The 187th Signal Brigade of the New York Army National Guard can point to February 1848 and the organization of Company G—the Columbia Rifles—in the 14th Regiment in Brooklyn as its beginning. As you can well imagine, the unit has been through myriad redesignations and reorganizations, of consolidations and inactivations. Over its 170-plus years of service, it has primarily been designated as Infantry, but in World War II it served as the 187th Field Artillery Group, earning five campaign streamers—one with an Arrowhead because it took part in the assault landing at Normandy—before its inactivation in December 1945.
In 1968, the unit was converted and redesignated as the 187th Signal Group. Under state control, the Group was tasked to serve as Command & Control HQ for two weeks in the operation of Green Haven Maximum Security Prison, AKA Green Haven Correctional Facility, at Stormville, New York, and in 1985 it was ready to serve the community in the aftermath of Hurricane Gloria.
The Group was redesignated as Headquarters,187th Signal Brigade in the New York Army National Guard on 15 January 1987. It held this role until it was inactivated on 31 August 1996 at Whitestone, New York.