FORT CAMPBELL, KY (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The 101st Airborne Division is being deployed to another COVID-19 hot spot to assist with vaccinations.
At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 101st will deploy about 200 soldiers to Chicago to support vaccinations at the city’s United Center.
The soldiers are assigned to the 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
“The 101st has a long history of answering our nation’s call, which at times has been to support civil authority here within the U.S.,” said Lt. Col. Derek Di Bello, battalion commander. “It is a mission we will take on with the same focus and energy that we would any task given to us.”
The soldiers, who are leaving today, are part of the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 response operation, which is in support of FEMA and overseen by U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Force Land Component Command.
These “Screaming Eagles” join 139 others already supporting the federal vaccination effort in Orlando, Florida.