it would have surpassed all comprehension. The scale, the efficiency were beyond anything they envisioned, which wasn’t much. If casualty care in Nijmegen could be considered near seamless, it was not a product of the vision of early airborne developers in the US Army.

It was a gradual acceleration to the display of efficiency on the grounds of the Nijmegen seminary. But the only question that mattered is did it work?

Based in Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the chorus represents the 19,000 Army soldiers that serve in the 82nd Airborne Division. (Staff Sgt. Javier Orona/Army)
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Parapacks over Holland

Operation Market Garden's Lessons in the Fight for Supply from the Sky

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Since the release of the hit miniseries Band of Brothers and Hollywood-classic Saving Private Ryan, the story of American paratroopers in the Second World War has become cauterized in the minds of history connoisseurs and students. The story has all the elements of a homeric epic: young, fit men strapping on a parachute and leaping from planes to land amongst the enemy. They were a live military experiment in an entirely new form of warfare. The two Hollywood productions were followed by almost two decades of literature from historians and popular authors alike analyzing and dissecting the fire and brimstone shooting matches fought by these men. But little analytics have been devoted to the factors that made these battles possible.

U.S. Army photo retrieved from U.S. Army W.T.F! moments Facebook page.
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Joint Forcible Entry (JFE) in LSCO

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Analysts of the Russian Airborne Forces’ (VDV) failures in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine run the risk of making piece-meal assessments that airborne forces are irrelevant and incapable of achieving success in large scale combat operations (LSCO). The world observed the necessity of conducting effective suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) in support of a joint forcible entry (JFE) operations and the planning for secondary echelons to arrive and support the force that gained the lodgment.

Service members of the Russian airborne forces line up before boarding Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes during drills at a military aerodrome in the Azov Sea port of Taganrog, Russia April 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Stringer
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Why La Fiere is Important

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In rare moments in history, a piece of ground assumes a value in the mind of anyone speaking or seeing the name-Gettysburg, Waterloo, The Alamo, Verdun, Tarawa, Omaha Beach, Pearl Harbor, Pt Du Hoc-invoke a lasting memory of special people in a special moment. Regardless of place or distance, a mention of the name invokes an image in all. Such is La Fiere.

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Come in Fighting (ABN PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 20-04

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Looking around your C-17 and the paratroopers heavy laden with gear and a parachute, you would never known they all had just been laying in their own beds  only a week ago. When the missiles fell and our airbases in Atropia were overrun, they mobilized the 82nd Airborne Division to seize key airfields. That much you knew was possible when volunteering for an airborne assignment; the 80lbs ruck and Carl Gustav gunner to your right crushing you was not as well advertised. As the aircraft pitches into its evasive maneuvers you know you must be getting close to the drop zone. Heart pounding, they give the jump commands and you give yourself to the darkness with a vigorous up 6 and out 36.

U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, participate in an airborne operation in northeastern Italy, Aug. 8, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Henry Villarama)
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Comms Down (IBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-08

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It’s dark and humid; sweat drips down your face as you collect your thoughts and reach for your RTO. Your platoon landed at the proper DZ; your squad leaders and platoon sergeant are establishing security. But for the last 15 minutes you haven’t been able to reach anyone on the radio. Comms are down. You and your platoon are behind enemy lines with just the equipment you jumped-in. “Sir, 100% accountability confirmed and security is set. We have to start moving; what’s the call?”

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U.S. Army soldiers prepare to jump from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during a forcible entry exercise over Fort Bragg, N.C., April 29, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson.