145th Armor Regiment
The 145th Armored Regiment, Ohio Army National Guard, is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, with headquarters at Stow, Ohio. It currently consists of the 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment, a 600-soldier combined arms battalion of the Ohio Army National Guard with units located throughout northeast Ohio.
For command and control purposes within the Ohio Army National Guard, the 1st Battaltion, 145th Armored Regiment, is a subordinate battalion of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. In 2013, the battalion entered into an alignment-for-training relationship with the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. In May 2016, the battalion donned the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 34th Infantry Division in anticipation of formal alignment with the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team in September 2016. As a combined arms battalion, the 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment, is able to deploy two mechanized infantry companies, two armor companies, a support company, a headquarters company, and a battalion headquarters in order to accomplish its federal, state, and community missions.
Its Headquarters Company and three line companies are organic to the battalion. While combined arms battalions traditionally receive their support companies from their organic Brigade Support Battalion, since the battalion is not organic to an Armored Brigade Combat Team, the 134th Support Company exists independently and is attached to the battalion. As of 2014, the battalion's fire support platoon was re-designated and currently exists as Detachment 2, Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, and is re-attached to the battalion.
Introduction
Reorganized and re-designated from the 1st Battalion, 107th Cavalry Regiment on 1 September 2007, the first mobilization and deployment of the 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment in its current form was the 2009 Multinational Force and Observers MFO-52 mission responsible for multiple observation posts throughout Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the operation of MFO South Camp at Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, in partnership with ten other participating nations. Since 11 September 2001, however, subordinate elements and individual soldiers that now comprise the unit have deployed to Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, Kosovo Force, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Joint Task Forces Katrina and Rita. The battalion has also deployed select individual soldiers in support of the combined Hungary-United States Operational Mentor and Liaison Team with service in Afghanistan.Current units
Mission, training, and capabilities
In support of their federal mission, soldiers of the battalion train as members of M1A1 Abrams main battle tank crews, M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle crews, and as mechanized infantry platoons, squads, and fire teams. Additionally, the battalion has a scout platoon, a 120-mm M120 heavy mortar platoon, a fire support platoon, a medical platoon, a signal section, a sniper squad, and a unit ministry team.When training in a traditional National Guard status, the battalion will typically complete tank gunnery tables, Bradley Fighting Vehicle gunnery tables, or dismounted infantry squad and fire team training lanes. The battalion has also conducted successful training cycles providing training and validation to prepare other Ohio Army National Guard units for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, the battalion incorporates elements of stability operations, support operations, and counterinsurgency operations into larger training events.
Heraldry
Coat of arms
Heraldic description
- Shield: Argent, a bend wavy Azure between a falcon close and a cactus Proper.
- Crest: That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Ohio Army National Guard: From a wreath Argent and Azure, a sheaf of seventeen arrows Argent bound by a sprig of buckeye fructed Proper.
- Motto: ''EXCEL''
Symbolism
Background
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 145th Infantry Regiment on 5 September 1928. It was amended on 27 November 1928. It was cancelled on 29 May 1935. It was reinstated and redesignated for the 145th Infantry Regiment on 19 May 1936. The insignia was redesignated with description and symbolism revised for the 145th Regiment on 15 April 1997. It was redesignated effective 1 September 2007, for the 145th Armored Regiment with the symbolism revised.From statehood to the Civil War
Units of the battalion originated as independent companies of the organized militia throughout northeast Ohio. For federal service during the Civil War, the unit was organized as the 7th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with companies from Cleveland and northeastern Ohio. The 7th Regiment was mustered into federal service 28 April 1861 for 3 months and then reorganized for three years on 16 June 1861 at Camp Dennison, Ohio. The regiment saw action throughout the Eastern Theater with the Army of Virginia and the Army of the Potomac, until it was transferred to the Western Theater where it joined the Army of the Cumberland at the Second Battle of Chattanooga.The 7th Regiment saw action at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and in the Atlanta campaign. At the end of their three-year enlistment, soldiers of the 7th Regiment who wished to remain in service transferred to the 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regiment mustered out of federal service on 7 July 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Post–Civil War to World War I
Between the Civil War and World War I, units now comprising the battalion underwent numerous consolidations and reorganizations typical of a peacetime militia force. From 1870–1877, units were independent companies of the organized militia. On 30 June 1877, companies in northeastern Ohio were consolidated as the 15th Infantry Regiment, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. On 22 March 1881, the regiment was disbanded, with Companies D, G, H, and K remaining as independent companies. Later that year on 7 July, Companies D, G, H, K, and other elements of the organized militia were reorganized and redesignated as the 5th Infantry Regiment.On 11 May 1898 the unit was mustered into federal service for the Spanish–American War at Camp Bushnell, Ohio as the 5th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Commanded by Colonel Cortland L. Kennan, the regiment had 48 officers and 1,302 enlisted men. During the war, the regiment was stationed in Tampa, Florida, and Fernandina, Florida. Due to the quick nature of the war, the regiment was mustered out of federal service at Cleveland, Ohio on 5 November 1898 and resumed status as the 5th Infantry. Between April and July 1899, the regiment was disbanded and later Companies B, C, E, F, G, H, and K were consolidated into the 5th Infantry.
With the passage of the Militia Act of 1903, initiated by Secretary of War Elihu Root and U.S. Senator Charles W. F. Dick, militia units such as the 5th Infantry were now federally funded and recognized, and brought into compliance with improvements in the militia system borne out of weaknesses observed during the Spanish–American War mobilizations.
The 5th Ohio was again mustered into Federal service on 19 June 1916 for service along the Mexican border. The regiment was mobilized at Camp Willis, near present-day Upper Arlington, Ohio, and served along the border in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas, from September 1916 until it was mustered out on 15 March 1917 at Ft. Wayne, Michigan.
World War I
For World War I, the regiment was drafted into federal service on 5 August 1917. On 25 September 1917 it was reorganized and designated the 145th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Division. In June 1918 the regiment deployed to Europe, where it fought in the Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine, and Ypres-Lys campaigns. During its service in World War I, eighteen of the regiment's officers and soldiers received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism fighting in France and Belgium.Interwar period
The 145th Infantry arrived at the port of New York on 27 March 1919 on the troopship USS Great Northern and was demobilized on 22 April 1919 at Camp Sherman, Ohio. Following the war, elements of the 5th Infantry and the former 8th Infantry Regiment were organized as the 3rd Infantry with headquarters federally recognized on 1 July 1920 at Cleveland, Ohio. Per the National Defense Act of 1920, the 145th Infantry was reconstituted in the National Guard in 1921, assigned to the 37th Division, and allotted to the state of Ohio. Reorganized on 1 July 1921 by redesignation of the 3rd Infantry, Ohio National Guard as the 145th Infantry. On 5 September 1928, the 145th Infantry's distinctive unit insignia was authorized. It was heavily influenced by the regiment's World War I service, displaying a wavy bend to symbolize the Scheldt River and a falcon from the arms of Montfaucon, France. The regiment, or elements thereof, was called up to perform the following state duties: riot control during a labor strike at New Lexington, Ohio, in July–August 1922; tornado relief duties at Lorain-Sandusky, Ohio, 28 June–16 July 1924; martial law in connection with civil disorders and KKK riots in Niles, Ohio, 2–5 November 1924; riot control during a coal miners’ strike at Cadiz, Ohio, 16 April–17 August 1932; riot control during a workers’ strike at the Auto-Lite plant at Toledo, Ohio, 23 May–2 June 1934; flood relief along the Ohio River, January–March 1937; riot control during a workers’ strike at the Mahoning Valleysteel plants, 22 June 1–15 July 1937. Conducted annual summer training most years at Camp Perry, Ohio, 1921–39. Inducted into active federal service at Cleveland on 15 October 1940 and moved to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where it arrived 22 October 1940.