FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team are hosting a ceremony at Fort Campbell ahead of their deployment to Afghanistan.
The soldiers, known as “Rakkasans,” will have a colors-casing ceremony Thursday afternoon at the post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
The Rakkasans’ nickname came after World War II from a Japanese translator referring to the paratroopers. The word translates to “falling down umbrella men.”
Deploying troops traditionally “case colors” before leaving. The “colors,” or flag, represents the unit on the battlefield, and casing it symbolizes the unit is prepared for movement.