33rd Armor Regiment ( United States ) The 33d Armor Regiment is an armored regiment in the United States Army first formed in 1941 . Lineage . Constituted 13 January 1941 in the Regular Army as the 3d Armored Regiment and assigned to the 3d Armored Division . Activated 15 April 1941 at Camp Beauregard , Louisiana . Redesignated 8 May 1941 as the 33d Armored Regiment . Inactivated 10 November 1945 in Germany . Regiment broken up 7 July 1947 and its elements redesignated as follows : After 7 July 1947 the above units underwent changes as follows : 33d and 62d Tank Battalions ; Headquarters and Service Company and Companies B and C , 7th Tank Battalion ; and Maintenance Company , 33d Armored Regiment , consolidated 1 October 1957 and consolidated unit reorganized and re - designated as the 33d Armor , a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System . Mission in the 21st Century . The 1st Squadron , 33rd Cavalry Regiment was stood up in mid - 2004 as part of the Army ' s transformation towards a modular force . The unit traces its lineage to the 1st Battalion , 33rd Armored Regiment . The mission of the 1 - 33rd Cavalry is to deploy within 36 hours worldwide as part of a joint multinational , or unilateral task force and destroy enemy forces or seize and retain terrain , to control land , people and resources . As of 10 May 2006 the 1 - 33rd Cavalry was stationed at Forward Operating Base Rustimayah in Iraq . It continued to serve in the country through 2008 . Campaign participation credit . 20th Century : 21st Century : Decorations . 20th Century Decorations : 21st Century Decorations : A Silver color metal and enamel device in height overall consisting of a shield blazon : Vert , in orle thirty - three plates . Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Silver scroll inscribed “ MEN OF WAR ” in Green letters . The shield is green and white for the Armored Force . The thirty - three plates designate the number of the organization . The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 33d Armored Regiment on 26 March 1942 . It was redesignated for the 33d Tank Battalion on 28 July 1949 . It was redesignated for the 33d Medium Tank Battalion on 20 September 1954 . The insignia was redesignated for the 33d Tank Battalion on 3 April 1956 . It was redesignated for the 33d Armor Regiment on 1 July 1958 . It was redesignated for the 33d Cavalry Regiment effective 28 June 2005 . Vert , in orle thirty - three plates . On a wreath Argent and Vert , a mound of the last charged in base with a broken meat hook of the first and supporting a castle of two towers of the like , the castle wall embattled of five and charged with a lion rampant Sable , armed and langued Gules , beneath an escutcheon tierced per pale of the second , the fourth , and the second , charged with a mullet Or . Coat Of Arms . Blazon . Motto MAN OF WAR . The shield is green and white for the Armored Forces . The thirty - three plates designated the number of the organization . The white ( silver ) castle on a green mound is taken in part from the coat of arms of the city of Mons , province of Hainaut , Belgium . Only two towers of the castle are shown in reference to the two savage attacks , spearheaded by the 33rd Armor Regiment , during the period 31 August – 3 September 1944 , on Mons which resulted in its capture from the German 7th Army , alluded to by the meat hook ( a charge frequently found in German heraldry ) the broken pieces simulating the numeral “ 7 . ” The liberation of Mons , symbolized by the black lion taken from the coat of arms of Hainaut , and the mauling given elements of the German 7th Army profoundly affected subsequent campaigns as the German 7th Army was moving back to reinforce the Siegfried Line of the Western border of Germany . The 33rd Armor Regiment for its gallant and decisive action in the battle and capture of Mons was awarded , on 15 July 1946 , the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Gilt Star by the Provisional Government of France . This award is symbolized by the green , red and green shield with gold star , green and red being the colors of the French Croix de Guerre and fourragere . The five embattlements of the castle wall allude to the five World War II campaigns in which the Regiment participated . The coat of arms was originally approved for the 33d Armored Regiment on 26 March 1942 . It was redesignated for the 33d Tank Battalion on 28 July 1949 . It was redesignated for the 33d Medium Tank Battalion on 20 September 1954 . The insignia was redesignated for the 33d Tank Battalion on 3 April 1956 . It was redesignated for the 33d Armor Regiment on 1 July 1958 . It was redesignated for the 33d Cavalry Regiment effective 28 June 2005 .