Is the airborne concept outdated?

Good question, CPO Gregory Smith. Credible sources that airborne ops is outdated are likely to surface when the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) deletes it from their Mission Essential Task listings based on POTUS' National Security Strategy. As one of the U.S. Army’s three "Dirt" Combat Training Centers, JRTC is home-garrison to the Army's 1-509th Infantry Battalion, which heralds history's first U.S. combat jump in WW II as well as JRTC's only airborne-capable infantry designed essentially to OPFOR against rotational units preparing for airborne operations. That said, it's only just that they furl the flag on such airborne history, IMHO. Uncertain when the last real-world parachute deployment was made, but from what I could muster on the fly, 'Conduct Airborne Operations' (Air Force Task 4.2.1.3) has aimed high in USAF doctrine since 1998, and some history buff from the 509th can answer your question way better than I can. Thanks for the question, Chief. Defensor Fortis!

List of References:
Globalsecurity.org. (1998, Aug. 12). Air Force Task List). Air Force Doctrine Document 1-1. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/usaf/afdd/1-1/afdd1-1.pdf

Silva, B. (2018, Apr. 19). STRIKE: 2nd BCT strikes down OPFOR at JRTC. Retrieved from http://fortcampbellcourier.com/news/article_96caa9aa-4421-11e8-9885-87feecb257f8.html

Whitehouse.gov. (2017). National Security Strategy of the United States of America. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf

Wikipedia. (n.sd). 509th Infantry Regiment (United States). Retrieved September 30, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/509th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

Always one of those questions that is kind of dead before it can be answered. Does the Army need to give up on its capabilities to get forces to a battlefield would be the same question - just more blunt. Which nations have made combat jumps in the Long War so far and who has not really is not as important as knowing that we can do it anywhere on the globe when the time comes that the capability is needed. Can we ever get more than a single BDE to a place... now that is a great question to ask!

For a massive operation like in WWII, probably. But there are several and various size and type operations where it would be one of the most optimum methods of insertion for light infantry and low intensity conflict.

Here I'll speak blasphemy. Airborne isn't really about how you get there. It's about what you do when you get there. At Normandy the bulk of the 327th GIR arrived at Utah by landing craft. During the Battle of the Bulge both the 82nd and the 101st were transported by truck and the mission and the objective were changed enroute. No sane commander of unit starts a battle out of supply, out of communication, or out of command and control. But this is essence of Airborne. They accept this going in and they know that it won't change until they change it. The Army needs units that embrace this and train for it, regardless of how they get there.

No it's still essential in some operations maybe not the Middle East but there are other parts of the world were it would be essential..

During the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan there were brigade level mass exit airborne drops. It is also essential for special operations. However, the best justification I have ever heard is that winning on the battlefield takes a certain mentality. The idea that you will win no matter what. And the airborne has a mentality that the rest of the regular Army lacks, because they're better than you and they know it.

Absolutely outdated and we should abandon the concept completely except for the SOF guys.

I say no. It is more than the method by which he is delivered. Level of training and motivation. When did we stop calling everybody else LEGS?

How often must this question be asked?? Every couple years some leg poses this question who obviously doesn't get out much. Research Mali 2013, French Foreign Legion and Operation Operation Serval.

Yes, airborne troops are still relevant today. Just as tanks and A-10's are and will be for the foreseeable future.

Are amphibious assaults outdated?