49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne)

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name = 49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne)


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formation = January 25 1968
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purpose = Assist with public affairs operations
headquarters = Fort Bragg, North Carolina
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leader_name = Capt. James Brindle
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remarks =The 49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne) is the United States Army quick-response public affairs unit. Its paratroopers deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours notification, providing direct support in public information, command information and community relations missions in both print and broadcast media.

History

Activation-1977

The 49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne) was organized and activated January 25 1968, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as the 49th Public Information Detachment (Field Service), where it was attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps. While originally designed to support corps-level and higher public affairs activities, the 49th was assigned the mission to tell the Army story through news releases and features.

The unit was originally authorized an aggregate strength of five soldiers—two officers and three enlisted soldiers. On June 21 1976, the 49th was reorganized, and the executive officer slot was dropped and replaced with an enlisted noncommissioned officer-in-charge position.

1978-1983

In 1978, the 49th was alerted to deploy to Zaire, Africa, to cover American involvement with relief efforts, but stood down at the last minute when the deployment was cancelled. The unit did deploy in August to Fort McClellan, Alabama, in support of "Golden Pistol," a cold war exercise where the Army's only Military Police Prisoner of War brigade practiced their skills in a wartime scenario in Germany with over 30,000 POWs.

In November, the 49th deployed to Jonestown, Guyana, as part of the task force involved in the clean-up operations after the mass suicide of nearly 1,000 Americans.

The 49th headed to Europe in January 1979 to support the 21st Support Command's press center for Return of Forces to Germany (REFORGER) '79. This was the year that the PAD received its first broadcaster. In May 1980, the 49th was ready to deploy to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for exercise "Solid Shield," however, due to the "Freedom Flotilla" between Cuba and Key West, all activities at Guantanamo Bay were canceled. Later in the year, the 49th deployed to Miami as part of the 503rd Military Police Battalion task force, taking over the refugee camp operations from the Florida National Guard.

In January 1982, elements of the 49th deployed to El Salvador as "media scouts" during U.S. military advisory and aide efforts. In August 1983, the 49th deployed to Egypt in support of exercise "Bright Star '83" a huge joint exercise involving thousands of American service members training alongside their Egyptian counterparts. In September, the 49th deployed to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to support the 1st Corps Support Command during "Bold Eagle '84," a joint exercise to validate tactics, techniques and procedures in readiness among U.S. forces. Shortly after their return, the 49th deployed to Grenada in support of Operation Urgent Fury, to cover units involved in the extraction of American citizens and assist in escorting media representatives.

1984-1989

On January 27 1984, the 49th Public Information Detachment (Field Service) was re-designated as the 49th Public Affairs Detachment. In March 1988, the PAD deployed to Honduras as part of Operation Golden Pheasant, a show of force operation that caused the Sandinistas to withdraw back to Nicaragua. Shortly after the PAD's return to Fort Bragg, the 49th deployed to Ecuador and Panama as part of a military police task force on a joint security mission one year prior to the U.S. invasion.

In September 1989, the PAD was again deployed, this time to the Bermuda Islands to cover the damage inflicted by Hurricane Hugo. On December 20 1989, the 49th PAD returned to Panama during Operation Just Cause.

The Gulf War 1990

The PAD deployed with the XVIII Airborne Corps en route to Saudi Arabia for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq. With the increase of media on the battlefield, the Army realized the need for additional public affairs support at division level. Upon returning from the Gulf war the PAD was reassigned from the XVIII Airborne Corps to the 82nd Airborne Division and redesignated as the 49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne).

1992-1999

In August 1992, the 49th was sent to Homestead, Florida as part of the massive clean-up effort to correct the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew. Elements of the 49th deployed to France in 1994 to cover the 50th anniversaries of the invasion of Normandy and Operation Market Garden.

Later that year, as the 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers prepared to conduct a parachute assault into the Caribbean nation of Haiti, the 49th was staged 100 miles away on the isle of Great Inagua. After Cedras agreed to step down, the PAD returned to Fort Bragg.

The 49th was one of the first units to cross the Sava River into Bosnia in 1995, recording the US 1st Armored Division's beginning of Operation Joint Endeavor. The PAD was also responsible for establishing the "Talon," a command information newspaper that is still in production. The PAD was on hand to cover history again as it deployed to Russia in support of CENTRAZBAT '97, an exercise fostering good relations among airborne forces between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union.

The PAD deployed to Panama again in 1998 to cover the division's last battalion rotation through the Jungle Operation Training Center at Fort Sherman. In November 1998, the PAD was augmented with two linguists from the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion for deployment to Honduras in support of the Hurricane Mitch relief effort. While assigned to Joint Task Force Bravo, the PAD operated out of Soto Cano Air Base covering medical treatment missions, food and water distribution and rehabilitation efforts throughout the ravaged Central American region where over 10,000 people lost their lives due to the storm. The PAD returned from Honduras in early 1999.

On July 7 1999, the 49th PAD deployed to Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, in support of Operation Joint Guardian. The unit was attached to Task Force Falcon and conducted media relations operations with national, international, and regional media. The members of the 49th set up interviews for various news agencies and escorted media throughout the United States area of responsibility. PAD soldiers worked with their international counterparts and provided the Russian Airborne 13th Tactical group with training on U.S. Army Public Affairs procedures.

49th PAD soldiers facilitated the coverage for President Bill Clinton and other distinguished guests during their visits to Kosovo.

During the deployment, the Army once again reorganized the number of personnel authorized for a PAD, adding two additional positions—a noncommissioned officer and a broadcast journalist—to bring the total number of personnel authorized on October 1 1999, to eight.

In addition to running Task Force Falcon media operations center, the 49th supported the task force by writing articles and taking hundreds of photos that were distributed to military publications worldwide.

September 11 2001 to present

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the 49th PAD received a FORSCOM warning order to be prepared to deploy for possible contingency operations. On 18 October 2001, the PAD departed Fort Bragg en route to the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan, where it would provide public affairs support to the Joint Special Operations Task Force-North at Karshi-Kanabad Airbase (K2). On 13 November 2001, the 49th PAD arrived in Afghanistan. The PAD remained in Afghanistan until 25 January 2002, when the unit returned to Uzbekistan. During this period in the combat zone, the PAD supported special operations forces and 10th Mountain Division facilitating over 200 media representatives to include assisting U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine public affairs officers in facilitating another 200 journalists in Kabul on 17 December 2001, when the American Embassy reopened for the first time in almost 13 years. The 49th redeployed on 05 February and returned to Fort Bragg 08 February 2002.

Part of the PAD returned to Afghanistan in June 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. This trip was to facilitate embedded media and to provide command information products on the 82nd Airborne in the combat zone. 49th PAD personnel remained to support the Panther Brigade until November of that year.

The 49th PAD had little time to rest as it was called again for the War on Terrorism as it deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait on 12 February 2003. The PAD provided command information products on the 82nd Airborne Division's training in Kuwait and assisted the division's participation in the DOD directed embedded media program, which involved 700 plus media throughout the theater. The 49th PAD executed a ground assault convoy (GAC) and Air-land operation into Iraq on 27 March 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom to oust Saddam Hussein. The PAD's primary mission in Iraq was to document the combat operations of the 82nd Airborne Division and provide products for the daily press conferences by Central Command (CENTCOM). The PAD supported combat operations to include numerous civil affairs missions in and around Tailil Airfield, As Samawah and An Najaf. The 49th PAD redeployed with the Division Headquarters to Fort Bragg on 08 May 2003.

Today, the 49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne) is the Army's only airborne public affairs detachment. It must be able to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours and provide direct public affairs support in public information, command information and community relations missions in both print and broadcast media.