Regimental Combat Teams Patches History

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Increasingly during World War II, infantry regiments employed the regimental combat team (RCT) concept.  A regimental combat team might be a group of combat units; for example, it might include an artillery battalion, an engineer company, a medical company, and a signal detachment, all supporting the infantry regiment employed to accomplish a given mission.  The sub-legions of the postcolonial period (1792 - 96) commanded by the Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne were the predecessors of the regimental combat team.  Regimental combat teams, formed after World War II and during the Korean War to perform limited tactical objectives, were composed of an infantry regiment, a field artillery battalion, and an engineer company.  The colors are blue and white for infantry, red for artillery, and red and white for engineers.

Information extracted from the book "US ARMY PATCHES"  by Barry Jason Stein

USED BY PERMISSION

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4th RCT

The arrowhead is symbolic of this unit's service which dates to the Indian Wars.  The bayonet alludes to the unit's combat spirit.  The numerical designation is indicated by the four-pointed star.  The colors refer to the four component combat arms:  infantry (blue), artillery (red and yellow), armor (yellow) and engineer (red and white).

5th RCT

The pentagonal shape of the insignia indicates the numerical designation of the unit.  The tab was unauthorized.

5th RCT Inf

Crossed rifles are the insignia of the infantry.  These, combined with the color red (artillery) and set against a pentagon background, denote the unit's numerical designation.

5th RCT Commun

The lightning bolt symbolizes communications as the nature of the unit's mission.

25th RCT

The design depicts the stone fort at El Caney, Cuba, famous in the unit's combat history.  The stars signify service in the southwest Pacific during World War II.  Red and blue are the colors for artillery and infantry.

29th RCT

The design of the patch is that of the United States Army, Japan.  It was taken by this unit because it was in Japan at the start of the Korean conflict.  The tab was unauthorized.  The approved design, a shield with cross cannon and bayonet, was used originally by the Seventy-fifth regimental combat team, but it was given to the Twenty-ninth in 1956.  There are no records, however, indicating if the insignia was ever worn by the unit.

33rd RCT

The design was taken from that of the original Caribbean Defense Command and represents the unit's location in Panama.

38th RCT

The design is the unit's numerical designation.

65th RCT

Worn from:  6 February 1959 - 6 June 1965.

The Maltese cross, the insignia of Christopher Columbus, has long been associated with the islands of the Caribbean.  The inscription on the scroll at the base is the unit's designation.

74th RCT

This insignia was originally approved for the 474th Infantry Regiment on 3 February 1945.  It was re-designated for the Seventy-fourth Regimental Combat Team on 8 July 1954.  The design embodies former insignia of the three units that made up the 474th Infantry Regiment:  the bright red American Indian spearhead belonged to the First Special Service Force, the scroll to the Ranger Battalions; and the blue Viking Ship belonged to the Ninety-ninth Infantry Battalion that was composed of American officers and men of Norwegian ancestry.

75th RCT

Formerly:  Twenty-ninth Regiment Combat Team.  Worn from:  8 June 1954 - 3 November 1954.

The shield shape with crossed cannons and bayonet symbolizes the combat readiness of the unit.  This insignia was originally approved for the Twenty-ninth Regimental Combat Team by the Office of the Quarter - master General on 19 May 1954.  It was re-designated for the Seventy-fifth Regimental Combat Team on 4 November 1954.  On 8 August 1956 the insignia was reinstated for the Twenty-ninth regimental combat team.

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