US AIRBORNE

The 542nd Parachute Infantry Regiment was formed on September 1, 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William T. Ryder, who had just returned from a combat tour with the 82nd Airborne Division. The unit was established in a tent camp north of the Chattahoochee River in Alabama, with a cadre of 15 officers and 50 enlisted men, tasked with ensuring the smooth organization and activation of the new regiment.

As a special incentive for the men and officers of the 542nd, the Airborne Command announced that if the men of the regiment successfully completed their basic and unit training, they would be deployed overseas for combined training. From the outset, it seemed that the regiment was destined for great things; rumors spread that the unit would be used for a special mission in the industrial heart of central Germany.

Men and officers began to train seriously, hoping for a quick overseas deployment. Spirit and enthusiasm were high as the men embarked on their individual and collective training, including night maneuvers and close combat, two of the cornerstones of parachutist training. This often spilled over into the local bars in Columbus, Georgia, when armored troops met airborne troops, both sides determined to prove they were the superior fighting force.

Training was going well when, in December 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Ryder received orders from the Airborne Command to provide 100 trained replacements for service in the Pacific theater. Colonel Ryder complied and accompanied the men by train to their embarkation port. However, upon his return, all his dreams of a quick overseas deployment were dashed. Orders came through asking the regiment to provide 1,000 additional replacements for the European theater, in anticipation of D-Day, which was just months away.

The staff of the 542nd complied and sent their best and healthiest soldiers to fight the Germans among strangers. A gloomy mood settled over the regiment, now reduced to the size of a battalion. Senior officers and non-commissioned officers dreaded the thought of having to repeat basic training.

Colonel Ryder was saved by accepting a transfer to the Pacific theater as General MacArthur’s airborne advisor, earning a promotion to colonel. The regiment was now an empty shell, with an uncertain future and no prospect of overseas deployment.

The Airborne Command decided to cut its losses. On March 17, 1944, the 542nd PIR was deactivated and reactivated as the 542nd Parachute Infantry Battalion, using the 3rd Battalion of the 542nd PIR. 400 men were sent as replacements to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, then fighting at the Anzio beachhead on the Italian front.

The battalion remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, until July 1, 1944, when it moved to Camp Mackall, North Carolina, where it was attached to the headquarters of the Airborne Center Command, an attachment that would last for a year. At Mackall, the battalion became an experimental unit, testing new techniques and equipment, as well as training for overseas deployment as an independent battalion, like the 509th and 551st Parachute Infantry Battalions.

Professor John J. Iorio began his parachutist career with the 542nd Battalion before later joining the 17th Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge. He remembers the battalion as a precursor to today’s Special Forces, calling the 542nd PIB the "Raiders," a unit full of determined men bent on killing Germans. His time with the battalion was a pivotal moment in his life, one he never forgot. During this period, the battalion also sent groups of men on fundraising missions for War Bonds, as representatives of the U.S. Army parachutists, to raise funds and attract new recruits.

On July 1, 1945, when the war with Germany ended, quietly and without ceremony, the 542nd ceased to exist and was reflagged as the Airborne Center Training Detachment.

The battalion was reorganized by eliminating two line companies, whose men were either transferred overseas or redistributed into the detachment, to Company I, whose main responsibility essentially became what the battalion had always been: an experimental unit.

Company G was re-equipped with glider infantry, and Company H received a battery of artillery from the 467th Airborne Field Artillery. The detachment spent the rest of its existence testing and developing tactics and equipment, demonstrating firepower and operations, and providing men for airborne transport training exercises.

On January 21, 1946, the detachment was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, where it was disbanded, and its personnel were transferred to other commands, discharged, or reenlisted. Thus ended a great unit, still full of spirit, despite being regularly stripped of its best men. During its lifetime, the 542nd provided the Army with highly qualified replacements for overseas deployments, capable of filling specialized roles in other airborne regiments. It allowed the Airborne Command to test new theories and develop new techniques for airborne warfare, and provided a strong public image for the U.S. Army parachutists during World War II.