The 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion was an independent airborne forces formation of

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

-size of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

formed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on 1 July 1941 at

Fort Kobbe Fort Kobbe was an Army fort renamed from Fort Bruja on 15 April 1932 to honor Major General William A. Kobbe. At the time it was located adjacent to Howard Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone. In the 1930s it was primarily a United States Army ...

Panama Canal Zone.The U.S. Airborne during WW II – Attached Units – The First Airborne Task Force
The 550th was originally formed as an air landing unit rather than a parachute or

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

battalion. The battalion's mission was to land if required in Central, Latin, and South American countries as well as areas in the Caribbean, notably

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. The unit would be preceded by the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. As the threats to the Caribbean and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n regions subsided in 1943, the 550th was redesignated the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion and undertook glider training in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. The unit was assigned, along with other Allied airborne units, to the

1st Airborne Task Force The 1st Airborne Task Force was a short-lived Allied airborne unit that was active during World War II created for Operation Dragoon–the invasion of Southern France. Formed in July 1944, under the command of Major General Robert T. Frederick ...

and participated in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France, on 15 August 1944 where the 550th captured the town of

Le Muy Le Muy (; oc, Lo Muei) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 9,288. Le Muy was one of the first places to be liberated in the Allied invasion of ...

. The 550th Airborne was sent to

Aldbourne Aldbourne (pronounced "awld·bawn") is a village and civil parish about north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in November 1944 after the 1st Airborne Task Force was disbanded. During the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

in late December 1944 the 550th was attached to the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, part of the

17th Airborne Division The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley. It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1 ...

. In February 1945 the 550th was consolidated into the 3rd Battalion of the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment. Both the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment and the 550th were disbanded in Belgium on 1 March 1945.The 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR) – Unit History

Campaign streamers

* Rome-Arno * Southern France (with arrowhead) * Ardennes-Alsace * Rhineland

References

Buckeridge, Justin P. ''Bolt From the Blue: 550th Airborne Battalion 1941–1945'' Battery Press 1978

Notes

{{Reflist Infantry battalions of the United States Army

550 __NOTOC__ Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...