509th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) The 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment ( 509th PIR ) was the first combat paratrooper unit of the United States Army formed during World War II . 1st Battalion currently serves as an opposing force at Fort Polk ' s Joint Readiness Training Center and 3rd Battalion is assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team , 25th Infantry Division , in Fort Richardson . Beginnings . With the advent of World War II , the United States Armed Forces foresaw a need for highly mobile units that the Allies could quickly insert into the theater of battle . The 509th was originally constituted on 14 March 1941 as the 504th Parachute Battalion and activated on 5 October 1941 at Fort Benning , GA . It was reorganized and redesignated on 24 February 1942 as the 2nd Battalion , 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg , NC . The 503rd and 504th Parachute Infantry Battalions were joined together to form the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment , with the Company C , 504th Parachute Battalion being renamed Company F , 503rd Parachute Infantry on 24 February 1942 . In June 1942 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edson Raff the 503rd sailed to Scotland becoming the first American parachute unit to go overseas in World War II . It was attached to the British 1st Airborne Division for training . The training included mass tactical jumps from C - 47 aircraft at 350 feet , extensive night training , and speed marching for 10 miles to and from the training area daily ; and on one occasion , 32 miles in 11 hours . In summer 1942 , allied forces were completing the task of planning Operation Torch , the invasion of North Africa , with the 503rd Parachute Infantry Battalion scheduled to take the lead and make the first combat jump . Operation Torch was the first joint military action undertaken by the Allies in World War II . This was the springboard for the Churchillian idea of attacking the “ soft underbelly of Europe ” before attempting a cross - channel attack from England onto mainland Europe . The main objective of Torch was to seize French Northwest Africa and for political reasons the Americans would lead operation . The airborne segment of the operation entailed flying 1500 miles from England to seize two French airfields near Oran . Just prior to Operation Torch it was again redesignated , on 2 November 1942 , as the 2nd Battalion 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment . On this momentous day , as C - 47 ' s flew over the English countryside , the 509th Paratrooper was born . World War II . The 509th carried out the first US combat drop during the invasion of North Africa . The transport planes flew all the way from English airfields to the African coast . This first operation was unsuccessful , with 7 of its 39 C - 47s widely scattered . Only 10 aircraft actually dropped their troops , while the others unloaded after 28 troop carriers , nearly out of fuel , landed on the Sebkra d ' Oran , a dry lake near their target . The 509th marched overland to occupy its objective , and on 15 November , 300 paratroopers successfully dropped on the Youks - les - Bains Airfield . Forty - six Paratroopers from the 509th participated in the liberation of Ventotene , a small Italian island , on 9 September 1943 . The German commander was tricked into surrendering to the weaker American force before realizing his mistake . An account of this is given in John Steinbeck ' s " Once There Was a War . " Later , the 509th saw two more combat jumps in Italy and Southern France . After landing , they were often used as elite mountain infantry in the Italian mountains and French Alps . Paul B . Huff , a member of the 509th , was the first American Paratrooper awarded the Medal of Honor on 29 February 1944 for action at Anzio , Italy . During the Battle of the Bulge , the 509th fought in Belgium to blunt the German attack . An account of this battle is described in the book " Bloody Clash at Sadzot . " The war ended for the 509th at the end of January 1945 near St . Vith , Belgium , with only about 50 remaining unwounded of the original 700 who entered the battle . At this time , the 509th was disbanded , and the men left were used as replacements for the U . S . 82d Airborne Division . Post - World War II . After World War II , the colors of the 509th remained inactive until 1963 , when Co A , 509PIB was reactivated as HHC , 1st Battalion ( Airborne ) , 509th Infantry , and Co B , 509PIB was reactivated as HHC , 2nd Battalion ( Airborne ) , 509th Infantry . Since 1958 the 8th Infantry Division in Germany had had an Airborne component consisting of the 1st Airborne Battle Group , 504th Infantry , and the 1st Airborne Battle Group , 505th Infantry , as well as other supporting elements on jump status . When the division reorganized from the Pentomic structure to the new structure using brigades and battalions , 1 - 504th and 1 - 505th were replaced by 1 - 509th and 2 - 509th , respectively , located at Lee Barracks in Mainz - Gonsenheim , Germany . These two battalions formed the infantry component of the 1st Brigade ( Airborne ) , 8th Infantry Division ( Mechanized ) . Other units of the brigade included the 5th Battalion ( Airborne ) , 81st Artillery ; Troop A ( Airborne ) , 3rd Squadron , 8th Cavalry ; and Company A ( Airborne ) , 12th Engineer Battalion . In 1973 , as the division ' s 1st Brigade jump status was ending , a new unit with the designation of 3rd Battalion ( Airborne ) , 509th Infantry ( bearing the lineage of WW II ' s Co C , 509PIB ) was activated to form an Airborne battalion combat team ( ABCT ) from elements of the existing airborne forces within the brigade . After a brief training period at Rhine Kaserne barracks in West Germany , the unit moved to Vicenza , Italy , as a separate Airborne Battalion Combat Team and composed of a headquarters and headquarters company ( HHC ) , a combat support company ( CSC ) , three light infantry companies and one 105 mm towed field artillery battery , commanded by LTC Ward M . Lehardy . The colors of 1 - 509th and 2 - 509th were reflagged as 2 - 28th and 2 - 87th . Shortly after its arrival in Italy , 3 - 509th was reflagged as 1 - 509th . On 1 July 1975 the lineage of Co C , 509PIB was reactivated at Fort Rucker as the separate Co C ( Pathfinder ) , 509th Infantry . The company was created by reflagging the existing 5th Infantry Detachment ( Pathfinder ) , which had served at the post since 24 June 1963 . ( A pathfinder presence at Fort Rucker can be traced back to about 1960 with the activation of the Pathfinder Team , Company A , 2nd Battle Group , 31st Infantry , to support the Aviation Center . ) Contrary to some erroneous accounts , C - 509th was not created by transferring C - 1 - 509th from Italy to Fort Rucker . There had already been a pathfinder presence at Fort Rucker for 15 years . Even if the 5th Infantry Detachment had not existed , the Army would not have reduced the strength of its only forward - deployed Airborne battalion in Europe when sufficient manning was available in CONUS . Additionally , the organization and manning of a line Airborne infantry company is different from that of a pathfinder company conducting training support . The size of C - 509th varied depending upon funding and mission requirements . For example , documents on file at the United States Army Center of Military History in Washington , DC , indicate that when the company was activated in 1975 by replacing the 5th Infantry Detachment , it was authorized 4 officers and 108 enlisted soldiers . Documents dated 22 September 1987 show the unit as still having 4 officers authorized but only 77 enlisted soldiers . In 1983 , 1 - 509th in Italy was reflagged as 4 - 325th to align it with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg under an Army - wide combat arms battalion rotation program . The lineage of 1 - 509th was reactivated provisionally in 1987 to serve as the OPFOR at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Chaffee , Arkansas . The unit was activated at Little Rock Air Force Base in a formal ceremony on 21 May 1988 . The unit was stationed at LRAFB because it provided modern quarters and facilities that Ft . Chaffee lacked , and deployed on a per - rotation basis to Ft . Chaffee . The unit served and serves as the opposing force for American and Allied light infantry . In June 1993 , 1 - 509th moved along with the Joint Readiness Training Center to Fort Polk , Louisiana . After moving to Fort Polk , 1 / 509 Abn has become the elite urban fighting training unit that it has been over the years in guerilla warfare . On 31 May 1993 , the separate C - 509th at Fort Rucker was reflagged as A - 511th , reactivating the colors of a unit that had served with the long - inactive 11th Airborne Division and the short - lived ( 1963 – 65 ) 11th Air Assault Division ( Test ) . The era of a pathfinder unit at Fort Rucker ended on 31 October 1995 when A - 511th was inactivated to meet budget cut ceilings . In May 2004 Alpha and Bravo companies with attachments from D Troop of the 1st Battalion , 509th Infantry at Fort Polk deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II . In Iraq they conducted combat patrols in and around the Baghdad area . One member of D Troop recived th eSilver Star for Valor in combat . Alpha and Bravo companies and attachments returned in March 2005 . During the deployment , Delta Troop and HHC continued to support JRTC exercises . Global War on Terror . In mid - 2004 , after nearly 60 years , 1 - 509th deployed to Iraq . Alpha and Bravo companies were deployed to the areas surrounding Baghdad . With the expansion of the airborne force from a single battalion ( 1 - 501st ) at Fort Richardson , Alaska to a brigade ( 4th Brigade Combat Team , 25th Infantry Division ) , the lineage of 3 - 509th was reactivated on 16 September 2005 as 3 - 509th and assigned to Fort Richardson . The battalion deployed with the 4th BCT in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in October 2006 . The following is a media release from 10 November 2007 , dealing with the battalion ' s work during OIF : In February 2009 the Geronimo battalion deployed as a part of the 4th BCT ( Airborne ) , 25th Infantry Division in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . A portion of the Valorous Unit Award citation is below . For extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy . During the period 1 July 2009 to 30 November 2009 , Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 3d Battalion , 509th Infantry Regiment and its subordinate units displayed extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in the vicinity of East Paktika . The unit conducted a total of 302 combat patrols , and was responsible for 398 enemies killed , as well as the capture of 34 detainees . The company was also responsible for the safety of the populace of East Paktika during Afghan national elections . The unit ’ s unrelenting perseverance and coordination allowed the unit to advance the struggle against the Taliban and contribute to the political and economic growth and development of the region . Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 3d Battalion , 509th Infantry Regiment ’ s outstanding performance of duty is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects distinct credit upon the unit , the 25th Infantry Division , and the United States Army . Lineage . 509th Infantry Regiment Official website :