Originally approved for the 345th Infantry on 24 July 1928, this Distinctive Unit Insignia was amended in July 1959 to remove the phrase “Organized Reserves" from the designation. It was amended twice more—once in in February 1960 to delete the motto (INVICTUS) and again in August 1970 to revise the symbolism—before it was redesignated to the unit’s current title on 5 April 1993.
Blue and white, the colors that are counterchanged (alternating) on the insignia, have both been designated as the official branch color of Infantry units at different periods in Army history, and here they denote the organization’s origins in that branch in August 1917. Three blue portions are an allusion to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the states to which the Regiment’s longtime parent organization, the 87th Division, was originally allocated. The white portions represent the stations where the 345th Infantry, the original unit designation, received training during World War I. A fleur-de-lis represents wartime service in France.Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Constituted in August 1917 in the National Army as the 345th Infantry, the 345th Regiment was either assigned to 87th Division (redesignated as the 87th Infantry Division after July 1942) from the time it was organized until March 1952. In World War I, it was paired with the 346th Infantry to form the Division’s 173rd Infantry Brigade, earning a World War I Victory streamer for serving as a replacement troop source (as did the 87th Division itself and all its subordinate units). three World War II campaign streamers (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe). It fought in three campaigns with the Division in World War II, with its 2nd Battalion chosen for a Presidential Unit Citation for the heroism display at Olzheim, Germany in early February 1945.
The Regiment’s association with the 87th Division was briefly interrupted when the unit was reorganized on 1 May 1959 as a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimenal System (CARS) and assigned to the 81st Division. But on 31 December 1965 the Regiment’s two Battalions were inactivated and simultaneously relieved from assignment to the 81st ID, and it wasn’t until 1993 that the Regiment was withdrawn from CARS, redesignated as the 345th Regiment, and reorganized to consist of three Battalions, all elements of the 87th Division, now classified as an Exercise unit. They would remain elements of the 87th until the Division was inactivated in 2007 and they were relieved of their assignments.
Since that time, the outstanding jobs the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions performed as Training organizations have been recognized with Army Superior Unit Awards, with one for the 2nd Battalion (for service between 2003-2004) and another for all three for the period from 2008 to 2011. As of Autumn 2023, the Regiment's first Battalion serves as 1st Brigade Engineer Battalion (1-345th BEB) assigned to the 157th Infantry Brigade and its 4th Battalion is assigned to 1st Brigade, 87th Training Division. The status of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions is unclear.