The 504th PIR is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division on 15 August 1942.

The regiment was initially constituted on 24 February 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR).

1 May 1942: Activated at Fort Benning, Georgia

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions were constituted the same date as Companies A, B, and C of the 504th PIR and was assigned to the U.S. Army Airborne Command.

Command

Colonel Theodore L. Dunn

Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Henry “Rube” Tucker

was . Serving alongside the regiment in the 82nd were the 325th and 326th Glider Infantry Regiments, together with supporting units.

The 504th PIR, now under the command of 31-year-old , who had formerly been the 504th’s executive officer (XO), soon moved from Fort Benning to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on 30 September 1942 to finish its training, fill its Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE), and prepare for its staging call. When the call came, the regiment staged at Camp Edwards on 18 April 1943, and it made its port call on 10 May 1943, when it departed the New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE).