The 500 series infantry regiments all (if I'm not mistaken) have an airborne lineage, but may or may not actually be on jump status now (and there are some regiments without 500+ numbers that have historical or current airborne status, to add further confusion to the matter).
The 'Guard unit could be the light motorized one, especially since whoever gets the role is falling in on new equipment. They could have been slated to be a reserve round-out/round-up unit for the 173rd who arrived in theater with only a portion of the unit jump qualified (from personal experience in and around several NG airborne units, getting everyone to and through jump school is a PITA, as is keeping them current during peace time).
I would perhaps say that the three regular army battalions were all initially jump qualified, and the NG battalion was supposed to be, but when the NG battalion arrived in theater it was sufficiently deficient in jump-qualified personnel that it was looted for jumpers to replace casualties in the other battalions, and then became a receiving unit for non-jumping replacements. (Particularly because I'd think that Kenya would be low on the priority list for airborne qualified replacement personnel in most any MOS, with 18th Abn Corps, the Rangers, assorted SOF units and LRS units, etc, in action in busier AOs.)
As the war wore on, the decision was later made to pool increasingly scarce equipment and personnel in two of the other battalions, and take the third off jump status (allowing it to also incorporate non-airborne replacement personnel, including indigenous Kenyan and expatriate personnel).
Or something like that.
|