502nd Infantry Regiment
| 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment 502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment 502nd Infantry Regiment |
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|---|---|
Coat of arms
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| Active | 1942–1945 1957–present |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Branch |
 United States Army
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| Type | Airborne forces |
| Role |
Parachute infantry Air assault |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of |
 101st Airborne Division
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| Garrison/HQ | Fort Campbell |
| Nickname(s) | "Five-Oh-Deuce", "The Deuce" |
| Motto(s) | Strike |
| Engagements |
World War II Vietnam War War in Southwest Asia Iraq Campaign Afghanistan Campaign |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
COL Brett G. Sylvia |
| Notable commanders |
George Van Horn Moseley, Jr. Colin Powell John H. Michaelis Steve A Chappuis |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
| Background trimming for 1st and 2nd Battalions |
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| U.S. Infantry Regiments | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Next |
| 501st Infantry Regiment | 503rd Infantry Regiment |
The 502nd Infantry Regiment (502nd INF), previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (502nd PIR), is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after the American entry into World War II, and was assigned as a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, "The Screaming Eagles", one of the most decorated formations of the U.S. Army. The regiment saw substantial action in the European Theater of World War II and was deactivated in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Reactivating in a new form in 1956, the 502nd Infantry has served in the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. It was removed from parachute status with the rest of the 101st Airborne Division in 1969, and since 1974, the regiment has been classified as an Air Assault unit. Currently, its 1st and 2nd battalions are active. Both battalions are assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
The conceptual history of the American airborne started with thinkers ranging from Benjamin Franklin through World War I Army Air Corps General Billy Mitchell. Mitchell had wanted to load up the entire infantry strength of the 1st Division, the "Big Red One", into the back seats of biplanes, fly over the lines of trenches, then land and unload them to attack the German rear. The Soviet Union had used combat parachute assaults in Finland in the Winter War, and Germany had seized bridges and obstacles for its westbound armored units in 1940. But the real beginning was the German invasion of Crete in May 1940. This isolated rocky island in the Mediterranean was British held and heavily fortified, so rather than attempt a beach landing, the Germans dropped several parachute regiments on top of it. The terrain heavily favored the defenders, and the German Fallschirmjäger ("hunters from the sky") units took losses so heavy that Adolf Hitler never approved another large scale parachute operation again. That didn’t matter to Allied war planners. What mattered was that a key piece of terrain had been taken entirely by airborne assets. This was a revolutionary development that America couldn’t match yet. Within thirty days, the original 48-man Parachute Test Platoon was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia. Four parachute infantry battalions were planned to follow.
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Wikipedia