Sabrejet Posted April 7, 2010 Share #1 Posted April 7, 2010 The 508th Abn RCT was formed at Ft. Bragg in 1951 but did not acyively participate in the Korean War. However, they did later serve in Vietnam, but not as an RCT. The unit's 82nd Airborne heritage is reflected in the colours and design of the new patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 7, 2010 Author Share #2 Posted April 7, 2010 Sabrejet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Andrews Posted April 8, 2010 Share #3 Posted April 8, 2010 The Regiment, as the core of the RCT, was active from 1951 to 1957. The Infantry of the entire Army abandoned the Regiment as an operational echelon in 1957 and began converting to the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) that had no Regtl HQs active. From then until 1961-1962, a typical Inf Division had five Battle Groups of Infantry reporting directly to Div. But that scheme proved unworkable and in turn was supplanted by nine (or ten) separate Battalions of parent (paper) Regts grouped under Brigade HQs. The 508th had no Bns active until 1964, when the 1st and 2nd Bns were suboridnated to the 82nd, and the 3rd was a separate unit in Panama. Only 1-508th served in RVN, as an element of the 3rd Bde (Sep), 82nd Abn Div. BTW to reiterate a story, I heard from a vet of the 508th RCT from its formation, the ORIGINAL color scheme for the RCT SSI used a black square and a red wyvern. This makes sense if you consider the "regimental colors" used for the 508th oval (black and white) and that their nickname was "the Red Devils". My source stated that somebody high up wanted to connect the RCT to the 82nd, so had the colors changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillock Posted April 8, 2010 Share #4 Posted April 8, 2010 Sabrejet Kia ora Sabrejet Thought i would post a nice slight variation of the 508th on green twill with intergral tab note tail and the second example on khaki twill again note tail , both detailed wyvern Cheers J_Andrews appreciate the detailed information which i will keep on record Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted April 8, 2010 The Regiment, as the core of the RCT, was active from 1951 to 1957. The Infantry of the entire Army abandoned the Regiment as an operational echelon in 1957 and began converting to the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) that had no Regtl HQs active. From then until 1961-1962, a typical Inf Division had five Battle Groups of Infantry reporting directly to Div. But that scheme proved unworkable and in turn was supplanted by nine (or ten) separate Battalions of parent (paper) Regts grouped under Brigade HQs. The 508th had no Bns active until 1964, when the 1st and 2nd Bns were suboridnated to the 82nd, and the 3rd was a separate unit in Panama. Only 1-508th served in RVN, as an element of the 3rd Bde (Sep), 82nd Abn Div. BTW to reiterate a story, I heard from a vet of the 508th RCT from its formation, the ORIGINAL color scheme for the RCT SSI used a black square and a red wyvern. This makes sense if you consider the "regimental colors" used for the 508th oval (black and white) and that their nickname was "the Red Devils". My source stated that somebody high up wanted to connect the RCT to the 82nd, so had the colors changed. Hi J_Andrews. Thanks for adding the additional info...very interesting. Ian :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #6 Posted April 8, 2010 Kia ora Sabrejet Thought i would post a nice slight variation of the 508th on green twill with intergral tab note tail and the second example on khaki twill again note tail , both detailed wyvern Cheers J_Andrews appreciate the detailed information which i will keep on record Phill Hi Phillock....down there in the land of the long white clouds! Thanks for posting those variants. Excellent! Ian (In that other place where we also play rugby... and borrow the occasional NZ coach!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillock Posted April 8, 2010 Share #7 Posted April 8, 2010 Kia ora Sabrejet What i like about these patches is they are very close to WWII manufacturing and can be confused for WWII if you did not know the history of the unit. Apologies for my lack of photograhic skills even with digi's you think i could do better! Phill and the backs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillock Posted April 8, 2010 Share #8 Posted April 8, 2010 Hi Phillock....down there in the land of the long white clouds! Thanks for posting those variants. Excellent! Ian (In that other place where we also play rugby... and borrow the occasional NZ coach!) Sweet as -you can keep Gats-he's turning into a leek with the amount of chin wagging he does for a losing coach hehehe. Sorry guys bit of colonial v empire rugby banter Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #9 Posted April 8, 2010 Sweet as -you can keep Gats-he's turning into a leek with the amount of chin wagging he does for a losing coach hehehe. Sorry guys bit of colonial v empire rugby banter Phill Just wait for the World Cup!! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_pickrall Posted April 8, 2010 Share #10 Posted April 8, 2010 Thought you might like this 508 RCT helmet too. It has a patch decal. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...nd,RCT&st=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtdorango Posted April 8, 2010 Share #11 Posted April 8, 2010 Thats an awesome helmet!!!!...pls. let me know if you ever want to part with it!!.....mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #12 Posted April 8, 2010 Thanks for posting that link Craig...I'm liking that helmet a lot! Such an unusual configuration. Ian :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steverino Posted April 8, 2010 Share #13 Posted April 8, 2010 Just wait for the World Cup!! Ian The World Cup. Is that where 16 teams of guys whose names most people can't pronounce kick a leather ball around for 90 minutes to see a breath-taking one-nil score, while outside (or even inside) the stadium, 50 "fans" are being murdered? Give me a rousing table tennis game any day. (This is a joke for the overly sensitive readers who would not otherwise understand the [attempted] humor) Patch Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #14 Posted April 8, 2010 The World Cup. Is that where 16 teams of guys whose names most people can't pronounce kick a leather ball around for 90 minutes to see a breath-taking one-nil score, while outside (or even inside) the stadium, 50 "fans" are being murdered? Give me a rousing table tennis game any day. (This is a joke for the overly sensitive readers who would not otherwise understand the [attempted] humor) Patch Johnson Hi Patch. I think you're referring to the football (soccer, in American parlance) World Cup where overpaid primadonnas kick a ball around for 90 mins whilst trying to get it into the net. We're talking about the RUGBY World Cup here..a game played by real men with a ball much like your American football. It's all about physical contact...but without those cissy helmets and body armour! Also,the games last for 80 minutes...not three days!! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steverino Posted April 8, 2010 Share #15 Posted April 8, 2010 Hi Patch. I think you're referring to the football (soccer, in American parlance) World Cup where overpaid primadonnas kick a ball around for 90 mins whilst trying to get it into the net. We're talking about the RUGBY World Cup here..a game played by real men with a ball much like your American football. It's all about physical contact...but without those cissy helmets and body armour! Also,the games last for 80 minutes...not three days!! Ian Ian, That's IT! Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, Rugby is a REAL game. Primadonnas need not apply! We'd best be careful here, or the Forum Police will be down on us for not discussing insignia. Patch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share #16 Posted April 8, 2010 Ian, That's IT! Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, Rugby is a REAL game. Primadonnas need not apply! We'd best be careful here, or the Forum Police will be down on us for not discussing insignia. Patch Roger that!! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 8, 2010 Share #17 Posted April 8, 2010 Good thread! Includes everything a man needs: Patches, Military History, Fussball...wait...wasn't there something else? I can't remember... Just wanted to add my embroidered on twill 508th variation. It came without tab, so I have no clue if the tab that was worn with that patch was fully embroidered or not. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillock Posted April 8, 2010 Share #18 Posted April 8, 2010 Hi Lars Interesting variation i wonder when this would of been worn during the time frame or post 1950's-your thoughts. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 9, 2010 Share #19 Posted April 9, 2010 Hi Lars Interesting variation i wonder when this would of been worn during the time frame or post 1950's-your thoughts. Phill Phill, unfortunately I don't know. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashesandovals Posted August 22, 2013 Share #20 Posted August 22, 2013 Here's a 508TH RCT shirt I recently picked up. It has the twill SSI with a regular cut edge Airborne Tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashesandovals Posted August 22, 2013 Share #21 Posted August 22, 2013 And here are my 508TH RCT SSI variations. Some with attached tabs, some with loose ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted August 22, 2013 Share #22 Posted August 22, 2013 Thats a lot of Wyverns.I really like the twill ones.I've never seen the twill ones before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share #23 Posted August 22, 2013 That's a very varied selection you have there Pascal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted August 22, 2013 Share #24 Posted August 22, 2013 The one that got my attention was the rib stitched one. One would swear that was a WWII patch! It is made very much in the same way as one of the WWII 82nd Airborne Division variations. Neat! -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtdorango Posted August 22, 2013 Share #25 Posted August 22, 2013 Great shirt too!........mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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