COLD WAR, M1944 GUIDON * Co C, 338th Armored Bn, 3rd Bde 85th INF DIV DPSC 1986

Description

“C” Troop, 338th Armored Battalion, 3rd Brigade of the 85th Infantry Division Illinois Army Reserves
For your consideration is this Vintage Cold War era M1931 DPSC Armored Battalion Guidon. This guidon was manufactured by the Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC) dated 7-13-1983. DPSC was reorganized from the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot in 1965.
Make:
This guidon is made of a wool bunting and measures 20” x 27(3/4)” with a 10” fork swallowtail. The appliquéd tank, swords, number, and letters are nylon. This guidon is green on yellow.
This guidon was manufactured by the Defense Personnel Support Center or in DPSC 7-13-1983. The Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC) is the direct descendant of the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot.
Condition:
This guidon is lightly faded from used. The upper leather tab has broken off. The lower tab is still intact.
History of DPSC
The Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot was renamed the Defense Personnel Support Center in 1965. In 1993 the government closed the textile factory and moved the remaining part of the South Philadelphia operation to the Naval Support Station in Northeast Philadelphia. It was renamed the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) in 1998, and was renamed Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, or DLA Troop Support, in 2010.
C Troop, 338th Armored Battalion, 3rd Brigade of the 85th Infantry Division Illinois Army Reserves
This guidon was used by C Troop, 338th Armored Battalion, 3rd Brigade of the 85th Infantry Division Illinois Army Reserves. Their armory was located at Waukegan, Illinois.
The 338th Armored Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 85th Infantry Division was deactivated and disbanded by the military cuts in the early 1990’s. The 338th Armored BN, 1st BDE was disbanded in 2000.
This unit along with many other units, & bases were closed or disbanded because of the military funding cuts in 1993.
There’s very little information about the 338th Armored Battalion. The only bit of information that I found was were they were disbanded in 1993. This was written in the ”Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1993 and the Future Years Defense Program”
Armored guidon colors were established in 1951 when the US Army disbanded the US Cavalry as a branch. Their branch color of yellow as well as the crossed swords were given to the Armored Corps.
HISTORY
OF
338th Infantry Regiment
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The 338th Infantry Regiment was a National Army Infantry Regiment first organized for service in World War I as part of the 85th Infantry Division in Europe. It later served in the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. Since then it has served as a training Regiment, training Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers for service in support of the Global War on Terror.
The Regiment was constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 338th Infantry and assigned to the 169th Infantry Brigade of the 85th Division. It was organized at Camp Custer, Michigan, on 30 August 1917. In August 1917, the Regiment was organized with 3,755 Officers and enlisted men:
• Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 303
Supply Company- 140
Machine Gun Company- 178
Medical & Chaplain Detachment- 56
• Infantry Battalion (x3)- 1,026
Headquarters- 2
Rifle Company (x4)- 256
The Doughboys of the Regiment deployed to France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces and were billeted in the cities of Nevers and Cosne. The Regiment didn't participate in any named campaigns during the war; its Infantrymen were used as individual replacements to the fighting Divisions. After completing its war service in France it was demobilized at Camp Custer on 14 April 1919.
BETWEEN THE WARS
The 338th Infantry was reconstituted 24 June 1921 and assigned to the 85th Division (later redesignated as the 85th Infantry Division). The headquarters was at Lansing, Michigan.
WWII
The 338th Infantry was Ordered into active military service 15 May 1942 and reorganized at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. In July 1943, the Regiment was organized with 3,256 Officers and enlisted men:
• Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 111
• Service Company- 114
• Anti-Tank Company- 165
• Cannon Company- 118
• Medical Detachment- 135
• Infantry Battalion (x3)- 871
• Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 126
• Rifle Company (x3)- 193
• Weapons Company- 156
The Regiment departed Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation in December 1943 aboard the USS General William A. Mann[13][14] with its supporting 329th Field Artillery Battalion.[15] Arriving in Italy on March 14, the 339th Regimental Combat Team was attached to the 88th Infantry Division and became the first regiment of the 85th to see combat during World War II on the Minturno-Castelforte front north of Naples, on 28 March. After service in the Mediterranean Theater it was disbanded 25 August 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.
POST WWII
The 338th Infantry was reconstituted 6 November 1946 in the Organized Reserves and assigned to the 85th Infantry Division with Headquarters at Peoria, Illinois. On 9 July 1952, the Organized Reserve was redesignated the Army Reserve. On 1 April 1952, the Headquarters was relocated to Danville, Illinois. On 1 June 1959 the 338th Infantry was reorganized as a training unit and was redesignated as the 338th Regiment, an element of the 85th Division (Training), with Headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT
As part of Operation Bold Shift, the 338th mission is to train Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers for war service before dispatch to the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, or elsewhere. All three battalions are elements of the 85th Support Command under the operational control of First Army. As of 2018, the 1st Battalion is stationed at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, with the 181st Infantry Brigade, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are stationed at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, with the 157th Infantry Brigade. Each battalion provides Observer/Controllers to the NTC and JRTC to train units conducting rotations as well as conducting exercises at their home stations.
85th Infantry Division
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The 85th Infantry Division also known as "Custer Division" (named after the cavalry commander George Armstrong Custer) was an infantry division of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. It currently exists as the 85th Support Command.
CURRENT ORGANIZATION
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Upon reactivation in the Army Reserve, the division was organized with a division headquarters, three training brigades and a training group, with division headquarters located in Chicago, Illinois. In 1983, the Division Headquarters was moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois, with subordinate brigade headquarters located in Waukegan, Illinois (1st Brigade); St. Louis, Missouri (2nd Brigade); Rockford, Illinois (3rd Brigade); Fort Sheridan, Illinois (4th Brigade); and Aurora, Illinois (Training Group). In 1999 the division was further reorganized as the 85th Division (Training Support). Its four brigades were headquartered as follows:
1st Brigade(Training Support(TS)): 1st Simulations Exercise(SIMEX) Group; 2nd SIMEX Group; and 3rd Battalion(TS), 335th Regiment at Fort Sheridan, Illinois2nd Brigade(TS): 1st Battalion(TS), 338th Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 411th Regiment(Logistics Support) at Fort McCoy, WI3rd Brigade(TS): 1st Battalion(TS) and 2nd Battalion(TS), 335th Regiment; 2nd Battalion(TS), 338th Regiment; 3rd Battalion, 411th Regiment(Logistics Support) at Indianapolis, IN4th Brigade(TS): 1st Battalion(TS) and 3rd Battalion(TS), 337th Regiment; 1st Battalion(TS), 409th Regiment; 1st Battalion(TS), 2nd Battalion(TS), and 3rd Battalion(TS) 410th Regiment; 1st Battalion, 411th Regiment(Logistics Support) at Fort Knox, KY.