Frequentlly referred to as a unit crest or by its initialism DUI, 150th Cavalry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved for the 150th Infantry Regiment on 28 May 1934. Other designations for which it was approved include the 150th Armored Cavalry Regiment (September 1955) and the 150th Armor Regiment (September 1993); it is unclear when it was approved for the 150th Cavalry Regiment. Its blue shield denotes the organization’s origins in the Infantry branch, and the power horn is adapted from the West Virginia coat of arms. Five mullets (stars) stand for five wars the original Infantry organization had participated in.
Distinctive Unit Insignias 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. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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Today’s 150th Cavalry Regiment, currently organized in the West Virginia Army National Guard to consist of the 1st Squadron, is one of less than thirty National Guard units with lineages that go back to the Colonial era. Formed as the Militia of Greenbrier Country on 1 March 1778, the unit earned a Revolutionary War campaign streamer (uninscribed) before it was reorganized as the 13th Brigade, Virginia Militia on 22 December 1792; five of its companies were consolidated with seven volunteer companies from an area now in West Virginia to form the 2nd Regiment, Virginia Volunteer Militia to fight in the Indiana Territory campaign in the War of 1812. Its other combat action prior to World War I was two Civil War campaigns serving in the Union Army (some elements did fight for the Confederacy, however).
The Regiment was mustered into Federal service for duty along the Mexican Border but did not take part in the Punitive Expedition, so its first modern military deployment came during World War I. Drafted into Federal service in August 1917, it was redesignated as the 150th Infantry and assigned to the 38th Division, earning an uninscribed World War I campaign streamer (the 38th Division was broken up and its units used as replacements for other combat divisions). It was still assigned to the 38th Division when the U.S. entered World War II, but was relieved from that assignment in March 1942 and sent to the Panama Canal Zone, earning an uninscribed World War II American Theater campaign streamer.
In 1955, it was redesignated as the 150th Armored Cavalry Regiment, but a reorganization led to its redesignation as the 3rd Squadron, 150th Armored Cavalry in March 1968 and then as the 3rd Squadron, 107th Armored Cavalry from May 1968 until July 1974, when it was redesignated as the 150th Armored Cavalry (only the 1st Squadron was organized). In September 1993, now under the U.S. Army Regimental System, it was reorganized as the 150th Armor consisting of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 28th Infantry Division. The battalion was attached to the 30th Enhanced Heavy Separate Brigade for its 2004 deployment to Iraq, and upon its return it was given its current designation of 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment and assigned to the brigade, now called the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team as its Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition squadron.
In February 2010, 1st Squadron was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service between May 2009 and January 2010; a little over a year later, it received another MUC for its service during an earlier deployment (25 March 2004 to 29 December 2004) as the 1st Battalion, 150th Armor.
Nicknamed "Second West Virginia" in honor of its service in The War of 1812, the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment is headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia and comprises a Headquarters, four Cavalry Companies, and an attached Support Company (Company D, 230th Brigade Support Battalion).