The 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated 12 August 1943 at Fort Moore, Georgia, under the command of Colonel Ducat M. McEntee and his executive officer, Major Harley N. Trice.

The men who filled out the unit's ranks were of a high caliber, all had scored exceptionally well on their Army Entrance Exams; all were volunteers.

One of the original members of the unit was famed 101st Airborne author Donald R. Burgett, who later participated in all the World War II battles of A Company 506th Parachute Infantry.

Burgett's first impressions of the 541st were to meet the Parachute School instructors who would take them through the four-week program, after a five-mile run and a full morning of calisthenics, men were already beginning to fall out.

The 82nd Airborne Division had jumped into Sicily at this point and a mixture of misdrops and friendly fire had the High Command concerned about the practicality of large-scale airdrops of troopers.

A new group of men came into the outfit, to replace those lost to units overseas, and the Regiment began a 13-week Airborne Infantry Training Cycle.