Editing 82nd Airborne Division (section)

===Initial training and conversion===

Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered into active military service, they were reorganized on paper as "triangular" divisions under the 1940 tables of organization. The headquarters companies of the two infantry brigades were consolidated into the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop, and one infantry regiment was removed by inactivation. The field artillery brigade headquarters and headquarters battery became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the division artillery, and its three field artillery regiments were reorganized into four battalions. The engineer, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized into battalions. In 1942, divisional quartermaster battalions were split into ordnance light maintenance companies and quartermaster companies, and the division's headquarters and military police company, which had previously been a combined unit, was split.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=John B.|date=1998|title=Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Center of Military History, U.S. Army|pages=161, 169–70}}</ref>

The 82nd Division was redesignated on 13 February 1942 as Division Headquarters, 82nd Division, and ordered into active service on 25 March 1942, at [[Camp Claiborne]], [[Louisiana]], under the command of [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Omar Bradley|Omar N. Bradley]]. The officer and enlisted cadre mostly came from the [[9th Infantry Division (United States)|9th Infantry Division]], while the enlisted fillers came from reception centers in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], [[Southern United States|South]], and [[Southwestern United States|Southwest]].<ref>{{cite news|date=April 10, 1942|title=82nd Division at Full Strength Begins Training|work=Town Talk |location=Alexandria, Louisiana |access-date=}}</ref> During this period, the division brought together three officers who would ultimately steer the U.S. Army during the following two decades: [[Matthew Ridgway]], [[James M. Gavin]], and [[Maxwell D. Taylor]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Blair|first=Clay|title=Ridgeway's Paratroopers The American Airborne in World War II|year=1985|publisher=Naval Institute Press|pages=Plate 11}}</ref> Under Major General Bradley, the 82nd Division's [[Chief of staff|Chief of Staff]] was [[George Van Pope]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Doyle|first=Charles H.|title=Stand in the Door!|year=1988|publisher=Phillips Publications|location=Williamstown, New Jersey|page=104|author2=Terrell Stewart}}</ref>

On 15 August 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General Ridgway, became the first airborne division in the history of the U.S. Army, and was redesignated as the '''82nd Airborne Division'''. The 82nd was selected after deliberations by the U.S. Army General Staff because of a number of factors; it was not a Regular Army or National Guard unit (historian John B. Wilson wrote that "many traditionalists in those components wanted nothing to do with such an experimental force," while James M. Gavin wrote that many states would refuse the conversion of their National Guard units, likely because of the additional expenses needed to maintain facilities for airborne units), its personnel had all completed basic training, and it was stationed in an area that had good weather and flying facilities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson|first=John B. |date=1998|title=Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army|page=165}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gavin|first=James M.|date=1979|title=On to Berlin: Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946|location=London, England|publisher=Leo Cooper Ltd|page=3}}</ref> The division initially consisted of the [[325th Infantry Regiment (United States)|325th]], [[326th Infantry Regiment (United States)|326th]] and [[327th Infantry Regiment (United States)|327th Infantry Regiment]]s, and supporting units. The 327th was soon transferred to help form the [[101st Airborne Division]] and was replaced by the [[504th Infantry Regiment (United States)|504th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], leaving the division with two regiments of [[glider infantry]] and one of [[Paratrooper|parachute infantry]]. In February 1943 the division received another change when the 326th was transferred to the [[13th Airborne Division (United States)|13th Airborne Division]], being replaced by the [[505th Infantry Regiment (United States)|505th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], under James M. Gavin, then a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]], who was later to command the division.