4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment
"Gold Falcons"
The mission of the 4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment was to deploy within 18 hours of notification, worldwide as part of a joint, multinational or unilateral task force to destroy enemy forces, conduct combat operations, and win. The Battalion was organized to conduct a forced entry parachute assault to seize and retain a defended airfield or other terrain, build up combat power as quickly as possible and conduct follow-on military operations in order to control land, people, and resources.
In July 1983, 1st Airborne Battalion Combat Team, 509th Infantry Regiment was inactivated, and its personnel reflagged as 4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, which was subsequently reactivated. This unit was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. The 2nd Brigade was designated as the 82nd Airborne's Division Ready Brigade-1 (DRB-1), with its 4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment further designated as the Division Ready Force-1 (DRF-1), with a two-hour assembly requirement.
The 4-325th Airborne Infantry parachuted onto Torrijos Airport, Panama early on 20 December 1989 as part of Operation Just Cause, joining 2 battalions of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment from the 82nd Airborne's 1st Brigade. A Company then led the Battalion's combat operations by air assaulting into Ft. Cimmarron, the location of the Panamanian Defense Force's (PDF) Battalion 2000. After directing fire from an AC-130 against its objective, the Company hit its LZ at 1000 hrs. They met limited resistance and found 13 killed in action, 10 destroyed vehicles, and 3 120mm mortars. The Company consolidated and awaited linkup with the remainder of the battalion on 21 December 1989.
On 22 December 1989, the Battalion was given responsibility for the security of the district containing the Papal Nunciatura. Stability operations continued until 10 January 1990 when the Battalion was relieved by elements of the 7th Infantry Division (Light) and redeployed from 10-12 January 1990.
In its role as the DRF-1, 4-325th Airborne Infantry deployed to the middle east in 1990 as part of Operation Desert Shield, later taking part in Operation Desert Storm.
During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s, 4-325th was tapped to relieve Task Force Falcon (led by the 3rd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry) in Bosnia, but this deployment was canceled.
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