505-й парашютно-десантный полк: История и боевой путь

The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR), originally the 505th Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, one of four infantry regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, with a long and distinguished history. Activated in July 1942 during World War II, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily, later landing at Salerno, the Battle of Normandy, the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge. During the 1960s, the 505th was one of the units which played a role in Operation Power Pack in the Dominican Republic and later assisted local authorities during the civil disturbances which occurred within the United States. The regiment was sent to the Republic of Vietnam in 1968 during the Vietnam War. After the Vietnam War, the 505th participated in various military operations. Among them were Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Restore Hope, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment's most recent engagement has been in Afghanistan. The Brigade had deployed to Afghanistan from July 2019 to March 2020. Currently its 1st and 2nd battalions are active. Both battalions are assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Under the command of Colonel James M. Gavin, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia on 6 July 1942, during World War II, as part of the U. S. Airborne Command. In late March the 505th was visited by many distinguished political and military leaders, including, among numerous others, General George C. Marshall, General Henry H. Arnold, British Field Marshal Sir John Dill and Anthony Eden. 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. The 505th (organized into a regimental combat team with the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the 504th, along with the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and 'C' Company of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion temporarily attached) made its first combat jump behind enemy lines into Gela in the early hours of 10 July 1943, which was the first regimental sized combat jump in the history of the United States Army. On 24 July 1967, the 3rd Brigade deployed to Detroit, Michigan to assist local authorities in quelling a civil disturbance.

Less than a year later, on 12 February 1968, the 3rd Brigade was alerted for deployment to South Vietnam in response to the Tet Offensive. Many members of the 3rd Brigade had recently returned from Vietnam and were not required, by the Army's own regulations, to return so soon if they did not wish to do so. About two thirds of those eligible accepted transfers out of the brigade, which was back filled from other units in the Division. 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. When it was decided to retain the Brigade in Vietnam its status was changed to "permanent change of station" and all soldiers who had deployed with the Brigade were given the option of continuing to serve a full tour in Vietnam or to return to Fort Bragg. Most (except for junior officers and junior enlisted men) had already served at least one combat tour and opted to return to CONUS. The Brigade was then filled with replacements from across USARV and from CONUS. Most replacements were not airborne qualified and the Brigade eventually became "Airborne" in name only – just as the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Airborne Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division had already done during Vietnam service. The infantry battalions assigned to the 3rd Brigade during its Vietnam tour were 1 505th, 2 505th, and 1 508th. After 22 months of fighting, the brigade had helped secure the region south of the DMZ and redeployed to Fort Bragg in December 1969, the only brigade of the 82d Airborne Division to participate in the Vietnam War. 1 505th deployed in May 2011 to Feb 2012 is support of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, two of its paratroopers were killed. The 2 505th PIR deployed once again in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in June 2012. The battalion returned in late September 2012 and successfully finished its mission without loss of life. 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. 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.

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 an Joint Forcible Entry (JFE) as part of Swift Defender 21, an airborne rapid deployment component to the larger Defender Europe 21 exercise. The exercise was accomplished with in flight rigging of parachute harnesses and in air refueling from USAF KC 10 Extender refueling tankers, and was described as "unique" thanks to the non stop inter continental distance flown and number of troops delivered to the drop zone. 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 distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment on 24 January 1952. It was redesignated for the 505th Infantry on 20 May 1958. The 505th PIR distinctive unit insignia is, according to the U. S. Army Institute of Heraldry "A Silver color metal and enamel device 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. On a wreath Argent and Azure, a winged arrowhead point down Gules, in front of a cloud Proper. Attached below the shield a Blue scroll turned Silver and inscribed "H MINUS" in Silver." The colors blue and white are used to symbolize Infantry. The black panther symbolizes stealth, speed and courage, all characteristics of a good Paratrooper. The wings are added to represent entry into combat via air, and the bendlets symbolize the unit's parachute drops into combat. The winged red arrowhead is used to represent the regiment's first combat attack in Sicily during World War II. The phrase "H Minus" signifies the Regiment's readiness prior to the start of the operation, or "H Hour". The official insignia is in fact not the insignia first designed by the men of the unit, which was simply a black panther on a shield, with the original motto, "Ready" inscribed below it. However, the Institute of Heraldry refused to approve the crest known by the men of the World War II 505th and replaced it with the above referenced insignia.