Fort Bragg and the 82nd Airborne Division announced that this year’s All American Week, hosted by the 82nd Airborne Division, has been postponed because of Immediate Response Force deployments.
The annual celebration was planned for August 30-September 2.
“All American Week has been a proud tradition for our Division, current events and the activation of our Immediate Response Force requires us to reschedule,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, the 82nd Abn. Div. commander. “Postponing this event is hard for all of us, but we are working to find a new time to celebrate with our All American veterans, families and friends.”
This year’s celebration was set to honor the 104th year for service for the 82nd Airborne Division. All American Week has been celebrated for over 30 years, Fort Bragg officials said.
“For over 30 years, All American Week has been open to the public to celebrate veterans and honor active duty service members, featuring sporting competitions, ceremonies, and memorials,” a release from the 82nd Airborne Division said. “After 18 months of lockdown, All American Week was meant to build esprit-de-corps, bring the community together, and celebrate 104 years of service toward the nation.”
According to the release, the rescheduled All American Week dates will be announced later, as several thousand soldiers for the 82nd have been deployed to Afghanistan in recent weeks.
“The first All American Week was held by the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. in 1986. In its inaugural year, the week began with a Division Run, sport competitions, a memorial, and a Division Review,” the release said. “In recent years, the Division has updated the Airborne Review an airborne operation, air assault and a demonstration of modern battle techniques.”
The 82nd Airborne Division is a primarily rapid response force, according to the U.S. Army.
“The 82nd Airborne Division is an active airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in joint forcible entry operations. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Division was constituted in the National Army on August 5th, 1917, and was organized on August 25th, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Since its initial members came from all 48 states, the unit acquired the nickname “All American,” which is the basis for its famed “AA” shoulder patch.”