508TH INFANTRY REGIMENT (UNITED STATES)

(Redirected from 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment)


During World War II, the '508th Parachute Infantry Regiment' ('508th PIR' or 'Red Devils') was a regiment of the 82d Airborne Division which in turn became part of XVIII Airborne Corps of the United States Army.
The regiment was activated on 20 October 1942 at Camp Blanding, Florida. After extensive training and maneuvers the unit embarked on 19 December 1943 in New York and sailed on 28 December 1943 for Belfast, Northern Ireland, arriving on 8 January 1944. After additional training at Cronmore, the unit was moved by ship to Glasgow, Scotland and by train on the 13 March 1944 to Wollaton Park, Nottinghamshire, England. Wollaton Park was shared as a base camp with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
After service in Operation Overlord jumping on 6 June 1944 the unit returned to its billet at Wollaton Park and prepared for its part in Operation Market Garden jumping in 17 September 1944. The regiment later played a part in the Battle of the Bulge.
The unit was inactivated on 25 November 1946.
The 508th was reactivated as the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team 1951 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, served in Japan, and later moved to Fort Campbell where it once again deactivated in March 1957 as part of the reactivation of the 101st Airborne Division.
When the Army reorganized in 1962 under the Kennedy Administration, the 508th reorganized under the Combat Arms Regimental System as a parent regiment and at the same time renamed the 508th Infantry. Within the 82nd Airborne Division, the former Company A, 508PIR was reorganized and redesignated as HHC, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry, an element of the 3rd Brigade. The former Company B, 508PIR was reactivated as HHC, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry, part of the 1st Brigade. When the 3rd Brigade was sent to Viet Nam in response to the Tet Offensive in early 1968, 1-508th accompanied it.
During the 1960s, 3-508th (formerly Co C, 508PIR) served as an Airborne battalion within the 193rd Infantry Brigade in Panama. When the Airborne component of the battalion was reduced to a single company (Co A), the battalion was reflagged as the 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry.
The colors of the 508th departed the 82nd Airborne Division during an Army-wide reflagging of combat units in the 1980s, leaving the division with battalions of the 325th, 504th, and 505th within the 2nd, 1st and 3rd Brigades, respectively.

Contents

173rd Airborne Brigade

External links

173rd Airborne Brigade

The colors of 1-508th were reactivated in 1996 in Vicenza, Italy, by reflagging the existing 3-325th Infantry, an airborne battalion combat team, which was expanded in 2000 to become the reactivated 173rd Airborne Brigade. The unit conducted a combat jump into northern Iraq in March of 2003 and continued to serve throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. It has its own artillery support in with the 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, consisting of six 105mm howitzers. In addition to 1-508th, the colors of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, were reactivated as assigned to the brigade. The colors of 1-508th left the 173rd when the battalion was reflagged as 1-503rd Infantry.
==4th BCT, 82nd Airborne Division==
As of January 2006, the colors of both 1-508th and 2-508th were reactivated as the infantry battalions of the newly-activated 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. In February 2007, the 508th deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The BCT is composed of:

★ HHC, 4th BCT

★ 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

★ 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

★ 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment (RSTA)

★ 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment

★ 4th Brigade Troops Battalion

★ 782nd Brigade Support Battalion

External links

★ Red Devils

★ Regimental Association

★ 508th PIR Living History Group

★ 82d Airborne Division

★ 4th BCT Official Website

★ 4th BCT at Global Security.org