The 143rd Infantry Regiment (Third Texas) is an airborne infantry formation in the Army National Guard and has one battalion active under the Texas Army National Guard.
Heraldic Information
Coat of arms
Blazon
Shield: Azure, a bend wavy argent between an oak tree eradicated and a key fesswise or. Crest: On a wreath of the colors argent and azure a mullet argent encircled by a garland of live oak and olive proper. Motto: Arms Secure Peace
Symbolism
The shield is blue for infantry. The bend wavy represents the regiment's service on the Mexican border, along the Rio Grande. It also represents the Aisne River in France, where the unit served in World War I. The oak tree symbolizes the Meuse-Argonne operation, also in World War I. The gold key represents service in the Spanish–American War.
Background
The coat of arms was approved on 30 June 1926.
Lineage and honors
Lineage
Organized 15 October 1917 in Camp Bowie, Texas, from the Third Texas Infantry and the Fifth Texas Infantry and assigned to the 72d Infantry Brigade, 36th Infantry Division Called to federal service, October 1917 Returned to state control, June 1919 Activated (state) for hurricane disaster relief, Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas Counties, September 1919 Activated (state) for the New London School explosion, March 1937 Mobilized (federal) at Brownwood, Texas, 25 November 1940 Inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, 22 December 1945 Reactivated under state control and assigned to the 36th Infantry Division, 23 October 1946 Reorganized as 1st and 2d Battle Groups, 143d Infantry (under the Pentomic Division system), 1959 Reorganized as the 143d Infantry, 1 March 1963, with the 2d and 3d Battalions assigned to the 3d Brigade, 36th Division; and the 1st Battalion inactivated 3d Battalion relieved from assignment to the 36th Division and assigned to the 36th Infantry Brigade (Separate), 1 November 1965 1st Battalion reactivated, 2d Battalion relieved from assignment to the 36th Division, 3d Battalion relieved from assignment to 36th Infantry Brigade (Separate); all battalions assigned to the 71st Airborne Brigade (Separate), 30 July 1968 1st and 2d Battalions assigned to the 36th Airborne Brigade (redesignated from the 71st); 3d Battalion inactivated and its personnel and equipment used to form the 1st Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment in 1973 1st Battalion inactivated, 2d Battalion inactivated (less company A); assets from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 143d Infantry used to form Company G (Ranger) 143d Infantry, 21 April 1980. Company G (Ranger) 143d Infantry was redesignated as Company G (Long Range Surveillance), 143d Infantry in 1988. Company G (Long Range Surveillance), 143d Infantry, a corps-level unit, was inactivated in September 2001; the division-level 143d Infantry Detachment (Long Range Surveillance), a separate unit with no lineage connection to the 143d Infantry Regiment, remained active. 143d Infantry Detachment (LRS) was inactivated in 2008; personnel and equipment were used to form Troop C (LRS), 3d Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment of the 71st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. 1st Battalion activated as 1st Battalion (Airborne), 143d Infantry Regiment, 2010. HHC, Company A, Company D, and Forward Support Company (FSC) activated in Texas; Company B activated in the Alaska Army National Guard; Company C activated in the Rhode Island Army National Guard from the personnel and equipment of the 173d Infantry Detachment (LRS). In 2016 Company B was inactivated and reflagged as a unit of the 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, AK ARNG.