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82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION
ITS MISSION: The days of massive invasions by parachute ended after World War II. The 82nd's 21st century mission is to have smaller forces quickly seize targets like airfields and secure them for reinforcements with greater firepower. In such cases, the 82nd is inserted at night by blacked-out C-130s, along with humvees and howitzers. The 4,000 troops of the 82nd's 2nd Brigade are poised to rush into hot spots inside Iraq within hours of getting the order.
THE COMMANDER: Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr., 54, leads the "All-American Division" of the 82nd Airborne, which is based at Fort Bragg, N.C. Swannack, a West Point grad who has taught engineering, has led troops in Bosnia, Haiti and Panama. Swannack says if the 82nd is ordered to take an objective inside Iraq, he will be parachuting in himself out of the first plane.