2nd Battalion , 121st Infantry Regiment The 2nd Battalion , 121st Infantry Regiment is a light infantry battalion of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ( IBCT ) , Georgia Army National Guard . The Battalion is one of the oldest units in the U . S . Army , tracing its lineage to Georgia state militia units formed between 1810 and 1825 . The Battalion provides the 48th Brigade with mounted and dismounted maneuver assets to destroy enemy formations in close combat . Prior to 2007 , the unit was designated as a heavy mechanized formation and equipped with M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles . Pre - World War I . The earliest units associated with the 2nd Battalion , 121st Infantry were the Albany Guards and Barnesville Blues of the Georgia State Militia . These units , formed in 1810 along with the Baldwin Blues and Floyd Rifles , were the first organized infantry militia units in the state . In 1825 , the Macon Volunteers also organized . Detachments of these infantry units served in the Seminole War and the Mexican War . During the American Civil War , the regiment was organized as the 4th Regiment Georgia Volunteers , 3rd Georgia Battalion , and finally the 37th Georgia Regiment . Units fought in most major battles of the war , including Malvern Hill , Sharpsburg , Spottsylvania , the Battle of Gettysburg , Second Manassas , Richmond , Seven Pines , Mechanicsville , Cold Harbor , the Wilderness Campaign , and Appomattox . During the post - Reconstruction period several other regional units were added to the rolls , and by 1891 the regiment had organized into two battalions under the banner of the Second Georgia Infantry Regiment . In 1898 , the Barnesville Blues fought as Company F , 2nd Battalion , 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment during the Spanish - American War . During the Militia Act reorganization of the army in 1916 , the 2nd Georgia became the 121st Infantry Regiment of the 31st " Dixie " Division . World War I and Inter - war Years . As war loomed in Europe , 2nd Battalion , 121st Infantry was federalized to patrol the border with Mexico . In 1916 and 1917 , elements rotated between the southern border , Georgia and Florida . It is this duty that the prickly pear on the left of the Distinctive Unit Insignia represents . In September 1918 , the entire regiment was ordered to duty in World War I . They arrived in France in October , and before the regiment disembarked , tragedy struck . Longtime commander COL J . A . Thomas , the man responsible for the regimental title " The Old Gray Bonnets " , died aboard ship . The news didn ' t get any better for the tight knit unit once ashore as most of the unit was broken up into small replacement groups and sent immediately to the front . However , F Company of 2nd Battalion , along with B and C Companies of the 1st Battalion had travelled to Europe separately and were assigned intact to the 151st Machine Gun Battalion of the 42nd ( Rainbow ) Division . Elements of the regiment were to participate in six separate campaigns during their brief service in the war , garnering several individual citations of valor . This service is represented by the fleur - de - leis in the left side of the unit ' s DUI . Upon return from France , the units were reorganized several times . In 1925 , while at summer encampment at Tybee Island , GA , a hurricane struck . The National Guard camp was completely flooded and had to be rebuilt by men of the battalion . In 1934 , labor unrest struck the textile mills of Georgia and 2nd Battalion was again called up , this time for state duty . Once state troops became involved in the labor troubles , they quickly died down with little violence . In 1938 , with war again threatening Europe , the massive Mississippi Maneuvers were conducted by the U . S . Army at Camp Shelby , MS . 2nd Battalion was one of the units involved . In 1940 , as war seemed more inevitable , the Army developed an even larger exercise , the Louisiana maneuvers . Upon completion of that assignment , the entire regiment was federalized on 16 September 1940 at Ft . Jackson , SC and assigned to the 30th Division . World War II . 2 – 121 Infantry saw extensive activity leading up , and extensive action during World War II . From 1990 . The Battalion was federalized for Desert Storm as part of the 48th Infantry Brigade on 30 November 1990 . It arrived at Fort Stewart on or around 3 December 1990 . After certifying at the National Training Center as combat - ready , the whole brigade was demobilised between 27 March and 10 April 1991 . The Battalion then deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina for Stabilization Force ( SFOR ) Rotation 9 to provide support operations for Task Force Eagle ( United States contingent to United Nations Operations in support of Dayton Peace Accord ) . The SFOR9 rotation was scheduled from April to October 2001 . The Battalion mobilized as a component of the 48th Brigade Combat Team in 2004 for War on Terror combat operations . In May 2005 the unit began deploying to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and experienced some of the fiercest combat actions in the campaign . During the first half of the brigade ' s deployment to Iraq ( Spring 2005 through Spring 2006 ) , the 2 – 121st spent much of its time of the region of Baghdad while the sister units 1 – 108 Armor was in the Southwest region ( triangle of death ) . The unit ' s focus shifted during the second half of the deployment to a theater security mission primarily consisting of convoy escort and civilian military operations . 2 – 121 suffered eight fatalities while deployed to Iraq . On 20 April 2006 , at Ft . Stewart , members of the 2 – 121st returned home after a year of combat operations in Iraq . As a part of the United States Army ' s ongoing transformation to a lighter , more modular force the 2nd Battalion , 121st Infantry was re - designated as light infantry in 2007 . The unit gave up its M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and became a dismounted force , with its anti - armor ( Delta ) company receiving up - armored HMMWVs . In December 2007 , the Georgia National Guard ' s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was alerted that it would be deployed to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009 for Operation Enduring Freedom ( OEF ) . In January 2009 , the 2 – 121st began training for the expected year - long deployment . In the Spring of 2009 , the unit returned to Camp Shelby , MS , the site of its World War II preparations nearly 70 years prior . The unit was subsequently deployed to Afghanistan in May . While deployed in Afghanistan , the 2 – 121st participated in training the Afghan National Security Forces while conducting Counter Insurgency Operations in the North , East , and Kabul Regional Command areas of operation . In April 2010 the unit redeployed from Afghanistan and demobilized at Fort Stewart , GA . The Battalion suffered 2 fatalities while deployed to Afghanistan . Lineage and honors . Campaign Streamers . Seminole Wars Civil War World War I World War II Global War on Terror Iraq : ( 2005 – 2006 ) Afghanistan : ( 2009 – 2010 )