TheWeekInCongress_SRES322

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 9, 2004

Senate Resolution 322 designating August 16, 2004 as National Airborne Day

BRIEF

The resolution explains that August 16, 2004, ‘marks the anniversary of the first official validation of the innovative concept of inserting United States ground combat forces behind the battle line by means of a parachute’ and the US experiment of airborne infantry attack began on June 25, 1940, when the Army Parachute Test Platoon was first authorized by the United States Department of War, and was launched when 48 volunteers began training in July of 1940’ and ‘the Parachute Test Platoon performed the first official Army parachute jump on August 16, 1940.’

‘…among those units are the former 11th, 13th, and 17th Airborne Divisions, the venerable 82nd Airborne Division, the versatile 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and the airborne regiments and battalions (some as components of those divisions, some as separate units) that achieved distinction as the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the 187th Infantry (Airborne) Regiment, the 503rd, 507th, 508th, 517th, 541st, and 542nd Parachute Infantry Regiments, the 88th Glider Infantry Regiment, the 509th, 551st, and 555th Parachute Infantry Batallions, and the 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion.’ And the units have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf Region, and Somalia, and have engaged in peacekeeping operations in Lebanon, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

Today’s Airborne consists of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and the 75th Ranger Regiment which, together with other units, comprise the quick reaction force of the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps when not operating separately under a regional combatant commander.

Currently, ‘in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the 75th Ranger Regiment, special forces units, and units of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), together with other units of the Armed Forces, have been prosecuting the war against terrorism by carrying out combat operations in Afghanistan, training operations in the Philippines, and other operations elsewhere. In ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, the 75th Ranger Regiment, special forces units, and units of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and the 173rd Airborne Brigade, together with other units of the Armed Forces, have been prosecuting the war against terrorism, carrying out combat operations, conducting civil affair missions, and assisting in establishing democracy in Iraq.’

The resolution concludes that ‘the Senate--

(1) designates August 16, 2004, as ``National Airborne Day''; and

(2) requests that the President issue a proclamation calling on Federal, State, and local administrators and the people of the United States to observe ``National Airborne Day'' with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

Sponsor: Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (July 6, 2004)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.