While The Institute of Heraldry lists this as the Distinctive Unit Insignia for the U.S. Army Armor Center and Fort Knox and School, the background information accompanying the description of the insignia and its symbolism never mentions the “Armor Center.” Instead, it says this insignia was approved for The Armored School on 20 December 1948 and was thereafter redesignated twice: for The Armor School on 26 June 1957 and for the U.S. Army Armor School on 13 August 1964.
Training of Armor units at Fort Knox began in 1940 and continued until the U.S. Army Armor School was relocated to Fort Benning, home of the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence in 2011 as part of the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. More than 300,000 Soldiers and Marines were trained while the Armor School was located at Fort Knox, with more than 7,500 Soldiers and half-a-million pieces of equipment sent to Fort Benning in June 2011 to complete the School’s move. (Note: Fort Benning was redesignated as Fort Moore in October 2023.)
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The U.S. Army Armor School Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, features a shield mounted with two flaming torches and javelins and escutcheons (shields)—symbols of both offensive and defensive armor units—emblazoned on the green field inside the shield. In heraldry, torches almost always symbolize the light of knowledge; here, they also represent leadership of both the school faculty and that exercised by the School’s graduates. “Forge The Thunderbolt” is the motto of the Armor School.
Although The Institute of Heraldry does not mention a cancellation date for this insignia, this particular insignia does not appear on the U.S. Army Armor School Web site, not does it refer to the move from Fort Knox to Fort Benning.
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.
Related Items
U.S. Army Armor School Patch (SSI)