The Airborne Times

Airborne Equipment: The Rupert

As part of the massive deception campaign waged by the Allies during the lead up to D-Day, Operation Titanic saw the use of this funny little fellow. The main force...

Airborne Equipment: The Rupert

As part of the massive deception campaign waged by the Allies during the lead up to D-Day, Operation Titanic saw the use of this funny little fellow. The main force of Operation Titanic dropped some 400 dummy paratroopers, nicknamed "Ruperts", in four drop zones around Normandy. The manikins had pyrotechnic...

Airborne Equipment: The Welbike

The Welbike. It didn't have suspension or mudguards and had only one brake in the rear. An underpowered engine that could hardly carry a fully loaded soldier, and tiny wheels...

Airborne Equipment: The Welbike

The Welbike. It didn't have suspension or mudguards and had only one brake in the rear. An underpowered engine that could hardly carry a fully loaded soldier, and tiny wheels that struggled with the rough terrain. After the container was been dropped, the paratrooper had to find and then make...

Operation Just Cause

Operation Just Cause: In the early morning hours of 20 December 1989, the entire 75th Ranger Regiment, followed by the reinforced Division Ready Brigade of the 82nd, conducted combat jumps to...

Operation Just Cause

Operation Just Cause: In the early morning hours of 20 December 1989, the entire 75th Ranger Regiment, followed by the reinforced Division Ready Brigade of the 82nd, conducted combat jumps to secure the Rio Hato and Torrijos-Tecumen airports in Panama. This marked the first and only combat parachute deployment of the...

A Brief History of Paratroopers in World War II

It was a wild idea from Lewis H. Brereton. Drop-in American troops to the German city of Metz by way of a parachute from a bomber plane. World War I...

A Brief History of Paratroopers in World War II

It was a wild idea from Lewis H. Brereton. Drop-in American troops to the German city of Metz by way of a parachute from a bomber plane. World War I was in its final days and Lieutenant Colonel Brereton brought his idea to Brig. General Billy Mitchell. Up until then,...

Rescuing The Wounded

On March 16th, 1966, as a medic assigned to the Recon Platoon HQ CO, 1st Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Specialist Alfred V. Rascon was maneuvering...

Rescuing The Wounded

On March 16th, 1966, as a medic assigned to the Recon Platoon HQ CO, 1st Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Specialist Alfred V. Rascon was maneuvering to help reinforce their sister battalion who was under pretty intense enemy fire, the Recon element also became a target....

The First Jump

Forward: The American Paratrooper:What does it mean to be a Paratrooper? Suffice it to say it goes beyond just earning the coveted Silver Wings. It is indeed a way of...

The First Jump

Forward: The American Paratrooper:What does it mean to be a Paratrooper? Suffice it to say it goes beyond just earning the coveted Silver Wings. It is indeed a way of life. A mindset and a calling that has a proud history and storied tradition. A means of deterrence to those...

First In France

“Let’s convince the Krauts of the error of their ways”. June 5th, 1944… the eve of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in human history. Captain Frank Lillyman, commander of the...

First In France

“Let’s convince the Krauts of the error of their ways”. June 5th, 1944… the eve of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in human history. Captain Frank Lillyman, commander of the 101st Airborne Division’s pathfinders, prepared his team for their harrowing assignment, to land on French soil before the main invasion,...

Testing A Russian

MAJ Mark Stoddard, then a captain, and the ABNSOTD testing the Russian LET-410 Aircraft for suitability for airborne operations in 2000. The ABNSOTD, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, are...

Testing A Russian

MAJ Mark Stoddard, then a captain, and the ABNSOTD testing the Russian LET-410 Aircraft for suitability for airborne operations in 2000. The ABNSOTD, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, are the Army’s independent operational testers for anything airborne or airdrop. The team successfully jumped the aircraft multiple times, noting that...

The Battle Of Yongju

October 21st, 1950 Korea - Spearheading the UN Forces' drive north, the 187th Airborne RCT conducted a combat jump north of Pyongyang in an attempt to cut off North Korean forces...

The Battle Of Yongju

October 21st, 1950 Korea - Spearheading the UN Forces' drive north, the 187th Airborne RCT conducted a combat jump north of Pyongyang in an attempt to cut off North Korean forces retreating from the capital. Although the airborne drop itself was a success, the operation came too late to intercept any significant KPA...

5 Things To Know About LTG James "Jumpin Jim" G...

The airborne community comes from a long line of historic leaders and icons. We want to honor their memory while also giving ourselves a set of standards to live up...

5 Things To Know About LTG James "Jumpin Jim" Gavin

The airborne community comes from a long line of historic leaders and icons. We want to honor their memory while also giving ourselves a set of standards to live up to. The first man we want to talk about is LT GEN James “Jumpin Jim” Gavin. James Maurice Gavin (March...

The Angels Of Mercy

On 6 June 1944 the 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR was headed to on Drop Zone “D,” the southernmost Drop Zone assigned to the 101st. The Drop Zone was located just...

The Angels Of Mercy

On 6 June 1944 the 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR was headed to on Drop Zone “D,” the southernmost Drop Zone assigned to the 101st. The Drop Zone was located just outside of the small village of Angoville Au Plain. It was here that two Geronimo Medics would become known as...

The Atrocity at Graignes

Fate brought these villagers and Paratroopers together, and the shared traumatic events of the battle of Graignes forever forged a bond between the two parties that were previously strangers to...

The Atrocity at Graignes

Fate brought these villagers and Paratroopers together, and the shared traumatic events of the battle of Graignes forever forged a bond between the two parties that were previously strangers to one another. In all 32 paratroopers and 44 civilians lost their lives here, and it is this memorial and those...

Henry Pennock

“Bastogne, it was unbelieveable. It was mayhem, with trees coming down. Everything under the sun was hitting you,” Pennock says. “It was a miracle that you could survive under so...

Henry Pennock

“Bastogne, it was unbelieveable. It was mayhem, with trees coming down. Everything under the sun was hitting you,” Pennock says. “It was a miracle that you could survive under so much firepower.” Pennock himself felt incredibly lucky to have survived having fought off frost-bitten limbs and several shrapnel wounds.

Normandy Through Their Eyes: Jumping into Darkness

June 6th, 1944, saw the greatest amphibious invasion in human history, and the beginning of the offensive that would eradicate Nazism in Western Europe. However, the first troops in France...

Normandy Through Their Eyes: Jumping into Darkness

June 6th, 1944, saw the greatest amphibious invasion in human history, and the beginning of the offensive that would eradicate Nazism in Western Europe. However, the first troops in France didn’t land on the beaches but rather parachuted into France on the night of June 5th. The first men to...

The History of the "Filthy Thirteen"

The Filthy Thirteen was the name given to the 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, of the United States...

The History of the "Filthy Thirteen"

The Filthy Thirteen was the name given to the 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, of the United States Army, which fought in the European campaign in World War II. This unit was the inspiration for the book and...