252nd Armor Regiment The 252nd Armor Regiment is an armored regiment of the North Carolina Army National Guard and thus also of the United States Army . History . The 252nd Armor Regiment was originally constituted on 20 March 1959 as the 196th Armor for the North Carolina Army National Guard as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System and assigned to the 30th Infantry Division . Twelve days later , on 1 April 1959 , 3rd Battalion , 139th Infantry Regiment and the 130th Tank Battalion , both from the 30th Infantry Division , were re - flagged and reassigned to the regiment as the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron and the 2nd Medium Tank Battalion , respectively . On 10 March 1963 , the regiment was reorganized as the 252nd Armor Regiment , consisting of 1st and 2nd Battalions as elements of the 30th Infantry Division ( concurrently , the former 196th Armor Regiment was reconstituted and reorganized from existing units of the North Carolina Army National Guard as the 196th Cavalry Regiment , hereafter a separate lineage ) . After the 30th Infantry Division was reorganized as the 30th Infantry Brigade , the regiment was reorganized as well . On 1 December 1973 , 1st Battalion was reorganized as an element of the 30th Infantry Brigade , while 2nd Battalion was reorganized as a separate armor battalion of the North Carolina Army National Guard , where it was later deactivated . On 1 June 1989 , the regiment was withdrawn from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System . 1st Battalion , 252nd Armor deployed with the rest of 30th Brigade for a year - long tour of duty to Iraq in February 2004 . While this was the first combat deployment for the battalion as a whole , B Company had previously completed a six - month deployment to the Balkans from October 2000 to March 2001 with Task Force Eagle . 1st Battalion , 252nd Armor deployed back to Baghdad , Iraq on 18 April 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 9 . This was their second deployment as a battalion , but their first deployment as a brigade in whole . Over 4 , 000 soldiers were deployed and stationed throughout Baghdad . C Company , 1 / 252 CAB ran over 600 Combat missions during a 10 - month period making them the most used unit in the Combat Arms perspective for the 30th Brigade . 2nd Platoon of C Company was hit on two separate occasions with Improvised explosive devices approximately 1 week apart . 3rd Platoon , C Company was ambushed north of FOB Falcon in the Saydiyah district . Over 10 insurgents were captured with no injuries or casualties to 3rd Platoon . 1st Battalion . After redeploying from Iraq in 2005 , the 30th Infantry Brigade began the process of converting from an enhanced heavy separate brigade to the new heavy brigade combat team table of organization and equipment . As part of this reorganization , 1st Battalion was converted to a combined arms battalion . In the process , the battalion lost one of its three tank companies to 1st Battalion , 120th Infantry Regiment , but gained two infantry companies from the recently deactivated 119th Infantry Regiment as well as an engineer company . The battalion is set to deploy with the rest of the brigade in early 2009 . 1st Battalion currently has companies in the following locations in North Carolina : A gold color metal and enamel device in width consisting of a red embattled arrowhead charged with a gold fleur - de - lis flanked and surmounted on either side by a pierced green mullet . The device is supported by a tri - segmented gold scroll inscribed “ READY ” “ POISED ” “ DECISIVE ” in black letters . The pierced green mullets ( simulating spur rowels ) surmounting a gold fleur - de - lis represent service in Europe during World War II . The red embattled arrowhead simulates the spirit of the unit and is symbolic of the motto “ Ready , Poised and Decisive . ” The red and green together refer to the decorations of the French Croix - de - Guerre and the Belgian Fourragere awarded to elements of the Regiment . The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 16 November 1966 . It was amended to change the symbolism on 29 January 1970 .