Fort Liberty leaders: Why 82nd Airborne Division's latest deployment was important

FORT LIBERTY — The 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters’ colors were uncased Thursday at Fort Liberty to symbolize nearly 200 paratroopers being home from a nearly eight-month-long deployment to Europe.

The paratroopers were based at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase since November in support of European and NATO allies and partners in deterring Russian aggression in Ukraine.

They started returning to Fort Liberty this month after turning over their mission to the Fort Cavazos, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division.

“A few hundred miles from where some of us were standing just two weeks ago, a freedom-loving people are fighting for their existence,” Maj. Gen. James Patrick “Pat” Work said during Thursday’s uncasing ceremony. “They’re resisting old-school imperial expansion. They fight for sovereignty. They fight for shared ideals, democratic concepts like those that are deeply embedded in our own constitution.”

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Supporting NATO

Work said the division headquarters worked alongside Romania’s 2nd and 4th Infantry Divisions and NATO’s multinational divisions, along with the U.S. Army’s V Corps, brigade combat teams from the 101st and 10th Mountain Divisions and aviation task forces from First Army.

After the uncasing ceremony, he said that the paratroopers helped partner forces hone their warfighting technique.

“Meanwhile, it’s no secret the 82nd Airborne Division was in southeast Europe, so being there is actually pretty important as well in terms of deterrence,” he said.

Work said he and the division’s senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Randolph Delapena, are proud of the 82nd paratroopers’ work during the deployment.

“They’re a national treasure, unmatched by anything on this Earth,” he said.

Staff Sgt. Julius Harris is a public affairs soldier who was part of the recent deployment.

Harris said his job was to work on strategic communications with NATO partners and allies, while also promoting the work of fellow paratroopers.

“I think one of the things I learned on the deployment was how to work with our NATO partners and allies, how we can strengthen their communications as well as making sure that every is synched together as far as pushing out information," he said.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps that the division falls under, also attended Thursday’s ceremony to thank the paratroopers.

“It is not without a small amount of thought that we take the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters and deploy it to Europe and lose an incredible capability that nobody else can take on,” Donahue said.

Donahue said the division worked with Romania’s infantry divisions to ensure that the southern front of the region is “ready to go at any time.”

“When we talk about ensuring our way of life, it means to be out there part of NATO and to drive NATO,” he said. “We're not just part of NATO. We’re the core of NATO. That's why we exist. That is why the 82nd Airborne exists and that is why you were sent out there.”

What's next for the division headquarters?

Donahue said that in October, the division headquarters will again oversee the nation’s Immediate Response Force, which is within the 82nd Airborne Division.

The Immediate Response Force remains combat ready and can deploy anywhere worldwide within 18 hours of notification.

Work said that leaders are giving paratroopers who returned from the deployment time to reintegrate back into the division and with their families. It's “back to business as usual," he said.

“Business as usual means when you’re not at war, you prepare for war,” he said.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fort Liberty leaders: Why 82nd Airborne Division's latest deployment was important