Running from July 31 until August 21, soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will be working through a three-week exercise — known as Operation Lethal Eagle III.
The pre-planned training has been organized to build soldier and unit lethality within the world’s top air assault division.
As such, residents of northwest Tennessee and west Kentucky should expect more military vehicles on the road and helicopters in the skies as part of this division-wide exercise.
This training will include air assault operations, small unit maneuvers, live fire training, artillery firing exercises and aerial gunnery. It will cause a higher level of noise and activity for the surrounding areas of Fort Campbell, and there certainly will be an increase of military helicopter flights in and around Hopkinsville, due to the use of the Hopkinsville airport as an aviation re-fuel point.
Convoys of military vehicles will use public roadways between Fort Campbell and Fort Knox during this operation. These movements will occur during daylight hours, which may cause temporary disruptions to road traffic.
Additionally, access to the Fort Campbell installation through Angels and Mabry gates will be restricted to authorized personnel only during this time.
The following gates will be temporarily closed during the exercise: Palmyra Gate, 101st Airborne Gate and Lafayette Gate.
All personally owned vehicle traffic without pre-authorization will need to access Fort Campbell through Gates 7 and 10 or any other gate on Fort Campbell Boulevard.
The majority of the military traffic on public roads will be on I-24 (from Fort Campbell, Exit 86 to Exit 81), I-169, Western Kentucky Parkway, and I-69.
