Officially referred to as a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, the unit patch worn by Illinois Army National Guard (ARNG) personnel assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters (HQ) of the state’s National Guard was originally approved for HQ and HQ Detachment, Illinois National Guard on 10 February 1949. On 30 December4 1983, it was redesignated—with an amended description—for the HQ, State Area Command, Illinois ARNG. On 1 October 2003, it was given its current designation and concurrently amended to update the description.
While Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky and lived there until he was twenty-one, Illinois justifiably bills itself as the “Land of Lincoln” because it was there that he became a lawyer and then a politician on his way to becoming one of our nation’s greatest Presidents. The Illinois ARNG patch features a yellow, silhouetted head of the “Rail Splitter” on a deep blue background.
Under the control of the Governor of Illinois when not mobilized for Federal service, the Illinois National Guard is divided into two parts, the Air and Army, with the Illinois Adjutant General serving as the Commander over these two components and an Assistant Adjutant Generals commanding each.
The Illinois National Guard is headquartered at Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.
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