FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) Major General Andrew Poppas, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Commander and Command Sergeant Major Todd Sims, 101st senior enlisted leader cased the division headquarters colors Tuesday for the unit’s next “Rendezvous with Destiny.”
The colors casing ceremony is an Army tradition symbolizing the movement of a unit to a new theater of operation. The Screaming Eagle soldiers will be serving a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan which will be the 101st Airborne Division headquarters fourth deployment in the last decade.
Unlike the division’s past deployments to the country which were focused in the eastern region, the division will oversee NATO’s train, advise and assist mission and U.S. counterterrorism operations nationwide for Operation Resolute Support.
General Poppas discussed the 101st and its Legacy of Heroism.
“What a great day to be in the 101st. For the 101st, we exist for one reason and that’s to fight and win our nation’s wars. It’s what we do. It’s as true today as it was 75 years ago when this division was born in the maelstrom of WWII,” Poppas said.
General Poppas added that in the 17 years of continuous combat, the 101st is the most deployed division.