By Matthew Cox
Staff writer

Within two years, the XVIII Airborne Corps will no longer have the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions under its wing.

In fact, the Fort Bragg, N.C., based corps is giving up command of all its traditional divisions to become one of three specialized headquarters designated to command combat deployments to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan.

 
The XVIII already gave up command of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Ga., on Oct. 1 and is slated to give up control over the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., next year. It will let go of the 82nd and 101st by next year.

“The mission of XVIII Airborne Corps will change in that it will focus more on its primary warfighting mission,” said Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

The change is part of Forces Command’s Transformation Command and Control Plan, an effort to help the XVIII, along with I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash., and III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, fit into the Army’s new modular brigade structure.

Now, these corps headquarters will be on a rotation to become the headquarters element of a deploying task force of units and not have to worry about managing units at home base.

The divisions and their brigade combat teams will report to Forces Command, which is moving to Fort Bragg around 2010.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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