111th Infantry Regiment (United States)

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111th Infantry Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	1747[1]
Allegiance	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Branch	Army National Guard
Type	Infantry
Role	Stryker
Garrison/HQ	1st Battalion - Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nickname(s)	The Associators (Special Designation) [2]
Motto(s)	"Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum" (No Step Backward)[3]
Engagements	Revolutionary War War of 1812 American Civil War Spanish–American War World War I World War II Operation Noble Eagle(Kosovo Force) Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current commander	Major David W. Fittipoldi
Notable commanders	John Cadwalder Edward C. Shannon
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 111th Infantry Regiment, originally the Pennsylvania Militia or "Associators", were a Pennsylvania militia unit that fought in the American Revolution, composed of civilian males from the citizenry of Pennsylvania. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots and campaign credit for the War of 1812. The Pennsylvania Militia often fought in conjunction with General Washington and the Continental Army along the Delaware River.

The Pennsylvania Militia is currently represented in the U.S. Army by 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry assigned to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division.^[4] The regiment, founded as the Associators by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 21 November 1747, is the oldest regiment in Pennsylvania.^[3]

In February 1942, the 111th Regiment was detached from the 28th Infantry Division and re-formed as a regimental combat team in the Army Ground Forces Reserve, attached to the Eastern Defense Command at Camp Pendleton, Virginia to guard militarily important facilities in the Chesapeake Bay area.^[5] From this assignment, it was transferred to the Pacific Theater in late 1943. Throughout the rest of the war, the companies of the 111th would be used as replacement or additional units in combat conditions. The Third Battalion of the 111th was used for mopping up operations on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands in December 1943.

The 111th B Company was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the Seventh Division for the assault on Kwajalein Island in February 1944. In other actions, I Company of the 111th was involved in assaulting and capturing Ujeland Atoll in the Marshall Islands in April 1944. And in September 1944, both the D and H Companies were assigned to the 81st Division for an attack on Peleliu and Auguar Islands in the Palaus chain. Later, in February 1945, the entire 111th returned to Peleliu Island for mopping-up operations. When the war ended in September 1945, the 111th had added three battle streamers, Central Pacific, Eastern Mandate and Western Pacific, for a total of 38 on its flag.^[6][7][8][9]

The 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation^[10] - Operation Iraqi Freedom.