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11th Airborne Division “Angels,”

The Army re-designate U.S. Army Alaska and two Alaska-based brigade combat teams on 06 June 2022 as the 11th Airborne Division Headquarters and the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams, 11th Airborne Division. This re-designation was an outgrowth of the Army’s January 2021 Arctic Strategy and sets the Army on the path towards a force that was more appropriately manned, trained, and equipped for the Arctic environment.

The March 2021 Arctic strategy, “Regaining Arctic Dominance” lays out how the Army will generate, train, organize and equip our forces to partner with Arctic allies and secure our national interests and maintain regional stability. The release of this strategy is timely, especially given increasing levels of great power competitor activities in the Arctic region. Operating in the Arctic allows the Army to powerfully project forces to enhance the ability to respond in competition, crisis and/or conflict. This enhanced Arctic capability will increase the Army’s ability to operate in extreme cold-weather, mountainous and high-latitude environments and supports the DoD’s Arctic Strategy, which was issued in June 2019.

The Army will establish a Multi-Domain enabled operational two-star headquarters with specially trained and equipped combat brigades to increase our cold-weather dominance. The Army will improve the materiel readiness of Arctic-capable units to conduct extended operations in the Arctic region. The Army will improve individual and collective training of our forces to operate in the region as well as other mountainous and high-altitude environments. The Army will improve the quality of life for Soldiers, civilians and families who live and work in installations and facilities in the Arctic region.

The mission of the US Army Alaska (USARAK) was to train and equip forces to deploy rapidly in support of combat operations and other operations worldwide, as directed, and conduct operations in cold regions and mountainous terrain. It serves as the land force component command for joint operations, and provides installation support for Alaska. The USARAK's strategic location, unsurpassed training capabilities, long-term economic impact and partnership with Alaskan communities make it a significant national asset and world-class power projection platform for military operations anywhere in the world.

Alaska appears to be remote when examined using a standard global view. However, when viewed using a polar projection, the logic of US Army forces stationed in Alaska was apparent. Air routes from Alaska provide for rapid deployment throughout the Pacific Theater. Deployment times to other parts of the world such as Germany and Saudi Arabia are better than, or compare favorably with, other US Army units. Units in Alaska were firmly anchored in the North Pacific and strategically positioned for worldwide deployment.

Training opportunities in Alaska were limitless. Alaska provided the Army with a vast training environment and challenging climate. Training in Alaska was virtually unrestricted in land availability. The combined training lands available at the 3 main posts, Fort Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Fort Greenly, totaled over 1.5 million acres. In comparison to the continental United States and Germany, Alaska clearly offered an excellent training environment. From airborne operations to glacier training, Arctic soldiers receive the most demanding, and rigorous training available.

The 11th Airborne Division patch features a winged, red disc with the number 11 in white on a blue shield. It will be topped by the Airborne and Arctic tabs. According to The Institute of Heraldry, the red, white and blue represent the national colors, and the wings represent the airborne mission. “Angels”, who fought during the New Guinea, Southern Philippines and Luzon campaigns of World War II, jumped into some of the same locations that USARAK operates and trains in today. Army leaders believe unifying units in Alaska under the 11th Airborne Division, a unit with a similar but unique mission, geostrategic importance and a spirit of innovation, will help bring a sense of belonging and identity. The move connects the past and present with a nod to the future. The 11th Airborne Division arrived in New Guinea, 25 May 1944, and continued training, leaving for the Philippines 11 November 1944. It landed amphibiously, not by jump, on Leyte, 18 November 1944, between Abuyog and Tarragona, 40 miles south of Tacloban, and pushing inland, cleared the Ormoc-Burauen supply trail, an important Japanese combat lifeline. The 11th's general mission was to seize and secure within its zone all exits from the mountains into. Leyte Valley and to secure the western exits from the mountains into the west coastal corridor to assist the attack of the 7th Division toward Ormoc. On 6 December 1944 the paratroopers of the 11th found themselves fighting Japanese parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. The Japanese were wiped out in a 5-day engagement. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944. Heavy resistance was met at Rock Hill, which finally fell, 18 December; a sleeping enemy was caught off guard at Hacksaw Hill, 23 December, and suffered heavy losses. During January 1945 the Division rested and staged for a landing on Luzon. While other American troops were driving on Manila from the north, the 11th Airborne made an amphibious landing 60 miles south of Manila, 31 January 1945, at Nasugbu, and began to drive north. The first combat jump by an element of the division in the war, that of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Tagaytay Ridge, 3 February 1945, met no resistance. The 511th crossed the Paranaque River 5 February, and reached Manila, meeting fierce Japanese resistance. Nichols Field was taken, 12 February, and Fort McKinley was flanked, 12-16 February, and finally taken, 17 February. A combined air and sea assault liberated more than 2,000 American and European interned nationals at Los Banos, 23 February 1945. With Manila declared secure, the Division reduced a strong ring of enemy outposts between Lake Taal and Laguna de Bay, and occupied towns along Highway No. 1, cutting off the Bicol Peninsula. In April the 11th took part in clearing out remaining enemy resistance in Batangas Province, and by 1 May, all resistance in southern Luzon had ended. The final operation of the Division was conducted on 23 June 1945, in conjunction with the advance of the 37th Division in northern Luzon. A Task Force was formed and jumped on Camalaniugan Airfield, south of Aparri. The force attacked and made contact with the 37th Infantry Division, 26 June 1945, between Alcala and the Paret River. In July 1945 the Division trained; in August it was transported by air to Honshu, Japan, via Okinawa, for occupation duty. The outbreak of the Korean War, coming without warning at a time when major emphasis in defense planning had been on the reduction of expenditures, severely strained the resources of the US Military Services, and particularly the meager, ten-division Army. The condition of the 11th Airborne was such that it seemed impossible to prepare any of its component RCTs for combat before the latter part of October 1950. When General MacArthur was given an arrival date of 23 October, he remonstrated and asked that its shipment be expedited. The Department of the Army accordingly undertook to speed up the completion of the selected unit (the 187th RCT of the 11th Airborne), drawing to some extent on the 82d Airborne. The Battle of the Ia Drang was a seminal event for the United States Army. Not only was it considered the first battle between regular soldiers ofthe US and North Vietnam, it also hailed the formation of an entirely new type offighting force, the "airmobile division." The use of helicopters to transport soldiers to the battlefield would become a major component of the tactics ofthe war, so much so that it became a symbol of Vietnam. The history ofthe 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam actually began on 15 February 1963 when the 11th Airborne Division was redesignated as the 11th Air Assault Division (Test). This division, organized as a tactical training and experimental test bed, was tasked with the mission of determining how helicopters could be integrated into tactical operations. The 11th Air Assault Division (Test) would be redesignated on 1 July 1965 as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and deploy to Vietnam on 28 July 1965. At exactly 10:48 am on the morning of 14 November 1965, eight UH-1 (Huey) helicopters carrying Captain John Herren's B Company, 1st Battalion, 7* Cavalry Regiment landed in a small clearing in Vietnam known as Landing Zone X-Ray. By the end of the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry had suffered 79 killed and 121 wounded. During the intense two-day firefight, the battalion practically destroyed the 66 Peoples Army ofVietnam (PAVN) Regiment with casualty estimates ofmore than 600 dead and total casualties of 1,215.3 On 16 November 1965, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was relieved on Landing Zone X-Ray by the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. As the commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division, of whom the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was a part, Major General Harry W. O. Kinnard stated, "we are freed from the tyranny of terrain."