The design of the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s Combat Service Identification Badge, which is also used as it Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, reflects the unit’s Lousiana roots. The blue saltire (the diagonal cross) has long been used to represent brigades on military maps, but on the insignia for the “Louisiana Brigade” it also echoes the design of the the coat of arms of Nova Scotia, where many of Louisiana’s early settlers came from. The French ancestry of many Louisiana citizens is reflected in the inclusion of the fleur-de-lis, with the red frond serving as a reference to the original name (Vermilionville) of the Brigade’s headquarters city of Lafayette, as well as a nod to a river, Bayou Vermilion, located near the city. The unit's pride in its home state and its rich French traditions is refelected in its motto, 'Honor Our Heritage."
Though originally formed in 1922, the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team did not receive its current numerical designation until the 1967 consolidation of the 1st Brigade, 39th Infantry Division and Company D, 125th Medical Battalion as the 256th Infantry Brigade. The unit was converted to a Mechanized Infantry Brigade in 1977, and from 1975 until 1992 served as the “Roundout Brigade” of the U.S. Army’s 5th Infantry Division. (“Roundouts” were National Guard units that were intended to train with their active-duty Army Divisional counterparts and be ready for mobilization to augment some divisions in the continental U.S. that had only two instead of three brigades.) In 1992, the Brigade was named the Roundout unit for the 2nd Armored Division, but in 1996 the Army ended the program and made the 256th one of 15 Army National Guard units to be designated as an “Enhanced Brigade” which could be mobilized and deployed in 90 to 120 days.
In 2006, the Brigade was transformed from a Heavy Brigade Combat Team into a modular Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Today, it comprises four Infantry Battalions, a Field Artillery Battalion (towed artillery), a Support Battalion, a Cavalry squadron, and a Brigade Engineer Battalion. It is part of the 36th Infantry Division, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Related Items
256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Unit Crest (DUI)
256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Patch (SSI)