By integrating these support elements, the unit became able to maintain its fighting forces with all that is required to keep the ground soldiers supplied and moving. 615-231-1242 Brantley Dieterich [2] : 158 From August-October 1968 combat engineers from the 18th Engineer Brigade upgraded the existing airstrip into a Lockheed C-130 Hercules capable airfield. In January 1966 they launched Operation Marauder, the first U.S. military operation in the Plain of Reeds. [3][24], On 26 March 1963, the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) was assigned to the Regular Army and activated on Okinawa. [78] They jumped from aircraft of the 62nd Airlift Wing, 446th Airlift Wing, 437th Airlift Wing and the 315th Airlift Wing ( this included the 728th Airlift Squadron), along with a Tactical Air Control Party of USAF Airmen from the 4th Air Support Operations Squadron[90] and the 786th Security Forces Squadron. NATO Training exercise incident in Bulgaria. [3][25] As the Pacific quick-reaction force, they were the first brigade to be sent to South Vietnam two years later when hostilities escalated there. [5][7][24] This was a significant change as it signified the ability for the brigade to deploy its forces and sustain itself with its newly integrated support teams. @173rdAbnBde. NATO President, https://www.skysoldier.net/2022-Reunion-Photos. [25] The 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division; the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division; and the 1st Cavalry Division quickly followed the 173rd into Vietnam, the first of what would eventually be 25 U.S. Army brigades to serve in the country. He is married to Martina Piazzon from Padova, Italy. No weapons were discharged. [15] Though the brigade in name did not exist during the war, the redesignation meant that it carried the lineage of the 87th Reconnaissance Troop, and when the brigade was reactivated, it would include the troop's lineage and campaign streamers. At 14:30 PAVN troops hidden at the bottom of the hill launched a massed assault from the rear. [48], On 20 June, Company C, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry (C/2-503) discovered the bodies of a Special Forces CIDG unit that had been missing for four days on Hill 1338, the dominant hill mass south of Dak To.