[citation needed], The 1st Brigade of the 82d deployed in April 2005 in support of OEF 6, and returned in April 2006. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The first aircraft carrying troopers from the 2-325th touched down at Point Salines 17 hours after H-Hour notification. After the second day, the 1st Brigade moved forward to extend the Corps flank along with 3d Brigade. James Grimes lead the newly reactivated Alpha Company. On 10 November, it moved again to training areas in Bourmont, where it remained until the 11 November armistice. During the months of August and September 2009, 4th BCT deployed again to Afghanistan and returned in August 2010 having lost 38 soldiers. The 2nd SS Panzer's objective was to outflank the 82nd Airborne. More than three decades after getting out of the armor business, soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division have reactivated a company that will add Marine Corps armored vehicles to its formation. The Division is the nation's strategic offensive force, maintaining the highest state of combat readiness. In April 2003, according to Human Rights Watch, soldiers from a subordinate unit, the 325th Infantry, fired indiscriminately into a crowd of Iraqi civilians protesting their presence in the city of Fallujah. [113][114], 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) "Devil Brigade", 82nd Airborne Division Artillery (DIVARTY) (Has training and readiness oversight of field artillery battalions, which remain organic to their brigade combat teams), Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 82nd Airborne Division "Pegasus Brigade"[118], 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade[124], The division's 3rd Brigade was known as the Golden Brigade, 1970–2000. Their primary mission was airfield and seaport seizure. Class Number 1 was limited to sixty candidates from 81 applicants. The goal of the 1st Brigade task force, which was made up of the 1-504th and 2-504th INF as well as 4-325th INF and Company A, 3-505th INF, and 3-319th FAR, was to oust Manuel Noriega from power. On 21 March 2003, Company D crossed the Saudi Arabia–Iraq border as part of Task Force Hunter to escort heavy rocket artillery indirect fire systems to destroy Iraqi artillery batteries in the western Iraqi desert. Only after engineers of the 1st Armored Division bridged the Sava River on 31 December 1995 without hostilities did the 82d begin to draw down against plans for a possible airborne operation there. The mission of the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate is to plan, execute, and report on assigned Five Year Test Programs and Customer Tests for Joint airborne and Special Operations Forces to support doctrine development and the materiel acquisition process. On 9 October, the division continued its attack, and advanced its left flank to a line from south of Pylône to the Rau de la Louvière. During this cycle, the brigade was at its highest state of readiness. [citation needed], In late September 2004 The National Command Authority alerted TF 1-505th INF for an emergency deployment to Afghanistan in support of that October's (first free) elections. The firepower upgrades provide tactical and operational benefits for the core mission of the 82nd Airborne Division’s global response force, which includes providing a quick-reaction force anywhere around the world as needed. The 504th was replaced in the division by the inexperienced 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel George V. Millet, Jr.. On 15 January 2006, as part of the Army's transformation towards a modular force, the composition of the 82nd Airborne was changed. The units would go through the entire alert, recall, and deployment procedures as if it was real. He has written about crime, courts, government and military issues for multiple publications since 2004. var d = new Date(); The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was one of the three infantry regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division and had served as such for more than 50 years. On 7 October the division, minus the 163rd Infantry Brigade, attacked the northeastern edge of the Argonne Forest, making some progress toward Cornay, and occupied Hill 180 and Hill 223. The 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, provided the ability to begin executing a strategic airborne forcible entry into any area of the world within 18 hours of notification. [17] By the time the division was relieved, in early July, the 82nd had seen 33 days of severe combat and casualties had been heavy. On 13 September, the 163rd Infantry Brigade and 327th Infantry Regiment raided and patrolled to the northeast of Port-sur-Seille, toward Eply, in the Bois de Cheminot, Bois de la Voivrotte, Bois de la Tête-d'Or, and Bois Fréhaut.