The U.S. Army National Guard’s 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team received its current designation in 2004, but its Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB), reveals its true heritage as part of the 30th Infantry Division, originally activated as an Army unit in 1917 but which had been twice reorganized as part of the Army National Guard following overseas combat duty. The Division was inactivated as an Army unit in November 1945, but then reorganized and recognized in 1947 as a National Guard Division co-located in Nashville, Tennessee and Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1954, the North Carolina part was reorganized and redesignated as the 30th Infantry Division, thus carrying on the lineage of its Army forebear.
In 1973, the unit was redesignated as the 30th Infantry Brigade, and in February 1974 the unit patch was redesignated for use with the new classification. Originally approved in October 1918, the SSI was inspired by President Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson, born near the border of North and South Carolina and subsequent owner of the famous Hermitage plantation in Tennessee. The oval shape of the insignia suggests the letter “O” and the two vertical lines and Roman numeral 30 (XXX) form the letter “H,” thus symbolizing the initials of Jackson’s nickname and the numerical designation of the unit.
The 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team is headquartered in Clinton, North Carolina. It comprises five battalions, four based in North Carolina and one in West Virginia. Also attached to the Brigade is the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment, also based in West Virginia.