Photo By Staff Sgt. Cory Reese | U.S. Army Warrant Officer Katherine Greene, 82nd Airborne Division airdrop system...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, NC – More than 30 veterans from Company O (Arctic Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment held their 50th anniversary reunion of their deactivation during a tour of Fort Bragg, N.C., Sept. 29, 2022.
Retired Maj. Joseph Logan, Company O operations officer, who served as an Arctic Ranger from Sept. 1971 to Sept. 1972, said he was impressed with many of the changes he saw during a tour of the 82nd Airborne Division parachute packing facility.
“It is amazing what the packing facility is now to what it used to be” Logan said.
Functions of the parachute packing facility include inspecting, repairing, cleaning, and re-packing parachutes for their next jump. This is a high-detail oriented field that requires a strong infrastructure, which the 82nd Airborne Division provides.
In Jan. 1971, Company O (Arctic Ranger) became the first unit to conduct the Basic Airborne Course in the history of U.S. Army, Alaska. Now some of those paratroopers had the opportunity to not only reunite, but to see how far the military has advanced with airborne operations.
“We’ve gone really far but every day is a new day; there’s always room for improvement,” said Warrant Officer Katherine Greene, 82nd Airborne Division airdrop systems technician.
Emphasizing how much technology has changed since he retired, Logan said that when he was in the Army, the M-1 was a rifle not a tank.
He attended the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Bragg in Dec. 1961. With nearly 61 years between his first time on the installation and his most recent visit, Logan has a perspective that today’s service members cannot hold.
“When I got to post on Wednesday, the only thing I recognized was the water towers,” said Logan.
Greene said modernization doesn’t stop. The capabilities of conducting large scale operations continue to strengthen, and she looks forward to the future of airborne operations.
From Aug. 1970 to Sept. 1972, the operations that Company O carried out made a lasting impression on the U.S. Army Rangers and Airborne as a whole. They forged a part on U.S. Army history that helped shape Airborne into what it is today, and what it will become in the future.
| Date Taken: | 10.06.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2022 14:11 |
| Story ID: | 430887 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 495 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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