The 131st Aviation Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest or a DUI, was originally approved for the 31st Aviation Battalion on 31 March 1971 and was redesignated for the Regiment on 1 October 1987. A pair of silver wings symbolize the unit’s Aviation mission, while the blue disk and white nebuly are an allusion to the sky and clouds. The red saltire on white recalls the state flag of Alabama, with the star serving as a reference to the unit’s home station in the state capital of Montgomery. “Where Eagles Dare” is the unit motto and another reference to the Aviation mission.
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Although the 131st Aviation Regiment was established on 1 October 1987, its lineage goes back to March 1953 and the organization and Federal recognition of the HQ Battery, 104th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion in the Alabama Army National Guard. It would be converted and redesignated as the HQ and HQ Company, 31st Aviation Battalion, on 15 April 1963, assigned to the 31st Infantry Division.
It was reorganized and redesignated as the HQ and HQ Detachment, 31st Aviation Battalion in October 1978, but was apparently inactivated or designated for a brief period before new and existing units from the Alabama, District of Columbia, and Florida Army National Guard were used to organize the Battalion once again in October 1986; a year later it would be reorganized as a Regiment.
Headquartered in Montgomery, the Regiment consists of its 1st Battalion comprising Companies A, B, and C; Companies A and B are based in Alabama, while Company C is assigned as an Assault Company to the 449th Combat Aviation Brigade, North Carolina Army National Guard.
In 2008, 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation Regiment was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its support of Operation Iraqi Freedom while assigned to the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade. Four years later, while assigned to the 77th Aviation Brigade, the Battalion earned another Meritorious Unit Commendation for its exemplary performance between 28 April 2011 to 13 December 2011 as part of Task Force Peacemaker.