"Colonel Sink, who was the first and only CO of the 506th Regiment" Does that mean that the 506th does not have a CO??!! Then who the h-e-l-l is leading the 506th???!!

WHAT? First and only means that he was the first commanding officer and led the 506th throughout the war.

commanding officier, what a status. lol.

Colonel sink was in charge of the 101st AB 506th PIR.

he was in charge of A to I companies not just Easy. he servered in Europe with the 506th and remained with that unit until the end of hostilities in Europe.

He also served in the Korean War as the Assistant Division Commander of the 7th Infantry Division, and later commanded the 7th Armored and 44th Infantry Divisions.
In 1957, he assumed command of the XVIII Airborne Corps. After commanding the U.S. Army, Caribbean, Lieutenant General Sink retired in February, 1961.

I have no idea why, but Sink was replaced with Colonel Stout in A Bridge Too Far.

There were men that close to the bridge when it blew though, those men were from Easy Company, with Winters up front. He himself said they were lucky not to be killed from the splinters that flew everywhere.

Robert Frederick Sink, present XVIII Airborne Corps, Strategic Army Corps and Fort Bragg Commander, was born in Lexington, North Carolina, on April 3, 1905. The 54 year-old general has had a distinguished career in the Army both as a combat leader and administrator. His duties have ranged from those of a second lieutenant of infantry to commanding general of the Strategic Army Corps.

He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 14, 1927.

His first assignment as a second lieutenant was with the Eight Infantry at Fort Screven, Georgia. In November 1929, he was assigned to the 65th Infantry at San Juan, Puerto Rico. In March 1932, he joined the 34th Infantry at Fort Meade, Maryland and remained with this unit until July 1933 when he was assigned to duty with the Civilian Conservation Corps at McAlevy’s Fort, Pennsylvania until December of that same year. He then returned to the 34th Infantry.

Following graduation from the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, in September 1934, he was assigned to the 57th Infantry at Fort McKinley, Philippine Islands. He returned to the United States in November 1937, and was assigned to the 25th Infantry at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he served successively as company commander and regimental operations officer.

General Sink’s first encounter with the airborne took place in November 1940 when he was assigned to the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion at Fort Benning. He later commanded the 503rd Parachute Infantry Battalion and the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. In July 1942 he was named as commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Toccata, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

In September 1943, he moved to Europe with that regiment, commanding it until the end of hostilities there. On August 12, 1945, General Sink was named assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne Division.

In December 1945, General Sink returned to the United States, and the following month assumed command of the infantry detachment of the United States Military Academy. He entered the National War College at Washington, DC in August 1948, graduating in June 1949.

General Sink then was transferred to the Ruckus Command, and became chief of staff in October 1949. In January 1951, he was named assistant commander of the Seventh Infantry Division in Korea.

He returned to the United States and became assistant commander of the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in December 1951. In February 1953, he assumed command at the Seventh Armored Division at Camp Roberts, California. In November 1953, he became commanding general of the 44th Infantry Division At Fort Lewis, Washington.

In October 1954, General Sink was assigned to the Joint Airborne Troop board at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In early 1955, General sink was transferred to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in April 1955 assumed the dual functions of chairman of the United States Delegation to the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission and chief of army section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Brazil.

He returned to the United States and assumed Command of the XVIII Airborne Corps and fort Bragg in May 1957. In May 1958, he was announced as commander, Strategic Army Corps (STRAC), United States Army.

His last major command was as commander of United States forces in Panama.

Lieutenant General Robert Frederick Sink retired in 1961. He died on 13 December 1965.



Date of Birth: 3 April 1905

Place of Birth: Lexington, North Carolina

Married and had three children, two step-children



Education:

United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1927

Chemical Warfare School, 1932

The Infantry School, 1935

The Parachute School, 1941

Armed Forces Staff College (Equivalent), 1947

National War College, 1949



List of Citations, Decorations and Awards:

Silver Star medal with two oak leaf clusters

Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster

Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster

Distinguished Unit Citation with one oak leaf cluster

American Defense Service Medal

American Campaign Medal

Occupation of Germany Medal

Combat Infantry Badge

Occupation of Japan Medal

Korean Service Medal

Korean Presidential Citation



Allied Decorations:

Croix de Guerre avec Palme (Belgium)

Belgian fourragere

Netherlands Orange Lanyard

Belgian L’Orde de Leopold, Grade de Officier, avec Palme

Brench Croix de Guerre avec Palme

Distinguished Service Order (Britain)

Bronze Lion Decree of the Netherlands



General Sink was a master parachutist who made two combat jumps.



Chronological List of Assignments

Assignments From To

Commissioned in the regular Army at the 14 JUN 1927

United States Military Academy



Infantry unit commander, regimental S3, 1927 1941

parachute battalion commander, regimental

executive officer and student officer



Regimental Commander, 503d Parachute Infantry, 1 JUL 1942 12 AUG 1945

and the 506th Parachute Infantry



Assistant Division Commander, 101st Airborne Division 12 AUG 1945 06 JAN 1946



Commanding Officer, Infantry Detachment, 06 JAN 1946 10 JUN 1946

United States Military Academy, West Point, NY



Commanding Officer of Troops, 10 JUN 1946 10 OCT 1946

United States Military Academy, West Point, NY



Commanding Officer, 1802d Special Regiment, 10 OCT 1946 26 AUG 1948

United States Military Academy, West Point, NY



Student Officer, regular course, National War College, 26 AUG 1948 07 OCT 194

Fort Mc Nair, Washington, DC



Chief of Staff, Headquarters Ryukyus Command, 07 OCT 1949 15 JAN 1951

8104th Services Detachment, Far East Command



Assistant Division Commander, Seventh Infantry 15 JAN 1951 31 JAN 1952

Division, Far East Command



Assistant Division Commander, 11th Airborne 31 JAN 1952 24 FEB 1953

Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky



Division Commander, Seventh Armored Division, 24 FEB 1953 01 JUN 1953

Camp Roberts, California



Commanding General, Seventh Armored Division 01 JUN 1953 20 NOV 1953

and Camp Roberts, California



Commanding General, 44th Infantry Division, 20 NOV 1953 08 JUN 1954

Fort Lewis, Washington



Commanding General, 44th Infantry Division 08 JUN 1954 08 OCT 1954

and Fort Lewis, Washington



Director, Joint Airborne Troop Board 08 OCT 1954 01 APR 1955

8680 DU, Fort Bragg, North Carolina



Chairman of the United States Delegation 01 APR 1955 01 MAY 1957

to the Joint Brazil-United States Military

Commission, Brazil



Commanding General, XVIII Airborne Corps 29 MAY 1957 30 JUN 1960

and Fort Bragg, North Carolina



Commander, United States Forces in Panama 30 JUN 1960 1961



Chronological List of Promotions

Promotion Temporary Permanent

(Army of the US) (Regular Army)



Second Lieutenant 14 JUN 1927

First Lieutenant 31 AUG 1933

Captain 13 JUN 1937

Major 31 JAN 1941

Lieutenant Colonel 01 FEB 1942

Colonel 03 NOV 1942

Major 14 JUN 1944

Lieutenant Colonel 15 JUL 1948

Brigadier General 13 FEB 1951

Colonel 23 MAR 1951

Major General 11 APR 1948

Brigadier General 11 APR 1955

Major General 14 APR 1955

Lieutenant General 08 SEP 1959



*Obituary from the Washington Evening Star, 15 December 1965



Lieutenant General Robert F. Sink, Helped Form Paratroops



Retired Army Lt. General Robert F. Sink, 60, who helped form the paratroops in World War II, died at Womack Army hospital at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Monday.

He became ill at his home in Lexington, North Carolina, and was taken to a hospital there before he was transferred to Womack.

Sink, a colorful general known for making parachute jumps with his troops in training exercises, commanded the Army’s STRAC (Strategic Army Corps) forces after it was formed in 1958.

STRAC, a four-division striking force of more that 125,000 men, was especially tailored to fight a limited war anywhere in the world. The force includes the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 101st airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 1st Infantry at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the 4th Infantry at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Sink was former commander both of Fort Bragg and of its XVIII Airborne Corps. His last major assignment was as commander of United States Forces in Panama. He retired form the Army in 1961.

A West Point graduate in the class of 1927, Sink organized, trained and led the hand-picked 506th airborne Regiment of the 101st airborne during world War II.

The outfit, known to its members as the Five-Oh-Sink, was at Bastogne on 22 December 1944, when the Germans had surrounded American forces commanded by General Anthony McAuliffe and demanded surrender or face "annihilation by artillery." Sink was one of the commanders to whom fell the duty of backing up McAuliffe’s famous reply: "Nuts."

Sink was one of the four percent of the army’s paratroopers qualified as a master parachutist and celebrated his birthday each year by making another jump.

He was a native of Lexington, North Carolina and attended Trinity College, now Duke University, one year before going to West Point.

He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1959 while commanding Fort Bragg.