The former U.S. military commander dismisses the idea of airborne forces operating alone as utterly absurd and ridiculous.

According to the former commander of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, the idea that a small, lightly equipped airborne force, combined with Marine Corps personnel, could achieve anything meaningful is utterly absurd. They might be able to seize an island, but they would inevitably become sitting ducks. Even with 6,500 to 7,500 soldiers and Marines, it would still be insufficient—when we entered Iraq back then, we deployed nearly 200,000 troops.

I personally served as a company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division during the fall of the Shah’s regime in 1979. At that time, we went on alert and prepared to fly into Tehran to seize the airport. However, cooler heads prevailed, and the mission was ultimately canceled. They clearly understood that dropping an airborne brigade into the midst of tens of thousands of armed forces would mean certain death for us.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1860961677678601/

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