The Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 103rd Armored Regiment was first approved on 11 September 1942 while the unit was designated as the 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Light (Towed). It was redesignated for the 628th Tank Battalion on 1 March 1954, then was redesignated for the 103rd Armored Regiment, Pennsylvania Army National Guard on 14 August 1961. It features the unit motto “Expedite” inscribed in gold script on a scarlet scroll, emphasizing the speed of the unit’s operation. The combat efficacy of modern Armored units is embodied in the image of a crocodile, its massive jaws crushing its prey in an allegorical allusion to an Armored unit’s combo of firepower and speed.
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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Originally constituted on 3 December 1941 in the Army of the United States as the 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 103rd Armored Regiment was activated less than two weeks later and then allotted to the Pennsylvania National Guard on 7 March 1942. During World War II, the Battalion took part in four European-African-Middle Eastern Theater campaigns and earned a French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star. Its HQ Company was individually awarded a second French Croix de Guerre and a Luxembourg Croix de Guerre; the units that later became the Regiment’s Company A, 3rd Battalion were honored with both those decorations, while the unit’s that became Company C were awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Luxembourg Croix de Guerre.
The unit would not become a Regiment in the Armor branch until June 1959, when the Battalion was consolidated with elements the 110th Infantry and the 108th and 166th Field Artillery Battalions to form the 103rd Armor, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) consisting of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron and the 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, which were elements of the 28th Infantry Division. Between that time and 1988, when it was withdrawn from CARS and reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System, it was reorganized numerous times with the addition/subtraction of Battalions.
In October 2005, it was redesignated as the 103rd Armored Regiment, and in 2007 it was redesignated to consist of the 3rd Battalion, an element of the 55th Brigade Combat Team. Before the 3rd Battalion was inactivated and redesignated as the 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, it had earned two Meritorious Unit Commendations for service in the War on Terrorism.