The 306th Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, or unit crest, was originally approved on 25 August 1931 for the 306th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves, with an amendment on 10 August 1959 to remove “Organized Reserves” from the designation. A second amendment on 29 Jul 1970 revised the symbolism before the insignia was subsequently redesignated for the 306th Regiment on 8 April 1999.
Taken directly from the Regiment’s Coat of Arms with the unit motto “Suivez-Moi” (“Follow Me”) attached on a scroll at the base, the insignia is based on the Regiment’s history. Each bar gemel symbolizes two rivers between which the Regiment fought in France during World War I. The first occasion was between the Vesle and the Aisne, and the second time was between the Aire and the Meuse. The most brilliant action the Regiment took part in was the taking of St. Juvin on the Aire River on 14 October 1918, represented here by a shepherd’s crook (St. Juvin was a hermit shepherd).
Two fleurs-de-lis denote the two major offensives (Meuse-Argonne and Oise-Aisne) in which the Regiment fought during World War II. The motto was adopted at Camp Upton in New York.
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From the time of its constitution and organization in August 1917 until December 1965, the 306th Regiment—known as the 306th Infantry during that period—was associated with the 77th Division (the 77th Infantry Division after July 1942). As part of the Division’s 153rd Infantry Brigade, the 306th fought in four World War I campaigns, and in World War II it would deploy to the Pacific with the Division and take part in three Asiatic-Pacific campaigns.
The ties between the two organizations would continue in 1959, following the Regiment’s brief inactivation (March to December 1946) and subsequent activation in the Organized Reserve Corps, with its 1959 reorganization as a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) consisting of the 1st Battle Group, an element of the 77th Infantry Division. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, also elements of the 77th ID, replaced the 1st Battle Group in 1963, but in 1965 both were inactivated and simultaneously released from assignment to the Division.
Nearly thirty-five years later, the Regiment was withdrawn from CARS, redesignated as the 305th Regiment, and reorganized to consist of three Battalions, all elements of the 87th Division (Training Support) and all allotted to the Regular Army. December 2007 saw the Regiment reorganized in the U.S. Army Regimental System and all three Battalions relieved from assignment to the 87th Division.
A major reorganization in October 2016 boosted the Regiment’s units up to five Battalions, with four of the Battalions—1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th—assigned to the 188th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East as of February 2021. As of Autumn 2023, the 1st and 4th Battalions, 306th Regiment remain assigned to the 188th Infantry Brigade and are stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
1st Battalion and 2nd Battalions are assigned to Infantry and Field Artillery training missions respectively with the 188th Infantry Brigade, while the 4th Battalion serves as a Brigade Engineer Battalion and the 5th is a Brigade Support Battalion.