Over the past nine-plus decades, the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia currently worn by the 99th Readiness Division has been worn by members of five other units, starting with the one for which it was originally approved: the 99th Division. It was subsequently redesignated for the 99th Infantry Division and the 99th Army Reserve Command, but 1996 it was reassigned and reauthorized for the 99th Regional Support Command, which means the Command was authorized to wear the insignia of the now-inactivated 99th Division but not to perpetuate its legacy. It was then redesignated for the 99th Regional Readiness Command and finally the 99th Readiness Division.
The design of the 99th Readiness Division unit patch was authorized for the 99th Division on 21 May 1923, in the wake of the Division’s reconstitution following a demobilization after World War I and its organization at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A blue-and-white checkered pattern was taken from the arms of William Pitt, for whom Pittsburgh was named, and the black shield is a a symbol of Pennsylvania’s iron district. The unit’s numerical designation is found in the checkered pattern, with nine white and nine blue squares.
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99th Readiness Division Unit Crest (DUI)Nicknamed the Checkerboard Division upon arriving in France during World War II because of the distinctive patch, the 99th Division was quickly given a more telling moniker: Battle Babies, due to their inexperience in combat. During the Battle of the Bulge, however, the 99th Infantry Division made up for their lack of experience with sheer courage, with a single platoon (the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment) holding back one of the German’s finest Panzer Divisions (1st SS Panzer) long enough to ensure the Germans could not achieve the breakthrough to much-needed supplies.
Today, the 99th Readiness Division is headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, where it provides services, facilities, and programs to Army Reserve Soldiers, Family members, and Civilian personnel to sustain the country’s all-volunteer Army.