Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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The 102nd Armor Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved on 14 August 1923, but was amended to add a crest and motto on 16 May 1931. In January 1954, it was redesignated for the 102nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (and amended to correct the colors of the wreath in the crest that was added in 1931). It was redesignated for the 102nd Armor Regiment and amended once again, this time to revise the symbolism, on 18 February 1970.
A yellow shield is used to denote the Regiment’s Armor affiliation, but it is even more appropriate here because the unit served also as a Cavalry unit and yellow was its color until the 1950s. Two fleurs-de-lis represent service in France during both World Wars, and the horse’s head is the Essex Troop. FIDE ET FORTITUDINE is Latin for "By Fidelity and Fortitude."
Nicknamed the “First New Jersey” and “First New Jersey Cavalry,” the 102nd Armor Regiment was a New Jersey Army National Guard unit with a service life that can be divided into two major periods. From 1913 to 1968, it was part of the Cavalry Branch; from 1968 to 2008, it was assigned to the Armored branch. It was redesignated in 2008 as the 102nd Cavalry Regiment, but instead of redesignating this insignia, it adopted the insignia previously assigned to the 117th Cavalry Regiment.)
To follow the myriad redesignations/reorganizations of the 102nd Armor Regiment is a bootless task, especially considering there are five points in its history where new units are introduced into its lineage. It was originally organized on 29 May 1913 in the New Jersey National Gaurd as the 1st Cavalry Squadron; in a sign of the turbulent organizational history the unit would undero over the following decades, the squadron was broken up on 15 September 1917, just two months after being mustered into Federal service.
The 102nd Armor Regiment’s battle honors include two campaign streamers from World War I and seven from World War, two of them with Arrowhead devices indicating participation in an assault landing. Its units were also honored with a pair of French Croix de Guerre, and Troop B, 1st Squadron is entitled to display a WWII Asiatic-Pacific Theater streamer without inscription. The 102nd Armor Regiment also is credited with participation in the Iraqi Surge campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom.