XVIII Airborne Corps History

XVIII Airborne Corps, with Headquarters at Fort Bragg, was originally activated as the II Armored Corps at Camp Polk, La., Jan. 17, 1942. It was redesignated XVIII Corps Oct. 9, 1943, at the Presidio of Monterey, Calif.

The Corps celebrates its birthday on Aug. 25, 1944, when the blue airborne tab was added at Ogbourne, St. George, England. On this same day, the XVIII Airborne Corps assumed command of the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions and Major General Matthew B. Ridgway became the first Corps Commander. Within a month of reaching Europe, General Ridgway was in the air over the Netherlands as two of the Corps' combat elements, the 82d and 101st Airborne divisions participated in WWII's largest combat jump—Operation Market Garden. The Corps headquarters soon joined them on the ground for prolonged fighting alongside British tankers, infantrymen and paratroopers.

Early winter found the Corps split between bases in France and England preparing for other potential airborne operations. When Hitler unleashed the Ardennes Offensive, these forces constituted the only mobile reserves that the Allies had. Within a matter of hours the Corps was on its way to the Ardennes. The 101st held on to Bastogne's critical road junction, while the rest of the Corps, reinforced by armor and infantry divisions, stopped the penetration and then helped to push the exhausted Germans back to their original positions, during the "Battle of the Bulge."

For the rest of the war, XVIII Airborne Corps showed its versatility by concentrating on ground operations. It played a major role in the reduction of the Ruhr "pocket," shifted at lightning speed to launch the last airborne operation in the theater-Operation Varsity to cross the Rhine alongside the British and then dashed north and east to the Elbe and the Baltic coast of Germany.

The XVIII Airborne Corps then moved back to the United States in late June 1945, to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese home islands. Before that deployment could take place, however, the war ended. On Oct. 15, 1945, at Camp (now Fort) Campbell, Ky. XVIII Airborne Corps was inactivated. With the global force build-up caused by the Korean War, the nation once again called on XVIII Airborne Corps. XVIII Airborne Corps was reactivated on May 21, 1951, at Fort Bragg, N.C., "Home of the Airborne," replacing V Corps, which deployed to Europe. Thousands of inductees and members of the National Guard and Army Reserve were called to active duty and were trained at Fort Bragg, for service during the Korean War. In October 1951, the 11th Airborne Division was attached to the XVIII Airborne Corps.

The outbreak of civil disturbances in the United States became an area of activity for the XVIII Airborne Corps. In the fall of 1957, a federal order to integrate the public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas precipitated public disorders, and United States Marshals were unable to maintain control. President Eisenhower, when compelled to summon government troops, selected a XVIII Airborne Corps unit to do the job—the 101st Airborne Division. With discipline, tact and efficiency, the mission was accomplished. In 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall and the presence of the Soviet Army in the city, led to the Corps being placed on alert. The stand-off ended, in the summer of 1962, when the East German government backed down.

On Jan. 1, 1962, the U.S. Army reorganized the XVIII Airborne Corps under STRAC. STRAC was composed of two Corps, XVIII Airborne Corps and III Corps. These units were especially tailored to fight a limited war anywhere in the world. Attached to XVIII Airborne Corps were the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions, the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions, as well as numerous combat and logistical support units. STRAC troopers were Skilled, Tough and Ready Around the Clock.

In September 1962, violence broke out in Oxford, Mississippi, when U.S. Marshals attempted to carry out a federal court order to admit an African-American, James H. Meredith, to the University of Mississippi. Soldiers of the XVIII Airborne Corps were summoned and the riots were rapidly quelled by the troops, who showed restraint, tact and self-control.

In October 1962, units of XVIII Airborne Corps were placed on alert for potential commitment, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nuclear war was overted after the intercession of the United Nations and Corps troops stood down. From April 30, 1965, to Jan. 17, 1966, the XVIII Airborne Corps served in the Dominican Republic, during Operation Power Pack, as Headquarters, U.S. Forces Dominican Republic. Corps Soldiers were sent to restore law and order, prevent a communist takeover of the country and protect American lives.

Almost immediately after returning to Fort Bragg, attention shifted to the need to prepare units for duty in Southeast Asia. Over 200 elements trained up under XVIII Airborne Corps' guidance and shipped to Vietnam, including the entire 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division. During the Vietnam era, more than 200,000 trainees underwent basic training at Fort Bragg, the majority from 1966 to 1970. At the peak of the war, in 1968, the military population at the installation was nearly 58,000.

In 1967, XVIII Airborne Corps troops also saw action in Detroit and in the Congo. Paratroopers from the 82d and 101st were sent to Detroit, Michigan, to suppress riots there and in the Congo, for Operation Dragon Rouge, XVIII Airborne Corps forces gave support to the established central government and rescued civilians being held hostage.

In July 1973, XVIII Airborne Corps was assigned under U.S Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). The capability for rapid deployment into an environment where normal points of entry, such as ports or airfields, are not available, are a special skill that has been the training and planning focus of XVIII Airborne Corps throughout most of its sixty-five years of existence. In peacetime, the quick reaction ability was tested constantly through the use of no notice Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises (EDREs) and was the foundation of the Corps' program to sustain its high standards.

Beginning in 1982, the XVIII Airborne Corps routinely furnished contingents for rotations in the Sinai Peninsula as part of the Multinational Force and Observers to help guarantee the Camp David Peace Accords. The Corps regularly participated in exercises such as Gallant Eagle and Bright Star, to test its abilities to respond to crises in the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean areas.

The XVIII Airborne Corps is superbly trained in tactical operational and strategic levels of war and is capable of exercising the nation's ability to conduct strategic forced entry operations, anywhere in the world on short notice. They have been widely recognized as a superbly trained force capable of operating from peace operations to general-purpose war and capable of conducting large-scale joint and combined operations.