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3d Infantry Regiment
3d Infantry Regiment coat of arms
Active	June 3, 1784-Present
Country	USA
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Infantry Regiment
Role	Ceremonial/Home Defense (one battalion) Mechanized Infantry (one battalion)
Size	Four battalions (three active)
Garrison/HQ	1st Battalion - Fort Myer, VA 2d Battalion - Fort Lewis, WA 3d Battalion - (Inactive) 4th Battalion - Fort Myer
Nickname	The Old Guard aka "The First American Regiment"
Motto	Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
Colors	Blue and White
Engagements	Hardin's Defeat *Battle of Fallen Timbers *Battle of Sugar Point War of 1812 *Siege of Fort Meigs *Battle of Fort Stephenson Mexican War Civil War War with Spain Philippine Insurrection World War II Vietnam War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lt. Col. Paul Octave Hebert

U.S. Infantry Regiments
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The 3d US Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. Three battalions of the regiment are currently active. The regiment is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard (TOG for short), as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not).

The regiment is the oldest active unit of infantry in the army, having been first organized as the First American Regiment in 1784.¹²

Contents 1 1st Battalion 1.1 Mission statement 1.2 Ceremonial mission 1.3 Combat readiness 2 2d Battalion 3 3d Battalion 4 4th Battalion 5 Medals of Honor 5.1 Oscar Burkard 6 Lineage 7 3rd Infantry Honors 7.1 Campaign Participation Credit 7.1.1 War of 1812 7.1.2 Mexican-American War 7.1.3 Civil War 7.1.4 Indian Wars 7.1.5 Spanish-American War 7.1.6 Philippine-American War 7.1.7 World War II 7.1.8 Vietnam 7.2 Decorations 8 Notes 9 References

1st Battalion

All but one company of the 1st battalion are stationed at Ft. Myer, Virginia (Company 'A', the Commander in Chief's Guard, is stationed at nearby Ft. McNair, across the river in Southwest Washington, DC). The 1st Battalion, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) is under the umbrella command of the Military District of Washington (MDW). The Old Guard has a twofold mission: a ceremonial mission and a combat mission, in which the regiment serves as part of the National Capital Region's defense.

• • HHC
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • Caisson Platoon
    • Presidential Salute Battery
  • Military Police Platoon
  • Fife and Drum Corps (now 4-3 Battalion)
  • Bravo Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
  • Charlie Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
  • Delta Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
  • Hotel Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon

Mission statement

The 3rd Infantry Regiment's website lists its brigade combat team (BCT) mission statement as follows:

"3d US Infantry Regiment BCT conducts ceremonies in order to maintain the traditions of the US Army, showcase the Army to our nation’s citizens and the world, and to defend the dignity and honor of our fallen comrades. On order, 3d Infantry Regiment BCT protects federal property and / or reinforces civilian authorities in the NCR in order to limit the effects of attacks or disasters."³

Ceremonial mission

The Old Guard is also known as 'Escort to the President.' The majority of the regiment is made up of marching, or 'line' companies, which, among other duties, represent the Army in military parades. The Old Guard is the only unit in the US Army that has an Act of Congress specifically providing it with orders to march with fixed bayonets and it is the sole remaining regular combat field unit to issue the standard M14 rifle to the ranks. There are several casket teams and firing parties in the line platoons; these participate in military funerals. Among the ceremonial tasks and honors the regiment carries out, the following duties are also included, each of which is assigned to a Specialty Platoon: the guarding of the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery; The Continental Color Guard (or CCG - see also Color Guards); The Presidential Salute Guns Battery, which serves at all Full Honors General officer (and State) funerals, as well as at arrivals and departures of foreign dignitaries; the US Army Caisson Platoon, which provides horses and riders to pull caisson (the wagon that bears a casket) in military and state funerals, as well as caparisoned horses in Full Honors funerals. Also part of The Old Guard, are the US Army Drill Team, which performs around the nation & Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, which plays traditional arrangements of marching music, dating back to the time of the Continental Army. The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps marches in the Colonial red uniform -- to be "better seen through the smoke of battle"; the uniform also includes tri-corner hats and powdered wigs.

Combat readiness

The Old Guard, while performing primarily in a ceremonial role, is nonetheless an Infantry unit, which is required to maintain the same certifications of all Infantry units in the U.S. Army. In its combat role, the soldiers of The Old Guard train to standards as per their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty); these include: Rifle marksmanship; Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare preparedness training; operations in area security: and control of civil disturbances. Most of this training takes place at Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia. The Old Guard provides the principal body of garrison troops in Washington, D.C.

In 2003, in the regiment's first deployment since the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army reported that the Old Guard's Bravo Company was deployed to the Horn of Africa, where it established a forward base in rural Ethiopia.⁴⁵ The base and missions, intended primarily to train Ethiopian military personnel, were part of the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), a Global War on Terrorism operation.⁴ In 2007, the Army reported that the regiment's Delta company was deployed to Camp LeMonier, Djibouti as part of CJTF-HOA, supporting humanitarian missions and local military training in the region.⁶

2d Battalion

Stationed at Ft.Lewis, Washington, the 2d Battalion, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, serves as one of three infantry battalions of the 3d Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 2d Infantry Division ('Indian Head'). After a 31-year hiatus from service, the 2-3 was reactivated on 15 March 2001. 2-3 Infantry is part of the initial Stryker brigade combat team. Utilizing the new Stryker vehicle platform, this unit is part of the conversion to the Army's Future Force Unit of Action system. On April 23rd, 2008, the 2nd Battalion was awarded it's 7th Presidential Unit Citation, making the 2nd Bn the most decorated Infantry Battalion in the U.S. Army.

• • HHC
  • A Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
    • Mobile Gun Stryker (MGS) Platoon
  • B Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
    • Mobile Gun Stryker (MGS) Platoon
  • C Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
    • Mobile Gun Stryker (MGS) Platoon

3d Battalion

3d Battalion, 3d Infantry was deactivated on 25 August 1994. It was one of the three light infantry battalions that made up the Army Reserve's 205th Infantry Brigade (Light)(Separate), which in turn was the round-out brigade for the Regular Army's 6th Infantry Division (Light), based at Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The 205th Infantry Brigade was headquartered at Fort Snelling, Minnesota until its deactivation.

4th Battalion

• • HHC
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • Public Affairs
    • Regimental Communications Platoon (S6)
    • US Army Drill Team Platoon
  • A Co. (Commander-In-Chief's Guard)
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • First Platoon
    • Second Platoon
    • Third Platoon
  • E Co.(Honor Guard Company)
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • Presidential Marching Platoon
    • Presidential Casket Platoon
    • Presidential Firing Party Platoon
    • Continental Color Guard Platoon
    • Tomb of the Unknowns Platoon
  • 529th Regimental Support Company
    • Headquarters Platoon
    • Maintenance Platoon
    • Transportation Platoon
    • Medical Platoon
  • 289th Military Police Company
    • SRT
    • 947th MP Detachment (K-9)
  • Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps

Medals of Honor

The following 3rd Infantry soldiers have been awarded the Medal of Honor:

• Indian Wars

Sergeant James Fegan, Company H, March 1868, Plum Creek, Kansas

Corporal Leander Herron, Company A, 2 September 1868, near Fort Dodge, Kansas

Private Robert Smith, Company M, 9 September 1876, Slim Buttes, Montana

• Vietnam War

Corporal Michael Fleming Folland, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 3 July 1969, Long Khanh (posthumous)

Oscar Burkard

Oscar Burkard of the U.S. Army Hospital Corps, attached to the 3d U.S. Infantry, received the Medal of Honor for his actions on October 5, 1898 in the Battle of Sugar Point at Leech Lake, Minnesota.⁷⁸ It is listed by the U.S. Office of Medical History as the last Medal of Honor awarded in an Indian campaign.⁹
Interestingly the "Old Guard" had participated in one of the first battles of the Indian Wars - the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the last battle of the Indian Wars- the Battle of Sugar Point in 1898.

Lineage

• Constituted 3 June 1784 in the Regular Army as the First American Regiment to consist of companies from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

• Organized August-September 1784 in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (New York and Connecticut companies organized in 1785)

• Redesignated 29 September 1789 as the Regiment of Infantry

• Redesignated 3 March 1791 as the 1st Infantry Regiment

• Redesignated in 1792 as the Infantry of the 1st Sub-Legion

• Redesignated 31 October 1796 as the 1st Infantry Regiment

• Consolidated May-October 1815 with the 5th Infantry Regiment (constituted 12 April 1808), the 17th Infantry Regiment (constituted 11 January 1812), the 19th Infantry Regiment (constituted 26 June 1812), and the 28th Infantry Regiment (constituted 29 January 1813) to form the 3d Infantry

• Consolidated August-December 1869 with one-half of the 37th Infantry Regiment (see ANNEX) and consolidated unit designated as the 3d Infantry

• (2nd and 3rd Battalions inactivated 18 November 1921 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota; activated 8 June 1922 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota)

• Assigned 24 March 1923 to the 7th Division

• Relieved 15 August 1927 from assignment to the 7th Division and assigned to the 6th Division

• Relieved 1 October 1933 from assignment to the 6th Division and assigned to the 7th Division

• Relieved 16 October 1939 from assignment to the 7th Division and assigned to the 6th Division

• Relieved 10 May 1941 from assignment to the 6th Division

• (1st Battalion inactivated 1 June 1941 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; activated 14 February 1942 in Newfoundland)

• (2nd Battalion (less Headquarters and Headquarters Company) inactivated 1 September 1942 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota (Headquarters and Headquarters Company concurrently inactivated in Greenland); battalion activated 22 October 1943 at Camp Butner, North Carolina)

• Inactivated 20 November 1946 in Germany

• Regiment (less 2nd Battalion) activated 6 April 1948 at Fort Myer, Virginia (2nd Battalion concurrently activated at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.)

• Reorganized 1 July 1957 as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System

• Withdrawn 16 January 1986 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

ANNEX

• Constituted 3 May 1861 in the Regular Army as the 3d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (United States).

• Organized May 1865 - September 1866 at Fort Wayne, Michigan; Newport Barracks, Kentucky; and Fort Columbus, New York

• Reorganized and redesignated 23 November 1866 as the 37th Infantry Regiment (United States).

• One-half of the 37th Infantry consolidated August-December 1869 with the 3d Infantry and consolidated unit designated as the 3d Infantry (remaining half of the 37th Infantry consolidated in June 1869 with the 5th Infantry and consolidated unit designated as the 5th Infantry--hereafter separate lineage)

3rd Infantry Honors

Campaign Participation Credit

War of 1812

1. Canada
2. Chippewa
3. Lundy's Lane

Mexican-American War

1. Palo Alto
2. Resaca de la Palma
3. Monterey
4. Vera Cruz
5. Cerro Gordo
6. Contreras
7. Churubusco
8. Chapultepec

Civil War

1. Bull Run
2. Peninsula
3. Manassas
4. Antietam
5. Fredericksburg
6. Chancellorsville
7. Gettysburg
8. Appomattox
9. Texas 1861
10. Florida 1861
11. Florida 1862
12. Virginia 1863

Indian Wars

1. Miami (Ohio 1794)
2. Seminoles (1840-1843)
3. Comanches (1868)
4. New Mexico 1856
5. New Mexico 1857
6. New Mexico 1858
7. New Mexico 1860
8. Montana 1887

Spanish-American War

1. Santiago

Philippine-American War

1. Malolos
2. San Isidro
3. Luzon 1899
4. Luzon 1900
5. Jolo 1911

World War II

1. American Theater, Streamer without inscription;
2. Northern France

Vietnam

1. Counteroffensive, Phase II
2. Counteroffensive, Phase III
3. Tet Counteroffensive
4. Counteroffensive, Phase IV
5. Counteroffensive, Phase V
6. Counteroffensive, Phase VI
7. Tet 69/Counteroffensive
8. Summer-Fall 1969
9. Winter-Spring 1970
10. Sanctuary Counteroffensive
11. Counteroffensive, Phase VII
12. Consolidation I

Decorations

• Valorous Unit Award for SAIGON - LONG BINH
• Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for WASHINGTON, D.C., 1969-1973
• Army Superior Unit Award for 1984-1985
• Army Superior Unit Award for 1993
• Army Superior Unit Award for 2004^{citation needed}

(Copied directly from the Regimental Website)^{citation needed}

Notes

References

• First American Regiment at ArmyHistory.org. Accessed on 2008-08-10
• McKeeby, Eric M. (2004-06-30.) "MDW commander visits deployed Old Guard unit". (U.S. military website.) US Military District of Washington PAO. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
• McKeeby, Eric M. (2004-05-11.) "U.S. Army Capt. Michael J. Trotter: Company commander juggles Old Guard's diverse missions in Africa". (U.S. military website.) Defend America. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
• U.S. Army. (1997-05-22.) "Lineage and honors information: 3d Infantry (the Old Guard)". (U.S. military website.) U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
• U.S. Army. "Regimental Home". (U.S. military website.) 3d United States Infantry Regiment. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
• "Medal of Honor Citations". United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved on 2008-10-30.

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• This page was last modified on 18 December 2008, at 14:58.

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