For anyone who didn’t live through it, it can be hard to really explain the sort of “mania” that gripped the country during and immediately after the first Gulf War.
Even as a child, I felt it. I remember the parades, the trading cards, the speeches on TV. I was also living on a military base in Germany at the time not terribly far from Ansbach where American soldiers were deployed from. Desert Battle Dress Uniforms (DBDU’s) in the iconic “chocolate chip” camo started showing up first on returning soldiers and then the pattern was everywhere. My class at school even sent letters to a sailor who was deployed to the Gulf. I was fascinated with the conflict then and I still am today as an adult.
I won’t spend long talking about the zeitgeist of the early 90’s, but it’s worth noting that the economy was in a slump after the Savings and Loan Crisis of 1989. Despite that, it was also a period of increasing optimism as the USSR began to crumble from within and a future free of the fear of nuclear annihilation and war with the Soviets seemed within our grasp. Which was good for a country still weary of major conflict due to the failures of Viet Nam. All of these things would be influenced by the outcome of the first Gulf War.
It will be beyond the scope of what I am hoping to accomplish with this article to completely discuss the lead up to and causes of the war and it’s ramifications for the United States and the world, but I will include a reading list after the conclusion for anyone interested in learning more.
Who are the 82nd Airborne?
The 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army is an airborne infantry division; soldiers capable of being dropped by parachute into combat. They are the core of the United State’s “immediate response force” and are tasked with being able to deploy anywhere in the world with all due haste. The division was organized in 1917 at Camp Gordon in Georgia but moved to it’s current home at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville in 1946.
Through the years, the division has been a participant in almost every major conflict the US has been involved in. WWI, WWII, Viet Nam, the invasions of Grenada and Panama, and were even sent to patrol the streets of American cities during riots in 1967 and 1968. Keep in mind that’s just the service record of the division up until Desert Storm. Since the first Persian Gulf War they have continued to serve in foreign countries and foreign wars.
There are a couple reasons why I think the 82nd are a good topic for a website devoted to all things North Carolina. For one, Fort Bragg and Fayetteville as a civilian city are what they are because of the presence of the 82nd. The history of the 82nd is the history of Fayetteville. Second, I have family ties to the 82nd and spent 1993-1995 in Fayetteville as a result. I’ve seen troopers of the 82nd parachute out the back of a C-130 aircraft. So this topic is relevant and also personal.
The 82nd Airborne Division was lead into Desert Storm by Major General James Johnson.
At the time of it’s deployment it consisted of:
1st Brigade
1st Battalion, 504th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 504th Infantry
3rd Battalion, 504th Infantry
2nd Brigade under Colonel John Rokosz. The “Ready Brigade”
1st Battalion, 325th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry
4th Battalion, 325th Infantry
3rd Brigade
1st Battalion, 505th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry
3rd Battalion, 505th Infantry
Division Artillery
1st Field Artillery Detachment
1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery
2nd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery
3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery
183rd Maintenance Detachment
Aviation Brigade
1st Battalion, 82nd Aviation
2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation
Company D, 82nd Aviation
1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry
Division Support Command
82nd Airborne Division Band
407th Supply and Transport Battalion
782nd Maintenance Battalion
307th Medical Battalion
3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery
3rd Battalion, 73rd Armor
82nd Signal Battalion
82nd Military Police Company
313th Military Intelligence Battalion
307th Engineer Battalion
160th Engineer Detachment
21st Chemical Company
OPCON and Attached Units
450th Civil Affairs Company
340th Chemical Company
7th Reconnaissance Platoon (Fox), 92nd Chemical Company
Of note, most of what I will be covering in this article is specific to Task Force 2-82 and the 2nd brigade of the 82nd. That being comprised of the 1st BN 325th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BN 325th Infantry Regiment, 4th BN 325th Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd BN 319th Field Artillery Regiment.
The timeline and a good portion of the information is straight from the book The Ready Brigade of the 82nd Airborne in Desert Storm, by Dominic J Caraccilo with a couple other minor sources. Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print.
I will start with a timeline of their actions in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and will then get into the nitty gritty of existence at war in a foreign land. It is my hope this will give the reader an idea what it was like for the men and women who deployed.