70 AAs to receive "Mustard Stain"

THU 27MAY04. Fayetteville Online.

About 70 paratroopers from B Company, 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment jumped in Afghanistan in February 2003. It was the first combat jump by the 82nd Airborne Division since Panama in 1989. In a ceremony today, the paratroopers will be awarded a Combat Parachutist Badge with one bronze star to indicate a combat jump.

Parts of the operation are still classified. The paratroopers' mission was to establish an outer security perimeter around the drop zone to protect soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment as they carried out a different mission. They expected to meet some resistance from al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

The "mustard stain" (as the star is called, since it looks like a mustard stain on a subdued patch) is worn proudly by a paratrooper. (Civilians/vets who wear it without ever having jumped in combat, or at all, are considered the worst kind of "posers.")

Only the 173rd (out of Italy) made a combat jump in Iraq. The 82nd made a jump later, but it was for show and not under combat conditions.