The 171st Infantry Brigade was constituted in August 1917 and organized on 3 September 1817 at Camp Grant in Illinois. It was assigned to the 86th Division, which arrived in France relatively late during World War I and was subsequently broken up to form cadres for training replacement troops for the front, which is why the 171st received a World War I campaign streamer but without inscriptions for specific campaigns or battles.
During World War II, the unit was designated the 86th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized and again assigned to the 86th Infantry Division. Because of its later arrival in France (4 March 1945), the unit was able to take part only in the final campaign of the European theater, Central Europe. The unit was inactivated from 1946 to 1963, when it was converted to the 171st Infantry Brigade and relieved from assignment to the 86th Infantry Division.
Activated from 1 July 1963 to 13 November 1972, the Brigade was dormant until 2007, when it was activated and again activated, this time at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, as the 171st Infantry Brigade and assigned the of initial entry training. It was inactivated for the final time on 10 June 2016.
Related Items171st Infantry Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)The 171st Infantry Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, was approved on 28 August 1963. The colors of the three basic combat arms—red for Artillery, yellow for Cavalry, and blue for Infantry—are used exclusively in its design. Yellow is used to mimic the Northern Lights, an allusion to the area in Alaska where the unit was organized as an Infantry brigade. An upright bayonet reflects the basic mission, while the mountains suggest the terrain on which the unit was trained to maneuver and defend territory.