68th Armor
Lineage and Honors Information as of 20 April 1998
68th Armor Lineage
Constituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as the 68th Infantry (Light Tanks)
(1st and 2d Battalions activated 1 January 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia, from new and existing units; 1st Battalion inactivated 5 June 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia)
Converted and redesignated 15 July 1940 as the 68th Armored Regiment and assigned to the 2d Armored Division
Regiment (less the 2d Battalion) activated 1 August 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia
Inactivated 8 January 1942 at Fort Benning, Georgia, and relieved from assignment to the 2d Armored Division
Assigned 15 February 1942 to the 6th Armored Division and activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky
Regiment broken up 20 September 1943 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows:
Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company and 2d Battalion
as the 68th Tank Battalion and remained assigned to the 6th Armored Division
1st Battalion as the 773d Tank Battalion and relieved from assignment to the
6th Armored Division
3d Battalion as the 15th Tank Battalion and remained assigned to the 6th Armored
Division
Reconnaissance Company as Troop D, 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized,
and remained an element of the 6th Armored Division
Maintenance and Service Companies, and Band disbanded
After 20 September 1943 the above units underwent changes as follows:
68th Tank Battalion relieved 19 July 1945 from assignment
to the 6th Armored Division
Inactivated 29 December 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia
Redesignated 21 August 1950 as the 68th Medium Tank Battalion and assigned to
the 6th Armored Division
Activated 5 September 1950 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Inactivated 16 March 1956 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Relieved 1 July 1957 from assignment to the 6th Armored Division
773d Tank Battalion reorganized and redesignated 27 October
1943 as the 773d Amphibian Tank Battalion
Reorganized and redesignated 10 January 1944 as the 773d Amphibian Tractor Battalion
Inactivated 15 April 1946 in Japan
Redesignated 24 December 1946 as the 56th Amphibian Tractor Battalion
Redesignated 18 April 1949 as the 56th Amphibious Tank and Tractor Battalion
Activated 10 May 1949 at Fort Worden, Washington
Inactivated 15 December 1954 at Fort Worden, Washington
15th Tank Battalion relieved 19 July 1945 from assignment
to the 6th Armored Division
Inactivated 22-25 February 1946 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 15th Tank Battalion, redesignated 1 August
1956 as 15th Tank Company, and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas
Inactivated 6 November 1946 at Fort Riley, Kansas
Activated 1 May 1947 in Italy
Inactivated 1 December 1949 in Italy
Redesignated 21 August 1950 as Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company,
15th Medium Tank Battalion (organic elements of the 15th Tank Battalion redesignated
as elements of the 15th Medium Tank Battalion), and assigned to the 6th Armored
Division
Battalion activated 5 September 1950 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Inactivated 16 March 1956 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Relieved 1 July 1957 from assignment to the 6th Armored Division
Troop D, 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized,
inactivated 19 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
Redesignated 21 August 1950 as Company D, 86th Reconnaissance Battalion, and
remained an element of the 6th Armored Division
Activated 5 September 1950 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Inactivated 16 March 1956 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Relieved 1 July 1957 from assignment to the 6th Armored Division
Maintenance and Service Companies, 68th Armored Regiment, reconstituted 1 July 1957 in the Regular Army
68th and 15th Medium Tank Battalions; 56th Amphibious Tank and Tractor Battalion; Company D, 86th Reconnaissance Battalion; and Maintenance and Service Companies, 68th Armored Regiment, consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated 1 July 1957 as the 68th Armor, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System
Withdrawn 1 April 1984 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System
68th Armor Honors
Campaign Participation Credit
World War I: St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne
World War II: Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Western Pacific (with arrowhead); Ryukyus (with arrowhead)
Korean War: Korea, Summer 1953
Decorations
Presidential Unit Citation (Navy), Streamer embroidered SAIPAN AND TINIAN