History
The regiment was first commanded by Colonel A. Donald Cameron. In October, 1944, he was replaced by Colonel Warfield M. Lewis. The final commander of the regiment, appointed in December, 1944, was Lieutenant Colonel Henry G. Fisher, who served in this capacity until the end of the war. The unit was inactivated on 10 January 1946 at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey.
After World War II, the parent 80th Division was reactivated as Airborne, and the 317th was redesignated on 15 July 1946 as the 317th Parachute Infantry, an element of the 80th Airborne Division. It was redesignated again only months later on 23 September 1946 as the 317th Glider Infantry and then activated on 14 November 1946 in the Organized Reserves with Headquarters at Washington, D.C. On 5 October 1950 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 317th Airborne Infantry, but this was not to last. Maintaining Airborne status in Reserve units proved to be extremely difficult, and on 10 May 1952 the unit was reorganized and redesignated as the 317th Infantry.
Switching from a focus on combat to a training role, the unit was reorganized and redesignated on 6 March 1959 as the 317th Regiment, an element of the 80th Division (Training), with Headquarters at Washington, D.C. (The location of the headquarters changed on 1 December 1960 to Riverdale, Maryland.) On 31 January 1968 the 317th was reorganized to consist of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions, elements of the 80th Division (Training). It was reorganized again on 1 October 1994 to consist of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions, elements of the 80th Division (Institutional Training).
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