The '82nd Infantry Division' was activated at Camp Gordon, Georgia, on August 25, 1917 as a Division of primarily draftee soldiers who served with distinction in World War I. Since members of the division came from all 48 states, the unit was given the nickname “All Americans,� hence its famed “AA� shoulder patch. On August 15, 1942, in the early days of the World War II, it was redesignated the “82nd Airborne Division, parachuting into combat more than any other division. Today’s 82nd Airborne is a more flexible and modular fighting force than ever in its long, distinguished history.