Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute battalion-sized air assault operations to seize terrain. These operations can be conducted by mobile teams covering large distances or areas, fighting behind enemy lines, and working in austere environments with limited or degraded infrastructure. For example, it was active in foreign internal defense and counterterrorism operations in Iraq, in Afghanistan in 2015–2016, and in Syria, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2018–2021.
The Air Assault Badge is awarded by the U.S. Army for successful completion of the Air Assault School. The course includes three phases of instruction involving U.S. Army rotary wing aircraft: combat air assault operations; rigging and slingloading operations; and rappelling from a helicopter.
The 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment (Rakkasans) is a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.
The 502nd Infantry Regiment, previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, and was assigned as a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, "The Screaming Eagles", one of the most decorated formations of the U.S. Army. The regiment saw substantial action in the European Theater of World War II and was inactivated in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Reactivating in a new form in 1956, the 502nd Infantry has served in the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Iraq War, War in Afghanistan, and Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. Since 1974, the regiment has been classified as an Air Assault unit. Currently, its 1st and 2nd battalions are active. Both battalions are assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The 503rd Infantry Regiment, formerly the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment served as an independent regiment in the Pacific War during World War II; at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; in Okinawa, Japan; and in Germany. Regimental elements have been assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne Division, the 24th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Regimental elements have participated in campaigns in the Vietnam War, Operation Enduring Freedom–Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment claims 15 Medal of Honor recipients: two from World War II, ten from Vietnam, and three from Afghanistan. A parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System. The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are active, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. The 3rd and 4th Battalions as well as Companies E, F, G, H, and I have been inactived.
Majid al Tamimi Airbase, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as Al Sahra Airfield is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad and 11 kilometers west of the Tigris River. Prior to 2003, Al Sahra Airfield was the main base of the Iraqi Air Force Air Academy. The Marines from Task Force Tripoli captured the base from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and turned it over to the United States Army who used it as the headquarters of the United States Division–North. The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 9,600 feet (2,900 m) long with a shorter runway measuring 7,200-foot (2,200 m). The Americans named the airfield after Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a United States Navy pilot who was killed in action in Iraq during the Gulf War.
The Battle of Mosul was fought during the Iraq War in 2004 for the capital of the Ninawa Governorate in northern Iraq that occurred concurrently to fighting in Fallujah.
Operation Airborne Dragon was a part of Operation Northern Delay in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. US airborne troops seized Bashur air base in northern Iraq, and were then reinforced by air with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The combined force held the airfield until the arrival of ground forces.
The 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Iron Rakkasans, is a battalion of the US Army 187th Infantry Regiment. The battalion was activated on 25 February 1943 and first saw action in the Pacific Theater of the Second World War, during the battle to regain US control of the Philippines. Troops from the battalion then served in the four-year occupation of Japan, where they earned their nickname "Rakkasans", before stationing in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The battalion served in the Korean War from 1950 as the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and participated in 12 major missions during the Vietnam War, emerging from that conflict as the US's most highly decorated airborne battalion. In 1992 they were designated as the "Iron" Rakkasans by Lieutenant Colonel David Petraeus due to his Leader Rakkasan physical fitness test that added a fourth element of pull-ups to the standard APFT. The battalion has received numerous awards and commendations, including six Presidential Unit Citations and four Valorous Unit Awards.
The 2008 Nineveh campaign was a series of offensives and counter-attacks between insurgent and Coalition forces for control of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq in early-to-mid-2008. Some fighting also occurred in the neighboring Kirkuk Governorate.
The Battle of Samawah took place during the 2003 invasion of Iraq as American troops fought to clear the city of Iraqi forces. The city had been bypassed during the advance on Baghdad, leaving the task of clearing it to American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division with mechanized infantry and armor provided by units of the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, and 2-70th Armor Battalions, along with 3rd platoon 59th Chemical Company tasked with finding and removing any potential chemical or biological weapons. The battle was the largest sustained urban combat that paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne had been involved in since World War II.
The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) formerly supported the 101st Airborne Division, and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While active, 159th CAB made the 101st Airborne Division the only US Army Division with two organic aviation brigades, and currently the 101st CAB is the only CAB supporting the unit at Fort Campbell. The 159th CAB was inactivated on 15 May 2015.
The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade is the Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division. It was first organized in July 1968 as an aviation group and stands as the most decorated aviation unit in the United States Army. It was redesignated an aviation brigade in 1986. It has served in almost every single military operation since the Vietnam War. In support of the Global War on Terror, the CAB has distinguished itself as the military's premiere combat aviation unit during its two deployments to Iraq and five deployments to Afghanistan. The brigade has flown hundreds of thousands of hours during these combat tours, transporting millions of troops around the battlefield and providing close air support/aerial reconnaissance. The 101st broke its own record for longest air assault in history during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Previously, the longest air assault was conducted in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.
This is the order of battle for the invasion of Iraq during the Iraq War between coalition forces and the Iraqi Armed Forces; Fedayeen Saddam irregulars; and others between March 19 and May 1, 2003.
Qayyarah Airfield West is an Iraqi Air Force base in the Qayyarah subdistrict of Mosul District in northern Iraq. It was captured by U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. It was also known as Q–West or Key West by the various U.S. Army Forces and civilian contractors stationed there. Control of the base was returned to Iraq in March 2020.
Tal Afar Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base near Tal Afar in the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq.
The 101st Airborne Division is a specialized modular light infantry division of the US Army trained for air assault operations. The Screaming Eagles has been referred to by journalists as "the tip of the spear" as well as one of the most potent and tactically mobile of the U.S. Army's divisions. The 101st Airborne Division has a history that is nearly a century long. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles, including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969. In mid-1968, it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division and then in 1974 as an air assault division. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the height of the War on Terror, the 101st Airborne Division had over 200 aircraft. The division now has slightly over 100 aircraft.
During the course of the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), an international coalition, primarily composed of the Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga, CJTF–OIR, along with the allied Popular Mobilization Forces, Company A, 2-502 Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, captured Mosul from the Islamic State, which had used Mosul as the capital for the Iraqi half of its "caliphate".
This is the Military intervention against ISIL ground order of battle, which lists the American forces and allies aerial assets that have taken part in the Military intervention against ISIL between June 2014 and the present day.
