FORT BRAGG BARRACKS UPDATE STATEMENT:

We can confirm that 120 Soldiers have left the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks, and we are working hard to move ALL Soldiers out of those barracks by the end of September. 1/4 In addition to the relocation efforts, 70 certificates of non-availability (CNAs) have been approved allowing recipients to find privatizing housing on or off the installation. Additionally, hundreds more have been pre-approved and being staffed for final approval. 2/4

Leaders across the 18th Airborne Corps & Ft. Bragg are hosting a media round table today to provide updates on the status of the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks (a thread)
@WRAL @SpecNews1RDU @ArmyTimes @starsandstripes @fayobserver @ABC11_WTVD @TaskandPurpose @Rose_Lori @StevenBeynon @18abc_Dragon9 “Our Soldiers deserve the best resources — that are clean, safe, secure, and functional.”

Our Soldiers are speaking to us about the conditions at the Smoke Bomb Hill Barracks. It’s authentic and real feedback we need. We are listening and taking action!

Communication flow is every changing, and we are working to improve it. Our Soldiers deserve it. 🧵 We want all of our Soldiers to know we are working hard to make their quality of life better!

We have leaders across Fort Bragg already working to make their lives better, and we have resources committed to make this happen.

A FAMILY LEGACY

Here is the full & incredible story of legacy & service as Capt. Bill Malcolm comes to Normandy to pay homage to his late Grandfather.

@USArmy Capt. Malcolm is w/ “Able” Company, 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, @82ndABNDiv
(1/3) His grandfather Cpl. Bob Malcolm jumped into Normandy as a member of “Able” Company during #DDay 78 years ago on June 6, 1944.

Not only did Bill follow his grandfather’s footsteps, he actually commands the very unit his grandfather served in during #WWII (2/3)

The 2022 LTG(R) David Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition just started!

Here’s who to look out for throughout the competition!

1/13 Team 3 out of the @3rd_Infantry

Jeffery Dannemiller & Daniel Frasch

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1/4 - We are saddened to share that we have lost another hero.

Dan McBride was a Sergeant who served in F Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment during WWII.

He parachuted into Normandy, parachuted into Operation Market Garden, and fought during the Battle of the Bulge. 2/4 - Less than a year ago, Dan visited the @101stAASLTDIV for the Week of the Eagles.

Throughout his last visit to @FortCampbell , Dan generously shared his story to inspire another generation of Screaming Eagles.

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What was the controversy?

MacArthur had already been recommended for the Nation's highest military honor twice.

Once for his actions in a battle during the Occupation of Veracruz.

Another after being the lone survivor after leading a recon patrol during the Meuse-Argonne.

https://twitter.com/18airbornecorps/status/1486321774598017027

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MacArthur would ultimately receive the MoH, but not for his gallantry during these two fire fights.

George Marshall decided MacArthur should be awarded the MoH for his ability "to offset any propaganda by the enemy in the Philippines."

In response to the nomination,

#TDIDCH: Jan 1, 1945: WWII. In the early morning of the New Year, Hitler launches Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate), an assault by 900+ Luftwaffe planes flying at treetop altitude against Allied planes parked on airfields.

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By this time, the Luftwaffe was neutralized by Allied air superiority and had lost many trained pilots to Allied air strikes.

Bodenplatte was an attempt to knock out Allied aircraft & level the playing field enough to allow another German ground thrust into Bastogne.

#TDIDCH: Dec 30, 1968 - Opelika, Alabama native Robert Howard, is among the most highly decorated American Soldiers of the post-WWII era.

53 years ago today saw his most valorous combat action.

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That day, while on a joint Vietnamese-US patrol to recover a missing US Soldier, then-Sgt First Class Robert Howard, a platoon sergeant with @5thForces, found his platoon surrounded by North Vietnamese regulars.

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One of the most-quoted stories from the Battle of the Bulge is a tale that's wrapped in legend. While the myth built around a famous quote is a good one, the TRUE story at the heart of this oft-told tale speaks to the ethos of the American Soldier.

Here's that story. [2 of 9]

DEC 23, '44: Early AM, the @82ndABNDiv is digging in along the front in the Ardennes just outside the town of St. Vith. The 82nd, one of the units rushed into the Ardennes after the Germans smashed through, is just looking to hold the line until tank forces can move in

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DECEMBER 22, 1944: NUTS!

On the 7th day of the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne seemed lost. 2 of 23:

When describing the 101st Airborne Division and the remnants of the 60th and 28th Divisions in Bastogne, many historians will tell you that the Americans were surrounded.

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#TDIDCH: Dec 21, 1945 – The Death of An American Legend.

George Patton long felt he deserved to die in battle, alongside the men he led. Instead, his death at age 60 came in a relatively minor auto accident. [2 of 4]

12 days prior, Dec 9, 1945, Patton was sitting in the back of his car when his driver, PFC Horace Woodring [pictured], sped over a railroad crossing in Manheim, Germany, plowing into a left-turning Army truck. Patton broke his neck & was paralyzed. No one else was hurt.

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DECEMBER 20, 1944

BATTLE OF THE BULGE, DAY 5

At this point, the reserve forces (the 82nd and the 101st and the headquarters of the XVIII Airborne) are in sector and in their fighting positions. For the first time ever, the XVIII Airborne Corps is operating in combat. 2 of 10:

On this day 76 years ago, the 82nd Airborne establishes a defense against the 6th SS Panzer Army in the small Belgian town of Werbemont. This was the northern shoulder of the German bulge.

Kimbro Truman was a 22-year-old newly married Texan when he was drafted in 1941 for WWII.

A combat engineer assigned to the
@2INFDIV, he landed at Omaha Beach with the D Day invasion.

He was a squad leader 77 years ago during the #BattleOfTheBulge

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Tuesday, December 19, 1944 - Things are looking grim.

Kimrbo's unit is in the crossroads town of Rocherath, Belgium. The Americans are outnumbered & outgunned by the new German Tiger II tanks.

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BATTLE OF THE BULGE, DAY 3: DECEMBER 18, 1944

77 years ago today, the stunning German counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest continued to plow through American defenses [although the Panzers still had a long way to go to get to port of Antwerp, the German objective] [2 of 8]

At ~2:15 AM, General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, unaware of the fighting in Ardennes and sleeping in his HQ in England, is awakened by a call from Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges, commander of First Army.

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We're continuing our commemoration of the 71st anniversary of the Korean War's Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Day 12

December 7, 1950, the 1st Marine Division, having been blasted in a surprise offensive by massive Chinese forces from the N & W, retreats through Hagaru-ri 2 of 4:

The Marines fought through a stretch that came to be known as Hell Fire Valley. Through continuous People's Liberation Army fire, the Marines slogged South, pushing through all Chinese resistance.

The fight for Chosin was lost. X Corps would not reach the Yalu River.

Easy Company formed in Georgia in 1942 with 140 volunteers as part of an experimental offensive formation: infantrymen who would fall from the sky behind enemy lines, striking through combat's third dimension to provide a heavy ground force with a position of advantage.

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In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the men of Easy Company filled sticks 66 through 73 into Normandy.

Once inserted, they captured Carentan and held it against withering German counterattacks.

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Friends - let's head into the weekend on a positive note, with a cool story of a badass Sky Dragon Soldier.

We're talking about NFL tight end (Detroit Lions), war hero, Medal of Honor recipient, Arkansas Lt Governor, and successful businessman Maurice Britt. [2 of 14]

Yesterday, as part of Marne Week, our @3rd_Infantry renamed a Fort Stewart Gate after Maurice. So, let's tell his story here.

Born in a small Arkansas town in 1919, Maurice quickly grew to be a remarkable athlete, excelling in baseball and football.

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Happy 115th Birthday to Curtis "Bombs Away" LeMay. Curtis, who died in 1990, grew from a small Ohio town to become one of the most polarizing figures of the early Cold War.

The aggressive Air Force general had unyielding faith in the strategic value of aerial bombing. [2 of 6]

One of the principle architects of the policy that came to be known with derision as "Mutually Assured Destruction," Curtis was the inspiration for General Jack D. Ripper in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

This morning's #TDIDCH referenced a news story in a Lebanese magazine released #OTD in 1986 reporting the US illegally sold missiles to Iran [an enemy state under an arms embargo].

Here's a screenshot from that explosive story, which was initially denied by Washington

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https://twitter.com/18airbornecorps/status/1455867366106095621

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The administration hoped that in exchange for the arms, Iran would get Hezbollah [a group with Iranian ties] to free 7 American hostages [including this man, CIA Station Chief for Lebanon William Buckley] being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah.

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38 years ago today, the US invaded a tiny Caribbean island, rescued a bunch of medical students, and rounded-up a group of gang members, along with their Cuban communist backers.

Don't remember this Cold War endeavor? Don't what we're talking about?

Read on. 2 of 30:

Operation Urgent Fury, the American invasion of Grenada, began on the morning of October 25th, 1983 with assaults on airstrips at Point Salines and Pearls.