As part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Screaming Eagles were deployed once again to Iraq (101st). "The division was in V Corps, providing support to the 3rd Infantry Division by clearing Iraqi strong-points which that division had bypassed" (101st). Using the city of Mosul as their primary base of operations, they then went on to become part of the occupation forces in Iraq before being withdrawn in 2004 for rest and refit (101st). The existing infantry brigades, artillery brigade, and aviation brigades were transformed as part of the Army's modular transformation, with the addition of re-activating a new 4th Brigade Combat Team, called Currahee, and its subordinate units to form a 6-7 major units division, one of the Army's largest (101st).

In the late summer of 2005, the division's second deployment to Iraq began. Its headquarters replaced the 42nd Infantry Division, "which had been directing security operations as the headquarters for Task Force Liberty" (101st). On November 1, 2005, the 101st, renamed Task Force Band of Brothers, assumed responsibility for four provinces in north-central Iraq: Salah ad Din, Kirkuk, Diyala, and As Sulymaniyah, and on December 30, 2005, they also assumed responsibility for training Iraqi security forces and conducting security operations in Ninevah and Dahuk provinces (101st)....

During this second deployment, 2nd and 4th Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division conducted security operations under the command of Task Force Baghdad, "led initially by 3rd Infantry Division, which was replaced by 4th Infantry Division" (101st).
The 101st Airborne Division has captured the admiration of generations. The 1949 movie, "Battleground" depicted the division in the Battle of the Bulge (101st). The Screaming Eagles were also depicted in Cornelius Ryan's books, "The Longest Day" (the Normandy landings) and "A Bridge Too Far" (Operation Market Garden), both of which were also adapted to film (101st). And Rakkasans of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment in the A Shau Valley are depicted in the movie "Hamburger Hill" (101st). The film, "Saving Private Ryan," depicted the search for a 101st paratrooper in Normandy, while the 2001 HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" depicted Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (101st).

Works Cited

101st Airborne Division. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 08, 2006 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division

101st 1 Airborne Division: Air Assault. Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Retrieved July 08, 2006 at http://www.campbell.army.mil/division.htm

Lone Sentry. Retrieved July 08, 2006 at http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/101stairborne