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In the years following WWII, the air was thick with the new, invisible threats of the Cold War. American airborne and special operations units were kept busy in the Korean War, with combat jumps by the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (ARCT) and the use of Airborne Ranger Companies. PSYWAR Radio Broadcast and Leaflet teams added pressure by fighting for the hearts and minds of the combatants. United Nations partisan forces fought deep behind enemy lines in a little remembered special operations effort.

In the early 1950s the power of special and unconventional warfare became increasingly clear. A natural progression of the special operations units of the OSS that had proven themselves during World War II was the establishment of the 10th Special Forces group at Ft. Bragg in 1952, the first of the Army's Special Forces units.

It was also during this time that the United States began to feel internal unrest at such levels that airborne units would be called upon to help support the civilian authorities. A graphics panel at the museum explores the 101st and 82d Airborne Divisions and the XVIII Airborne Corps' presence in some of our nations hot spots from Miami to New Haven and Detroit to Washington, D.C.

In 1965, airborne and special operations troops were called to the Dominican Republic. The 7th Special Forces Group and the 82d Airborne Division were joined by South American countries to set up a peacekeeping force. It was the 82d Airborne's largest overseas deployment since WWII, and it shared the nation's attention with another war that was raging, this one in Southeast Asia.

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