101st Airborne Soldiers Return To Fort Campbell After Nine Months In Afghanistan

More than 1,300 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, who were deployed last year to Afghanistan, are now back at Fort Campbell. The last troops arrived over the weekend. 

The brigade combat team began returning in early July. During one of the welcome ceremonies last week, which took place in the middle of the night, dozens of soldiers from the 101st Airborne’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team filed off buses into a large gym. They stood in formation in front of awaiting family members.

The Rakkasans, as they’re nicknamed, have been overseas since October, primarily to help build up Afghanistan’s army, police and security forces. They also worked on counter-terrorism operations against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

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Fort Campbell’s 187th Infantry ‘Rakkasans’ Return Yet Again To Afghanistan

This marks the end of the fifth time the Rakkasans have been sent to Afghanistan. They’ve also been deployed four times to Iraq since 2003.

More troops from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team are still in Kosovo, where several hundred were deployed last year.