how many troops are there in the 82 airborne

Yea I know its suppose to be an elite unit and I have not found any numbers of troop strength so if someone can help me with that, that would be good.

Try investigating this link for your answer:

GlobalSecurity.org

Just curious, but why do you need to know


[edit on 6/9/2006 by centurion1211]

posted by blue cell
Yea I know its suppose to be an elite unit and I have not found any numbers of troop strength so if someone can help me with that, that would be good.
[Edited by Don W]

US military doctrine during War Two was that an Army division should be self-contained. That is, a division would have all the units needed - Signal Corps - Intelligence - Aerial Recon - Medical - Supply - Food Service - Equipment Repairs - artillery - infantry - transport and headquarters. Early in the war scouting included light tanks. Later, the tanks were broken off and formed into armored divisions. Mechanized infantry was troops that rode to war in trucks, instead of marching to war. In War 2, a division meant 15,000 to 20,000, depending.

When the airborne concept was added, it was more of a strike force to be supported by other on-the-ground units. Having enough ammo is a big problem in front line duty. I have read it took 2 men to carry ammo for every man in the front line in War Two. And that was when we used the M1 Garand 8 shot semi auto rifle. Now, the semi and full auto M16 is the standard weapon. I have read that assault troops in Vietnam carried 300 rounds of 5.56 ammo into combat. That supposedly weighed no more than the 100 rounds of .30-06 ammo in War 2 and Korea.

So how many men in a division? Specifically the 82nd Airborne Division? I don’t know. My guess is between 8,000 and 15,000. Depending on whether you want to count medical corps in the division, or repair facilities and so on. How much support is to be counted? Actual on the ground fighters? I don’t know. I don’t think it is a secret. I’d suggest we write then and ask.


PS. The 101st Airborne of Ft Campbell Ky sustained the largest loss of life in a single day on Dec. 12, 1985, when a DC8 crashed on takeoff after refueling at Gander, Newfoundland. All 248 men and 8 crew died in the crash. The men were on their way home from Peacekeeping duties in the Sinai Desert patrolling the border between Israel and Egypt. It was later determined the de-icing had been inadequate for the weather conditions.




[edit on 6/9/2006 by donwhite]

Between 10 to 15 thousand personnel.

Originally posted by centurion1211
Try investigating this link for your answer:

GlobalSecurity.org

Just curious, but why do you need to know

[edit on 6/9/2006 by centurion1211]

That link didn't help me and I wanted to know cause I was curious.

82nd’s website: 82nd Airborne Division

There is a faq section with contact information posted within for asking questions.

From the above referenced source:

How many troops are in the 82nd?
The 82nd Airborne Division has approximately 14,500 paratroopers.

mg