Approved for wear on 23 April 1982, the U.S. Army National Training Center Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, employs colors found on the Center’s Coat of Arms which allude to the three Combat Arms branches—Infantry, Armor, and Artillery—that are brought together to form Combined Arms Teams and Task Forces. A trio of converging arrowheads symbolizes a concentration of education and training to achieve a synergy that makes the power and effectiveness of a Combined Arms unit greater than the sum of its parts—the perfect illustration that signifies the ultimate mission of the National Training Center.
The National Training Center is garrisoned at Fort Irwin in an area of the Mojave Desert
in the northern part of San Berardino County in California that first came to the Army’s attention in 1846 when it was visited by Captain John C. Fremont and famed explorer Kit Carson. It soon became part of a well-traveled wagon trail between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, and the discovery of the mineral borax in the area led to growth that would normally be unlikely in such a harsh region.
But it wasn’t until 1940 and President Franklin Roosevelt’s decision to establish the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Range, later named Camp Irwin and eventually Fort Irwin, that the area began to be utilized by the Army for training purposes, In 1951, Camp Irwin became home to the Armored Combat Training area, and ten years later it was redesignated as a permanent installation and named Fort Irwin.
Though the garrison was inactivated in 1971 and actually used as a training area for Army National Guard and Army Reserve units and managed by the California National Guard from 1972-1980, the Army selected it for its National Training Center in 1979. One of its most well-known training units is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) which assumes the role of an Opposing Force, or OPFOR, for Army, Marine, and foreign military units that train at the facility.
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National Training Center Unit Crest (DUI)