When and how does a National Guard unit pick its history?

When and how does a National Guard unit pick its history?

That is question that has plagued everyone who has ever been in the Guard. The United States Army in its wisdom has a method for all. The accoutrements on the army uniform reflect the different histories.

The Division Patch is the history of the overseeing unit, it may have nothing to do with the battalion, the regiment or your company, troop or battery. I had two in the Guard, the 26th Infantry Division and the 42nd Infantry Division. The 26th was under Patton’s control in World War II and the 42nd under MacArthur’s in World War I.

Distinctive Unit Insignia and its companion the Regimental Coat of Arms. This is worn on the service uniform and reflects the history of the regiment or battalion the unit is assigned to. This may have nothing to do with your armory. In my case the 110th Armor was the history of the 26th Recon Troop and 181st Infantry Regiment. The 110th Cavalry was the history of the 182nd Infantry Regiment. The 172nd  Armor reflected the 1st Vermont Infantry in the Civil War and the Vermont militia when it was the Green Mountain Boys.

Last was the unit citations, this reflected where your armory went. In my case in Concord it was a Navy Presidential Unit Citation and Philippine Unit Citation, this represent the armory going to the pacific with 182nd Infantry. There was none that I knew of  for Hudson.  Westminster was the Army Presidential Unit Citation to represent service in the 2nd Battalion 172nd Infantry in the Pacific Campaign.

Each Armory had unique names assigned in the 1800s but this tradition was largely forgotten. Concord was the Concord Independent Battery, Hudson was the Hudson Light Guards and Westminster was the Estey Guards,