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'Screaming Eagles' mark second Iraq deployment with ceremony

By Sgt. Dallas Walker
September 28, 2005

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Army News Service, Sept. 28, 2005)- The 101st Airborne Division colors were cased in a ceremony at division headquarters Sept. 23, marking the beginning of the division’s second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner, commander of the 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell, and Division Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe prepared the colors for the flight to Kuwait en route to Iraq. They will uncase them upon their arrival, signifying the transfer of authority from Fort Campbell to the Central Command area of operations.

“We have prepared for this deployment,” Turner said. “Today’s Soldier is the smartest, best trained, best led, and most mentally and physically tough our nation has ever produced. We deploy this division with great confidence.”

Units of the 101st began deploying to Iraq in August and will continue through December. The Sustainment Unit of Action, 101st Aviation Brigade and 3rd Brigade Combat Team stand ready in Kuwait and Iraq, awaiting the rest of the division. The 1st, 2nd and 4th brigade combat teams will be deploying throughout the rest of the year.

Approximately 22,000 Fort Campbell Soldiers will be in Iraq once the deployment is complete. As of Sept. 23, approximately 7,000 Soldiers were already deployed.

“The United States Armed Forces have made great progress in the last two and a half years in Iraq,” Turner said. “The 101st Airborne Division will continue that momentum in our second tour to Iraqi Freedom.”

The division colors were last cased in 2003 when the division deployed to Mosul, Iraq. The Screaming Eagles helped liberate four major Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, and helped local citizens rebuild the economy -- including schools and medical facilities.

The current mission for the Soldiers of the 101st will be to help build a free Iraq and a government that can stand on its own.

“Our end state is clear -- an Iraq at peace with its neighbors and an ally in the war on terror, with a representative government that respects the human rights of all Iraqis, and security forces sufficient to maintain domestic order and to deny safe haven to terrorists,” Turner said.

“We deploy today with every expectation that this division can influence the pace on the road to this end state. The Screaming Eagles of this division are ready.”