U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Pays High Price For Afghan Surge Year: "JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The soldiers of the Army's famed 101st Airborne Division deployed to Afghanistan confident their counterinsurgency expertise would once again turn a surge strategy into a success but are headed home uncertain of lasting changes on the battlefield.
As the division's 24,000 soldiers return to Fort Campbell from their one-year deployment, doubts remain in the military that security in Afghanistan can last without a significant U.S. military presence for years. The division brought effective counterinsurgency lessons from Iraq, but is still waiting to see whether those strategies can take hold in Afghanistan.
What progress was made in improving security and governance came at a high price: The division known as the Screaming Eagles lost 131 soldiers, the most killed in a single deployment for the unit since Vietnam, with many more wounded or injured. The 101st has been a force in America's major conflicts since World War II, when it was first formed for the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy."
Sunday, June 5, 2011
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