THE REGIMENT WAS ACTIVATED AT FORT Benning, Georgia on July 6, 1942. Unlike two of the three parachute regiments activated prior to the 505 by building onto or by splitting existing battalions, the 505 was formed from scratch. The great majority of the officers and men came directly from the Parachute School. Nicknamed “The Panthers” because of the animal’s speed, courage and fighting ability, the regiment had a patch designed around this concept. The regiment’s motto was “Ready.”
The history of the regiment cannot be recounted without highlighting its commander, James Maurice Gavin, known as “Slim Jim.” He was tall, slim, athletic, handsome and brilliant. Gavin had been an instructor at West Point and volunteered for paratrooper training in August 1941. Later, he joined the Airborne Headquarters Staff and wrote the first manual for the employment of airborne forces. Upon activation of the 505th, Gavin was given command and promoted to full colonel at the young age of 35.
The 505 was probably the best trained and most highly motivated regiment in the army. One 82d Division staffer stated: “They were awesome, every man a clone of the CO and tough—not just in the field, but 24 hours per day. Off duty, they’d move into a bar in little groups and if everyone there didn’t get down on their knees in adoration, they’d simply tear the place up. Destroy it. God help the ‘straight legs’ they came across. They were a pack of jackals.”
Gavin set a tough example for the men to follow: he even did free falls out of planes, rather than using the static line. He also expected a great deal from his officers. As one young officer, reporting to him for the first time, recalled: “Gavin looked at me and snarled, ‘so, you’re an officer, huh? In this outfit that means you are first out the door of the plane and last in the chow line. Understand?’”
On February 12, 1943, the order was received to move the regiment to Fort Bragg to form the 505 Regimental Combat Team consisting of the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, elements of the 307 Airborne Engineers, the 307 Airborne Medics and the 80th Airborne Antiaircraft Battalion. On that same day, the RCT was assigned to the 82d Airborne Division. The 505, along with these elements, accomplished every mission put before them.