Since 29 December 1989, several unit members were ordered to active duty for various operations such as Operation Just Cause in Panama and Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia. These soldiers were attached to other units or sent on individual orders for these operations but retained their sense of identity with the 490th, and both groups of soldiers, upon returning from their mobilizations, presented the battalion with plaques commemorating their service, respectively, as "Panama Dawgs" and "Desert Dawgs."