“Honor First” is the motto of the 213th Regional Sup-port Group, a Pennsylvania Army National Guard Unit originally formed as the Lehigh Fencibles back in 1849. Undergoing frequent redesignations and reorganizations, the unit assumed a wide variety of missions over the decades—Infantry, Machine Gun Battalion, Military Police, Coast Artillery, Antiaircraft Artillery, and more—before its 1975 redesignation as the 213th Support Group. Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the Group’s major components are its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, the 728th Combat Sustainment Battalion, and the 228th Transportation Battalion.
The 213th Regional Support Group Shoulder Sleeve Insignia was approved on 10 April 2007. The keystone shape is a clear reference to the home state of Pennsylvania, while the small heart in the middle of the insignia has been adapted from the seal of the city of Allentown, the Group’s headquarters city. A scarlet arrowhead denotes the unit’s participation in an assault landing in the Naples-Foggia campaign in World War II. The large blue “quad arrows” denotes providing support to branches of the Army, including Combat Service, while the small compass-rose points indicate the ability to provide support in all directions in the Group’s assigned area. Six stars reflect six conflicts in which the unit and its predecessors have taken part: Civil War, War With Spain, WWI, WWII, Southwest Asia (First Gulf War), and the War on Terrorism.
Related Items
213th Regional Support Group Unit Crest (DUI)
213th Regional Support Group Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)