505th Infantry Regiment (United States)

In early 1943, for instance, he noted in his diary, "In 36 hours the regiment had marched well over 50 miles, maneuvered and seized an airhead and defended it from counterattack while carrying full combat loads and living off reserve rations".

In February 1943, the 505th was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway, then stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

In April, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky), the regiment was moved to Tunisia, in North Africa, where they completed six weeks of training.

[1] High winds on the 505th's drop zone caused a large number of the regiment to be scattered all over the island, with up to 100 men landing in the British Eighth Army's sector.

The 505th suffered heavy losses during the relatively brief campaign, including Lieutenant Colonel Arthur F. Gorham, the 1st Battalion commander, who was killed.

[2] The regiment then returned to North Africa in August for refit to absorb replacements before taking part in the assault on Salerno, on the night of 14 September, where they made their second combat jump.

Soon afterwards, the 505th was pulled back to the United Kingdom, together with the rest of the 82nd Airborne Division (minus the 504th PIR) where they began training for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.

[2] Originally sent to Northern Ireland, the 505th went to Quorn in Leicestershire, in the Midlands region of England in February 1944 and began strenuous training in preparation for the invasion.

In the American airborne landings in Normandy in June 1944, the 505th PIR actually jumped before its scheduled "H-Hour", thus earning their motto "H-minus".

On 30 April 1965, the 3rd Brigade was alerted for combat as part of "Operation Power Pack", the defense of the Dominican Republic against communist insurgents.

The brigade deployed on "temporary change of station" orders with the expectation that it would return to Fort Bragg after the Tet emergency was resolved.

[3] Following its return from Vietnam, the 3rd Brigade again participated in controlling civil disturbances, deploying to Washington, D.C., in May 1971 to help local and federal officials in their efforts to keep demonstrators from disrupting the daily operations of the government.

In August 1980, the brigade's 1st Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry was alerted and deployed to conduct civil disturbance duty at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania during the Cuban refugee internment.

[3] In October 1983, the 3d Brigade deployed to the country of Grenada to evacuate US citizens and establish a US-aligned government during Operation Urgent Fury.

In September 1989, the 2-505th PIR was tasked to serve as part of the Multi-National Forces and observers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula ending in March 1990.

[3] In March 1994 the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment was tasked to serve as part of the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

In September 1994, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment along with the rest of the 82d Airborne Division was alerted as part of Operation Restore Democracy.

The Division's first wave was in the air, with the 505th PIR loaded on aircraft awaiting takeoff, when the Haitian military dictator, upon learning the 82nd Airborne was on the way, agreed to step down and averted the invasion.

Their mission was to restore order among approximately four thousand Cuban refugees who had attacked and injured a number of Air Force personnel while protesting their detainment at Empire Range along the Panama Canal.

The Task Force also conducted three successful parachute training operations and observed a 92-degree Christmas Day in Panama before returning to Fort Bragg on 14 February 1995.

When NATO forces moved into Kosovo in June, 2-505 was in the lead, performing an air assault movement to establish Camp Bondsteel, before returning to the States in September.

Upon arrival, paratroopers of the 505th PIR established a command and control environment for the senior leaders of the unit to work effectively in, making decisions that were vital to the restoration of law and order as well as being able to efficiently provide needed medical attention to the citizens of New Orleans.

It was at this time that the unit was also reunited with Archbishop Philip Hannan who had served in the 505th PIR as a chaplain in World War II.

On 4 September 2003 the 1-505th was stationed at Forward Operating Base Volturno on the outskirts of Fallujah and tasked with maintaining control of the area containing this important city.

Both 1st and 2nd Battalions deployed as components of 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) "Panthers", 82nd Airborne Division to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from January to September 2015.

[5] Approximately 3,000 paratroopers from 3rd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division deployed to Afghanistan from July 2019 to March 2020, with soldiers from 1st and 2nd Battalions making up much of that manpower.

[6][7] In May 2021, Panther Brigade paratroopers, including 1st and 2nd Battalions, flew non-stop over 4,000 miles aboard USAF C-17 Globemaster's from Fort Bragg, NC to jump into Nurmsi Drop Zone, Estonia as part of a Joint Forcible Entry (JFE) as part of Swift Defender 21, an airborne rapid deployment component to the larger Defender Europe 21 exercise.

[8][9] In response to Russian military buildup near the border of Ukraine, the Panther Brigade (including 1st and 2nd Battalions) deployed on short notice to Poland in early February 2022, returning to Fort Bragg the following July.

The 505th PIR distinctive unit insignia is, according to the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry "A Silver color metal and enamel device 1+5⁄16 inches (3.3 cm) in height overall, consisting of a shield blazoned: Argent, four bendlets Azure surmounted by a winged Black panther salient inverted Proper, that part on the bendlets fimbriated of the first.

British troops of the 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry chat with an American paratrooper of the 505th PIR in Avola , Sicily, 11 July 1943.
555th Parachute Infantry Battalion Association patch.
Members of Company "C", 1st Battalion, 505th Airborne Infantry board trucks after arriving at Chu Lai Air Base , 23 February 1968
505th Infantry soldiers take up defensive positions during Operation Enduring Freedom.
An automatic rifleman assigned to 1-505 PIR secures a landing zone for a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan.