503d Infantry Regiment (United States)

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503d Infantry Regiment
The Rock Regiment Patch
Active	August 21, 1941 - December 24, 1945; February 1951 - 1984; December 19, 1986 - present
Allegiance	Federal
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	George M. Jones

The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) is an airborne unit in the United States military. It is one of the most decorated units of its kind with a disinguished battlefield record notably in World War II and the Vietnam War.

1 World War II
2 Post-WWII history
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] World War II

On February 14 1942. the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment was formed.

The Regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions were formed at Fort Benning, Georgia, from the 503rd and 504th Parachute Battalions, respectively. Unlike many other airborne units, who were deployed in the European Theater of Operations, the 503rd was the first airborne regiment to fight in the Pacific, and as an independent unit.

September 5, 1943. Dwarfed by and silhouetted against clouds of smoke (created to provide cover), C-47s from the US Army Air Forces drop a battalion of the 503rd Parachute Regiment at Nadzab, New Guinea. A battalion dropped minutes earlier is landing in the foreground.

The unit's first operation was an unopposed landing at Nadzab, New Guinea, on 5 September 1943. It was also dropped at Kamiri Airfield, during the Battle of Noemfoor, off the coast of Dutch New Guinea, 3 July 1944. It is most notable for liberating the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay, in 1945. The unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation (US) for this action and got its nickname, "the Rock Regiment" from it.

[edit] Post-WWII history

Inactivated at Camp Anza, CA, in December 1945, it was reactivated and redesignated as Company B, 503rd Airborne Infantry in February 1951 and assigned to the U.S. 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 1959, the regiment again reorganized as the 1st and 2d Airborne Battle Groups, 503rd Infantry, and was assigned to the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In March 1963, both battle groups were redesignated and reorganized as the 1st and 2d Battalions, 503rd Airborne Infantry, and reassigned to the newly formed 173rd Airborne Brigade(Separate).

In May 1965, two battalions of the 503rd Infantry deployed as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade to Vietnam as the first major U.S. Army ground combat unit to be deployed, joined later by two others. During its six years in Vietnam, the four battalions of the 503rd participated in fourteen campaigns, earning two more Presidential Unit Citations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation. The 503rd participated in the only combat jump of the war during "Operation Junction City" in 1967. It redeployed to the United States in July 1971, having the distinction of being one of the last units to leave Vietnam.

Subsequently, the 503rd served as part of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division until 1984 when it was inactivated. Reactivated 19 December 1986, it was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division (United States) with both the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry and 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry assigned to the division's Second Brigade. Following a change to the 2nd Infantry Division's table of oraganization, the 503rd's 2nd battalion was inactivated in the summer of 1990.

In the summer of 2004, the 1st of the 503rd deployed to Iraq, where its troopers took part in the battle of Fallujah and conducted combat operations in the violent Al-Anbar province. The battalion suffered above average losses during the deployment. Based in the outskirts of Ramadi, 1-503rd was targeted by daily mortar attacks and received a significant amount of Vehicle-Born Improvised Explosive Devices, also known as VBIEDS or car bombs. Despite this, the 1-503rd was very successful in their mission to curb insurgent activity. According to an interview with Lieutenant Colonel James Raymer^[1], as of February 2006, insurgent activity is markedly lowered from the year that 1-503rd conducted operations in Ramadi. Additionally, the 503rd played a critical role in the 2005 elections in Iraq in Ramadi.^[2]

1st of the 503rd redeployed in the summer of 2005 to Fort Carson, Colorado. It has since been relocated to Vicenza, Italy with the 173rd Infantry Brigade (Airborne) where it is now stationed with its sister battalion, the 2nd of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment.