Originally, airborne meant parachute or glider landings. Airmobile meant you could pack the troops and their equipment in planes and move them, as opposed to having to go by sea or rail. Airmobile was heavier than airborne. Parachute troops are pretty much the lighest possible. You take into battle no more than you can carry on your back. How much food, water and ammunition can you carry? Airmobile meant that you had more. Light vehicles, light artillery. In later days, attack and transport helicopters, which fit right into the cargo aircraft. Still light units, but heavier and with more mobility and staying power than airborne.

Since there are no gliderborne troops it is now limited to those who jump from airplanes. 82nd is Airborne. 101st is Airmobile.

Airborne are light troops that go directly into action from an air delivery system, be that by para drop or by landing from aircraft and are instantly ready to fight. Airmobile are troops equipped to be flown to their area of operations but not fight on landing. More of a phased approach.

101st Airbone (Airmobile) For this war, had one bde that was strictly truck transportable. The other two bdes of the 101st had enough UH-60s and CH-47s to be air transportable. The 82nd Airborne got to the front by buses and trucks like in the last Iraqi war. Jumping into combat has gone the way of the horse cavalry. The Army has know this from leasons learned in WW II, Operation Market Garden, from the Germans at Crete, and two combat jumps in Vietnam by the 173rd Airborne. All of these drops suffered over 60% casualities.

The picture of those guys, wearing their wings, looking for the right bus....

The US Army (As usual) has its own definition of Airmobile: Mobile via helicopter. A parachute unit is still airborne, and a light unit that is designed for air transport we would call Air Portable. This differs slightly from usages elsewhere, alhough some nations are switching to out concept of airmobile = helicopters.

The US Army (As usual) has its own definition of Airmobile: Mobile via helicopter. A parachute unit is still airborne, and a light unit that is designed for air transport we would call Air Portable. This differs slightly from usages elsewhere, alhough some nations are switching to out concept of airmobile = helicopters.

Airmobile was the term used to describe the 1st Cavalry Division (originally the 11th Air Assault Division (Test)) in the early 1960s to describe a new method of warfare based on helicopter born infatry backed up by limited tube artillery and mostly rocket firing helicopters (called airborne rocket artillery). As the US gained experienced, it became clear that more tube artillery and conventional support would be needed. This eveolved in teh early to mid-1970s into the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). The Screaming Eagles are no longer airborne (i.e., parachute); that is a title to maintain lineage (just like the 10th Mountain Division is not a mountain division but a light infantry division). Air assault means a) capable of air lifting 1 brigade combat team (infantry, anti armor, artillery, engineers & logistics) in a single lift with assault helicopters (UH060) backed up by attack helicopters in a deep attack role. The CH-47s are used to sling load the 105mm howitzers and AT HMMWVs as well as lots of fuel blivets.

Then what good is the parachute training if both divisions are mostly airmobile/airportable. 82nd Busborne Division. 101st Truckborne Division.

None really-it's mostly nostalgia. But sentiment counts in the military; goes to "morale". The reward of getting to brag in a bar about how one is a "paratrooper" is an incentive to work harder at training. And once in a while there does come a weird momment when an old-fashioned jump is desired.