The 505th Infantry Regiment (505th IR), formerly and colloquially the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR) and the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment (505th AIR), 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.[1]
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.