The main inventory of the air force still consists of Soviet-made aircraft. Ever since, the Ukrainian Air Force has been downsizing and upgrading its forces. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, many aircraft were left in Ukrainian territory. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. They’re part of a legacy that still lives on within the troops.The Ukrainian Air Force ( Ukrainian: Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Go ahead and ask the 1st Cavalry Division about the last time they rode horses into combat or the 10th Mountain Division about when they last fought on an arctic mountaintop. The reason “airborne” is still in the name (and on a tab above Old Abe) is because it’s difficult as hell to change a division’s name while it’s still active. Screaming Eagles just fast-rope from a helicopter or wait for it to make a solid landing for insertions. It’s a more accurate description of the unit, since we’re still involved with airborne operations - just not the paratrooper, jump-out-of-planes-and-into-combat type. Today, the Screaming Eagles are the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) - with “Air Assault” in parentheses. Now, don’t get this wrong: There are still several units on Fort Campbell that are still very much on airborne status, such as the 101st Pathfinders
The air assault capabilities of the 101st are the contemporary evolution of the paratroopers of old. That leaves the 101st Airborne Division legs in everything but name. Think of the tab in the same vein as a unit citation. That still has to be earned individually. If you really want to be technical, the airborne tab itself isn’t isn’t given to the troops. Now, we’re not saying that combat jumps into Vietnam didn’t happen - they definitely did - but the 101st wasn’t conducting them. Then, on July 29th, 1965, the 1st Brigade landed at Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, and the 101st adapted to their new role in the jungle. The airborne infantrymen of the 101st were still needed - mostly involved in rapid deployment strategies - but the training was shifting with the times, and the times were changing indeed. As the possibility of nuclear war grew, the role of the paratrooper in war shrank. The unit bounced around a little before landing at Fort Campbell and being made into a “pentomic” division - meaning it was structured to fight with atomic warfare in mind. Fun fact: During the Korean War, the 101st was actually a training unit out of Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky, until 1953. The Screaming Eagles have largely been re-designated away from the airborne world since their reactivation following Post-WWII restructuring.
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