{"id":45192,"date":"2022-05-05T19:21:11","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T19:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/05\/05\/arctic-angels-the-11th-airborne-division-may-replace-army-alaska\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:01:10","slug":"arctic-angels-the-11th-airborne-division-may-replace-army-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/frozen-pathways\/2022\/05\/05\/arctic-angels-the-11th-airborne-division-may-replace-army-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic Angels? The 11th Airborne Division may replace Army Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If the colors of the Army\u2019s 11th Airborne Division could talk, they may soon be complaining about a change in weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historic unit, which fought in New Guinea and the Philippines as part of the Pacific theater of World War II, was inactivated in 1965. It was last located at Fort Benning, Georgia, where it was an experimental unit testing the viability of air assault and airmobile operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that could soon change, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told lawmakers Thursday in a Senate committee hearing. She said the 11th Airborne, which was nicknamed the \u201cAngels\u201d before deactivation, could provide the bedrock for a new collective identity among soldiers stationed in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are looking at…reflagging the U.S. Army Alaska headquarters as the 11th Airborne Division,\u201d Wormuth told Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who recently joined with other members of Congress to demand the Army do more<\/a> to resolve a mental health crisis among troops in his state.<\/p>\n\n\n\t