In 1956, the 101st was reactivated as a combat division. Lead elements of the division deployed to [[Vietnam]] in 1965, and were joined by the rest of the division in 1967. In 1968, the 101st was reorganized as an airmobile division. In 1973, after its return from Vietnam the 101st was designated an air assault division, and is the only air assault division in the U.S. Army.
Though the 101st is called “airborne” in reference to its World War II days, today its soldiers are not trained to jump out of airplanes; the 82nd Airborne Division does that.
The 101st deploys using UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. Each division in the brigade has an aviation battalion with three companies of Blackhawk helicopters. Their primary combat mission is to secure a bridgehead.
When deploying, an air assault infantry battalion goes to a designated pickup zone, and a company of Blackhawks comes in to ferry them to the landing zone. Although they are trained to rappel out of the helicopters in a hot Landing Zone, in practice the helicopters usually land, and the troops jump out. It is much faster and safer. Two minutes later the chopper is back in the air and goes back for another squad at the pickup zone. Thus it might take the better part of an hour with two or three round trips to move an entire infantry battalion from the PZ to the LZ, longer if the distance is longer.
While an air assault infantry brigade can move 105 mm light artillery pieces via helicopter, the main supply and logistics assets of the brigade must follow the main force on the ground in trucks. Therefore, unlike the 82nd Airborne Division, or the Rangers, both of which are designed to jump into areas far behind enemy lines, an air assault brigade like the 101st is limited in how far it can leapfrog ahead of its support assets.
In 1991, the 101st Airborne fought in the [[Desert Storm|Persian Gulf conflict]], conducting air assault operations deep into enemy territory. The 101st sustained no soldiers killed in action during the 100-hour war and captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war. The division served multiple deployments to [[Afghanistan]] for [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] and [[Iraq]] for [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].