The 11th Airborne Division, also known as "The Angels", was first activated on February 25, 1943, at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Under the command of Major General Joseph M. Swing, the division was unique as it was "built from the ground up" rather than being converted from existing infantry units. Its initial composition included a parachute infantry regiment (511th PIR) and two glider infantry regiments (187th and 188th GIR), along with supporting troops. The 11th Airborne played a pivotal role in the Knollwood Maneuvers of December 1943, where it successfully demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale airborne operations. This maneuver was crucial as it "saved the future of the Airborne" by convincing Army leadership, including General Lesley J. McNair, that division-sized airborne formations were effective and should not be disbanded. The division then deployed to the Pacific Theater, becoming the only U.S. Army airborne division to fight in that theater during World War II. They saw extensive combat in the Leyte and Luzon campaigns, including the assault on Tagaytay Ridge, the fierce Battle of Manila, and the daring Los Baños Raid which rescued over 2,100 civilian internees. The 11th Airborne also conducted the last combat airborne operation of WWII at Aparri and was the first Allied unit to land in Japan for occupation duty.
After World War II, the division was inactivated in 1958 following a deployment to Germany. However, it was reactivated from 1963 to 1965 as the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. During this period, its primary purpose was to develop nascent air assault tactics for helicopter operations, which subsequently led to the formation of the first units to employ these tactics in Vietnam. On July 3, 1965, the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) was inactivated and re-flagged as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
The division remained dormant for 57 years before its most recent reactivation on June 6, 2022, in Alaska, when US Army Alaska was redesignated as the 11th Airborne Division. This rebirth of the division, now referred to as the "Arctic Angels", aims to address increasing defense and security concerns in the circumpolar North. Its mission involves executing expeditionary operations worldwide, conducting multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific theater and the Arctic, and decisively defeating adversaries in extreme cold weather, mountainous, and high-latitude environments. The Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center–Alaska (JPMRC–AK) serves as the premier training and testing ground for these capabilities, enabling combined, joint, and service component forces to develop and test Arctic operational readiness unlike any other installation globally. The 11th Airborne Division's strategic location in Alaska provides the shortest distances to potential crises in both the Pacific and over the North Pole to Scandinavian countries, making it a critical force for global deployments and maintaining stability.