551st Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States) - Activation and Training

Activation and Training

The 1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated on 26 November 1942 at Fort Kobbe in the Panama Canal Zone. It replaced the 501st Parachute Battalion which had been absorbed in the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. The men were formed up in the Frying Pan Area of Fort Benning, Georgia, on 30 October 1942. Personnel were trained as paratroopers at the Parachute School Replacement Pool in November–December 1942. Leaving Ft. Benning on 11 December, the unit passed through Richmond and ended up at Camp Patrick Henry, near Newport News, Virginia, arriving there on 13 December. While at Camp Patrick Henry, the men picked up a unique mascot, a short-haired black and tan dachshund puppy they stole from the yard of the port commander. They named her Furlough, which was the thing the men most desired. Under strict orders of secrecy, they could not wear their hard-won airborne insignia, had to hide their newly-acquired tattoos that revealed their military affiliation, and were prohibited from leaving the base.

Virtually all personnel had completed jump school by this time. The 1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment was shipped to the Panama Canal Zone. The first units of the battalion arrived at Fort Kobbe on 26 November 1942; the remainder of the battalion sailed for Panama aboard USS Joseph T. Dickman from Camp Patrick Henry at Newport News the next day.

During training in North Carolina, they were the first American paratroopers to jump out of military gliders. The experiment was a failure as there was no slipstream leading the men to fall straight and the glider's flimsy construction led to the static line ripping out of the inside when the men jumped.