The 54th Infantry Regiment (periodically also known as the 54th Armored Infantry Regiment) is a regiment of the United States Army, first constituted for World War I and existing today as a basic training unit stationed at Fort Benning

Fort Benning

Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

Lineage

• Constituted 15 May 1917 in the Regular Army as the 54th Infantry.
• Organized 16 June 1917 at Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
• Assigned 16 November 1917 to the 6th Infantry Division.
• Inactivated 24 October 1922 at Fort Wayne, Michigan
  Fort Wayne (Detroit)
  Fort Wayne is located in the city of Detroit, Michigan, at the foot of Livernois Avenue in the Delray neighborhood. The fort is situated on the Detroit River at a point where it is about a mile to the Canadian shore. The original 1848 limestone barracks still stands, as does the 1845 star...
  
  .
• Relieved 24 March 1923 to the 6th Division and assigned to the 7th Division.
• Relieved 1 October 1940 from assignment to the 7th Division.
• Redesignated 14 June 1942 as the 54th Armored Infantry.
• Assigned 15 July 1942 to the 10th Armored Division and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia.
• Regiment broken up 20 September 1943 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as elements of the 10th Armored Division as follows:

- 54th Infantry (less 1st, 2d, 3d Battalions) as the 54th Infantry Battalion

- 1st Battalion as the 61st Armored Infantry Battalion

- 2nd Battalion as the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion

- 3rd Battalion disbanded

• Battalions inactivated 13–23 October 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.
• Relieved 14 September 1950 from assignment to the 10th Armored Division, concurrently consolidated broken up and its elements redesignated as elements of the 10th Armored Division as follows:

- 54th Infantry (less 1st, 2d, 3d Battalions) as the 54th Armored Infantry Battalion

- 1st Battalion as the 561st Armored Infantry Battalion

- 2nd Battalion as the 520th Armored Infantry Battalion

- Former 3rd Battalion reconstituted as the 554th Armored Infantry Battalion

• Battalions relieved 1 April 1957 from assignment to the 10th Armored Division.
• 54th, 561st, 554th Armored Infantry Battalions consolidated 1 July 1959 to form the 54th Infantry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System.
• Withdrawn 16 June 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System, reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System
  U.S. Army Regimental System
  The United States Army Regimental System was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System, to provide each Soldier with continuous identification with a single regiment, and to support that concept with a personnel system that would increase a soldier’s probability of serving...
  
  , and transferred to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
  United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
  Established 1 July 1973, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command is an army command of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It is charged with overseeing training of Army forces, the development of operational doctrine, and the development and procurement of...
  
   with Headquarters at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Campaign participation credit

• World War I
  World War I
  World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
  
  :

1. Meuse-Argonne;
2. Alsace 1918

• World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  :

1. Rhineland;
2. Ardennes-Alsace
   Battle of the Bulge
   The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
   
   ;
3. Central Europe

• Vietnam
  Vietnam War
  The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
  
  :

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;
13. Consolidation II;
14. Cease-Fire

Decorations

• Presidential Unit Citation for BASTOGNE
• Meritorious Unit Commendation
  Meritorious Unit Commendation
  The Meritorious Unit Commendation is a mid-level unit award of the United States military which is awarded to any military command which displays exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, heroic deeds, or valorous actions....
  
   (Army) for VIETNAM 1967-1968
• Belgian Fourragere 1940 with Palm for BASTOGNE; cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at BASTOGNE.

Today, 2nd Battalion, 54th Infantry Regiment is a basic training battalion on Sand Hill, Fort Benning, Georgia. It has been the starting place for the training of tens of thousands of United States Army Infantrymen over the past three decades.

Distinctive Unit Insignia

Description: A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure a bend Or, in base a ragged tree trunk eradicated Argent; on a sinister canton of the last a scaling ladder Vert.

• Symbolism

This Regiment was organized in 1917 from the 6th Infantry, which is shown on the canton. The shield is blue for Infantry with a gold bend taken from the arms of Alsace where the Regiment saw its first and hardest service in World War I. The ragged tree trunk is for the Meuse-Argonne operation.

• Background

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 54th Infantry Regiment on 8 December 1928. It was redesignated for the 54th Armored Infantry Regiment on 10 August 1942. The insignia was redesignated for the 54th Infantry Regiment on 29 December 1958.

Blazon

• Shield

Azure a bend Or, in base a ragged tree trunk eradicated Argent; on a sinister canton of the last a scaling ladder Vert.

• Crest

On a wreath of the colors Or and Azure a six-pointed star Gules charged with a mailed foot Argent. Motto: “I will cast my shoe over it.”

• Symbolism
• Shield

This Regiment was organized in 1917 from the 6th Infantry, which is shown on the canton. The shield is blue for Infantry with a gold bend taken from the arms of Alsace where the Regiment saw its first and hardest service in World War I. The ragged tree trunk is for the Meuse-Argonne operation.

• Crest

The crest is the insignia of the 6th Division, charged with a mailed foot to commemorate the march from the Vosges to the Argonne and back to southern France.

• Background

The coat of arms was originally approved for the 54th Infantry Regiment on 28 March 1921. It was redesignated for the 54th Armored Infantry Regiment on 10 August 1942. The insignia was redesignated for the 54th Infantry Regiment on 29 December 1958.