but later in Europe, the two battalions of the 401st GIR were divided in March 1944 to act as the 3rd battalions of the 325th and 327th GIRs. In March 1945 the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment was disbanded and the battalions formally became part of their new regiments. In both the British and American armies, there was a sense that the glider infantry were poor cousins to the more glamorous paratroopers. In the British Army, whereas paratroops were all volunteers, airlanding units were standard line infantry units converted without any option (although they were entitled to wear the same maroon beret and Denison smock as the Parachute Regiment). In the United States Army, glider troops did not receive the extra pay awarded to paratroopers until after the Normandy invasion (where glider troops provided essential support to the parachute regiments and fought on the front-lines alongside their parachute brethren). This blatant inequality of treatment came to the attention of U.S. Airborne High Command and from that point forward the glider troops were issued the same jump boots and combat gear as paratroopers (including the M1A1 carbine with folding stock) and earned the same pay until the war ended in Europe in May 1945. There are numerous examples of glider troops volunteering as replacements for paratrooper units but very few, if any, examples of paratroopers volunteering for the glider units. In one respect the American and British armies differed. The British Army formed the Glider Pilot Regiment from the glider aircrew. The men in this unit were not only trained aircrew, but also very well-trained infantry. After a large scale landing, they would form an infantry battalion, attached to the HQ of the airborne division involved. The US Army did not form a comparable unit. Usage and doctrine Firstly, glider infantry are loaded into gliders which are attached to towing aircraft by a cable. The loaded gliders are then towed through the air by towing aircraft and flown to a release point usually just beyond the hearing range of enemy troops. The tow cables are then released and the gliders would be piloted, without engine power, to a designated landing zone. Once the gliders landed, the troops and equipment would disembark and enter combat. Glider pilots were often organized together after landing to fight or be extracted to safety. Compared with paratroops, alongside whom they would operate, glider-borne troops had several advantages: