505th Regimental Combat Team - 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft

Interesting Information

The 80th should be referred to as the 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft(Anti-Tank) Battalion. Originally, it was known at the start as the Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Tank Battalion but was shortened to 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion (80th Abn. AA or 80th AA) in after action reports and most paperwork. Generals Ridgway and Gavin actually referred to Lt. Col Singleton as their antitank commander as this was the role most often played in the defense of the 82nd lines and its attack formations. Anti-tank units and Tank destroyer battalions attached to the 82nd in campaigns reported to LTC Singleton who drew up the AT logistical plans and operations for the various campaigns.

The word "artillery" was never used because the .57MM AT gun was considered a "rifle". Yet, when the 80th was born from the infantry companies of the 325th and 326th infantry regiments, the then battallion commander, Maj Whitfield Jack, rejected the idea that his men should be considered infantrymen as was gthe case of all other AT companies in the Army. He argued that only one-half the battalion was heavy weapons (.50 caliber MGs) and that the then .37MM gun was an AA weapon in some units like Coast Artillery. This is how the 80th AA wound up with the Insignia of Coast Artillery (Crossed cannons and a shell in the center). No greater misnomer could exist. It had no artillery weapons nor did it ever guard the coast.

Anti-Tank units and Anti-Aircraft units of the regular infantry divisions earned Combat Infantry badges as they were part of the infantry companies and were obviously right in the thick of things when on the line. Unfortunately the 80th AA men were denied the Combat Infantry badge because they were "Coast Artillery".

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80th Airborne Artillery

Interesting Information