Bastogne was originally constructed in late March 1968, by the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Carentan and was named after the Battle of Bastogne where the 101st Airborne and other U.S. units held the town of Bastogne against seven German divisions during World War II. The base was then used to support Operation Delaware, following which it was closed, but was reopened in August 1969 by the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry. Bastogne had three artillery batteries: 105, 155, and heavies (175 and 8 inch two of each in one battery). It also had two M42 Duster (from D Battery &lt;a href="44th%20Air%20Defense%20Artillery%20Regiment"&gt;1/44th Artillery&lt;/a&gt;), 2 quad 50's and 1 searchlight.