Service Badges & Awards

The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas^[1] with a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to “respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours”.^[2] Based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army’s most strategically mobile division.^[3]

The division was constituted, originally as the 82nd Division, in the National Army on 5 August 1917, shortly after the American entry into World War I. It was organized on 25 August 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia, and later served with distinction on the Western Front in the final months of World War I. Since its initial members came from all 48 states, the division acquired the nickname All-American, which is the basis for its “AA” on the shoulder patch. The division later served in World War II where, in August 1942, it was reconstituted as the first airborne division of the U.S. Army and fought in numerous campaigns during the war.

The 11th Airborne Division (“Arctic Angels”^[1]) is a United States Army airborne formation based in Alaska.

First activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II, it was held in reserve in the United States until June 1944 when it was transferred to the Pacific Theater where it saw combat in the Philippines. On 30 August 1945 the division was sent to southern Japan as part of the occupation force where it remained for four years. One parachute infantry regiment was detached for service in the Korean War, but on 30 June 1958 the division was inactivated.

The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (“Blackhorse Regiment”)^[1] is a unit of the United States Army garrisoned at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. Although termed an armored cavalry regiment, it is being re-organized as a multi-component heavy brigade combat team.^{[citation needed]} The regiment has served in the Philippine–American War, the Pancho Villa Expedition, World War II, the Vietnam War, Gulf War and Iraq War. The 11th ACR serves as the opposing force (OPFOR) for the Army and Marine task forces, and foreign military forces that train at Fort Irwin.

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas,^[2] is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Moore in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act.

The institute was founded in 1946; by 2000, more than 60,000 Latin American military, law enforcement, and security personnel had attended the school. The school was located in the Panama Canal Zone until its expulsion in 1984. 

The 1st Cavalry Division (“First Team”)^[1] is a combined arms division and is one of the most decorated combat divisions of the United States Army.^[2] It is based at Fort Cavazos, Texas. It was formed in 1921 and served during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, with the Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the Iraq War, in the War in Afghanistan as well as Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Operation Inherent Resolve. As of July 2023, the 1st Cavalry Division is subordinate to III Armored Corps and is commanded by Major General Kevin D. Admiral.

The unit is unique in that it has served as a horseback cavalry division until 1943, an infantry division, an air assault division and an armored division during its existence.