The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-third episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG). The COG is joined by the Aviation Task Force’s TF Senior, LTC Amoreena “Ammo” York. Today’s guest is Deputy Commanding General for Support of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), BG Travis McIntosh (Eagle 09).

The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), known as the “Screaming Eagles” and bearing the callsign “Eagle,” is one of the most storied and combat-proven divisions in U.S. Army history. Activated in 1942, the division gained immortal fame during World War II with combat jumps into Normandy and Holland and its heroic defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Since then, it has served with distinction from Vietnam to the Global War on Terror, transforming from parachute infantry to the Army’s only air assault division. With its motto “Rendezvous with Destiny,” the 101st continues to lead from the front—now as the Army’s premier Transformation-in-Contact division. As part of the Army’s mobility and modernization focus, the 101st is pioneering the integration of multi-domain capabilities, advanced sUAS platforms, electronic warfare, and the next-generation squad weapons within highly mobile infantry formations. Their next rendezvous with destiny will not just be defined by historic legacy—but by shaping how the Army fights and wins in large-scale combat operations on tomorrow’s battlefield.

In this episode we discuss the re-emergence of large-scale, long-range air assaults as a possibly decisive form of maneuver in the 21st-century fight and the some of the capabilities required to achieve success. Our guest highlights that the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is reclaiming its mantle as America’s premier vertical envelopment force. These operations extend deep into contested terrain, often beyond traditional fire support coverage, and demand precision planning, synchronized fires, and an adaptive joint team. The division’s air assault capabilities, when executed at echelon, enable rapid massing of combat power across extended distances to seize key terrain, disrupt enemy formations, and establish lodgments for follow-on operations. However, these assaults cannot succeed without Joint Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (JSEAD). The ability to suppress, deceive, or destroy enemy integrated air defense systems is foundational to aviation survivability and mission success. Airspace must be contested—and then cleared—through layered fires and effects across domains. As BG McIntosh and Task Force Bastogne demonstrated during recent large-scale exercises, air assault isn’t just a legacy tactic—it’s a modern instrument of tempo and shock when paired with precision intelligence, hardened command posts, and rapid sustainment.

The 101st’s renewed focus on scale, range, and survivability represents its next Rendezvous with Destiny. Gone are the days of low-intensity, air corridor-based insertions. Today’s battlefield requires lift platforms operating in low-signature modes, digitally integrated with maneuver elements, and prepared to operate inside denied or degraded electromagnetic environments. With the introduction of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) ecosystem on the horizon, and the ongoing proliferation of UAS and electronic warfare, Army aviation must evolve from just being “mobility” to becoming a key component of multi-domain convergence. Under McIntosh’s vision, the division is shaping the doctrine and culture necessary to fight and win in LSCO: aggressively training mission command at distance, investing in distributed planning tools, and adapting air-ground integration to incorporate SOF, cyber, and space enablers. The air assault is no longer just an insertion method—it’s a high-risk, high-reward maneuver enabled by fires, intelligence, and the ironclad trust between aviators and ground commanders.

Part of S08 “The Aviator’s Corner” series.

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