Out of This World

Video by Senior Airman Elijah Dority

20th Anniversary of Operation Northern Delay - In Focus

AFN Aviano

March 23, 2023 | 1:00

Reserve Citizen Airmen aircrew from the 97th, 313th, and 728th Airlift Squadrons, including Chief Master Sgt. Derek Bryant, the loadmaster senior enlisted leader of the 728th AS, and Lt. Col. Mark Hahn, an aircraft commander and evaluator instructor pilot assigned to the 728th AS, alongside U.S. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade participated in the commemoration airborne operation marking the 20th anniversary of Operation Northern Delay on Mar. 22, 2023, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Operation Northern Delay occurred on 26 March 2003 as part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It involved dropping 1,000 paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade into Northern Iraq. It was the last large-scale combat parachute operation conducted by the U.S. military since Operation Just Cause. The operation was the first strategic brigade airdrop using C-17 aircraft in formation, integrating a conventional Army airborne brigade within the 10th Special Forces Group, and integrating an armored battalion into an airborne operation. The 62d Airlift Wing, 315th Airlift Wing, 437th Airlift Wing, and 446th Airlift Wing provided aircraft and crew to fly the Mission. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army's Contingency Response Force in Europe, providing rapidly deployable forces to the United States European, African, and Central Command areas of responsibility. Forward deployed across Italy and Germany, the brigade routinely trains alongside NATO allies and partners to build partnerships and strengthen the Alliance. (U.S. Air Force video by Senior Airman Elijah Dority)