Editing 101st Airborne Division (section)

===Post-Vietnam===
[[File:US Army 326th Brigade Engineering Battalion carimony-circa 1970s.png|thumb|150px|An officer with the 101st Airborne Division wearing dark-blue beret with 326th Engineer Battalion [[United States military beret flash|Beret Flash]] and Airmobile Badge, 1977]]
In 1968, the 101st took on the structure and equipment of an airmobile division. Following its return from Vietnam, the division was rebuilt with one brigade (3d) and supporting elements on jump status, using the assets of what had been the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The remaining two brigades and supporting units were organized as airmobile. With the exception of certain specialized units, such as the pathfinders and parachute riggers, in early 1974 the Army terminated jump status for the division. Concurrently the 101st introduced the Airmobile Badge (renamed later that year as the [[Air Assault Badge]]), the design of which was based on the Glider Badge of World War II. Initially the badge was only authorized for wear while assigned to the division, but in 1978 the Army authorized it for service-wide wear. Soldiers continued to wear the garrison cap with glider patch, bloused boots, and their specific unit's airborne background trimming behind their Air Assault or Parachute Badge, as had division paratroopers before them. A [[blue beret]] was authorized for the division in March or April 1974 and worn until revoked at the end of 1979.<ref name="82nd Podcast 25">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOZGkh_621o |title=All American Legacy Podcast Ep.25 - The French Hat |author=82nd Airborne Division |date=26 June 2017 |website=YouTube |access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="101st Blue Berets">{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/82ndAirborneDivision/posts/10158970798165387 |title=82nd Airborne Division |date=28 June 2017 |website=Facebook |access-date=23 March 2020 |quote=On episode 25 of the All American Legacy Podcast, we mention the blue beret of the 101st Airborne Division in the 1970s. Well, here is the proof.}}</ref>

The division also was authorized to wear a full color (white eagle) shoulder patch insignia instead of the subdued green eagle shoulder patch that was worn as a combat patch by soldiers who fought with the 101st in Vietnam. While serving with the 101st, it was also acceptable to wear a non-subdued patch as a combat patch, a distinction shared with the 1st and 5th Infantry divisions.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

[[File:M60 101st Airborne Division Exercise 1972.jpg|thumb|A member of the 101st Airborne Division, armed with an [[M60 machine gun]], participates in a field exercise in 1972. [[M16 rifle|M16A1 rifle]] in background with each soldier wearing an [[M1 helmet]].]]
In the late 1970s, the division maintained one battalion on a rotating basis as the division ready force (DRF). The force was in place to respond to alerts for action anywhere in the world. After alert notification, troopers of the "hot" platoon/company, would be airborne, "wheels-up" within 30 minutes as the first responding unit. All other companies of the battalion would follow within one hour. Within 24 hours there would be one brigade deployed to the affected area, with the remainder of the division deploying as needed.

In September 1980, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 2nd Brigade, took part in [[Operation Bright Star]] '80, an exercise deployment to Egypt. In 1984, the command group formed a full-time team, the "Screaming Eagles", Command Parachute Demonstration Team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.campbell.army.mil/units/AAS/PDT/Pages/PDT.aspx |title=Screaming Eagles Parachute Demonstration Team |website=Fort Campbell |access-date=23 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212071900/http://www.campbell.army.mil/units/AAS/PDT/Pages/PDT.aspx |archive-date=12 February 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However the team traces its history to the late 1950s, during the infancy of precision free fall.

On 12 December 1985, a civilian aircraft, [[Arrow Air Flight 1285R|Arrow Air Flight 1285]], chartered to transport some of the division from peacekeeping duty with the [[Multinational Force and Observers]] on the [[Sinai Peninsula]] to Kentucky, crashed just a short distance from [[Gander International Airport]], [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]. All eight air crew members and 248 US servicemen died, most were from the 3d Battalion, 502d Infantry. [[Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board]] investigators were unable to determine the exact sequence of events which led to the accident, but determined that the probable cause of the crash was the aircraft's unexpectedly high drag and reduced lift condition, most likely due to [[Atmospheric icing|ice contamination]] on the wings' leading edges and upper surfaces, as well as underestimated onboard weight.<ref name="CASB Report">{{cite report |url=http://flightopsresearch.org/data/files/arrow1285.pdf |title=Aviation Occurrence Report, Arrow Air Inc. Douglas DC-8-63 N950JW, Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, 12 December 1985 |publisher=[[Canadian Aviation Safety Board]] |date=14 November 1988 |access-date=1 July 2021}}</ref> A [[Dissenting opinion|minority report]] stated that the accident could have been caused by an onboard explosion of unknown origin prior to impact.<ref name="CASB Minority Report">{{cite report |url=http://flightopsresearch.org/data/files/arrow1285.pdf |title=Dissenting Opinion, Arrow Air Inc. Douglas DC-8-63 N950JW, Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, 12 December 1985 |publisher=[[Canadian Aviation Safety Board]] |date=14 November 1988 |access-date=11 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="CASB 85-H50902">{{cite report |url=http://www.sandford.org/gandercrash/investigations/minority_report/html/_cover_page.shtml |title=Dissenting Opinion, Arrow Air Inc. Douglas DC-8-63 N950JW, Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, 12 December 1985 |publisher=[[Canadian Aviation Safety Board]] |date=14 November 1988 |access-date=1 July 2021}}</ref> At the time it was [[List of accidents and disasters by death toll#Aviation|17th most disastrous]] aviation accident in terms of fatalities. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy traveled to Fort Campbell to comfort grieving family members.

On 8 March 1988, two U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters assigned to the 101st Aviation Brigade collided while on a night training mission at Fort Campbell. All 17 soldiers aboard were killed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/10/us/17-die-in-collision-of-army-copters.html |title=17 Die in Collision of Army Copters |date=10 March 1988 |work=The New York Times |access-date=24 May 2014}}</ref> The dead included four helicopter crewmen and 13 members of the 502d Infantry Regiment. The Army's accident investigation attributed the crash to pilot error, aircraft design, and the limited field of view afforded pilots using night vision goggles (NVGs).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1988-07-02/news/26236842_1_pilot-error-helicopter-collision-night-vision-goggles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525214148/http://articles.philly.com/1988-07-02/news/26236842_1_pilot-error-helicopter-collision-night-vision-goggles |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 May 2014 |title=Pilot Error, Design Cited in Air Crash |website=Inquirer Wire Services |access-date=24 May 2014}}</ref> Numerous improvements have been made in NVG technology since the accident occurred.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmickley |first=Dennis |title=The Avionics Handbook |date=2001 |publisher=CRC Press LLC |chapter=Chapter 7 – Night Vision Goggles |chapter-url=http://nvgsafety.com/NVG_Support/Night_Vision_Goggles/Night_Vision_Goggles_Chap7.pdf}}</ref>