TANK   GUNNERY   PATCHES:   RESERVE   COMPONENT   UNITS

            During the Cold War about half of the Army's Armor and Cavalry units were in the Army's Reserve Components ("RC") – the Army National Guard ("ARNG") and the U.S. Army Reserve ("USAR"). Some of these units wore gunnery qualification patches, but this practice was apparently nowhere near as widespread as with Active Army units.

            Reserve Component qualification patches differed from those patches worn by Active Duty units in several key ways. First, all of the patches I am aware of were subdued. Second, very few of these patches have the year on the patch, and any tabs that were worn that had the year on them typically have been misplaced. Third, the vast majority of units only issued patches to their tank crews rather than, for example, scout vehicle crews, infantry squads, or the crews of ADA weapon systems. Fourth, it does not appear that RC units issued tank gunnery support patches to the soldiers who supported tank gunnery. Finally, a large number of these patches used the same general shape that was used by the Active Army's 4^th Infantry Division(Mech) for its tank gunnery patches. See CONUS Article, Figure 3. Note that relatively few RC qualification patches are included in the ASMIC qualification patch catalog.

            It appears that RC units were slow to adopt qualification patches compared to Active Army units. The earliest patch I am aware of was worn by the 3^rd Sqdn, 116^th Armored Cavalry Regiment [NV ARNG] in 1973. See Figure 1. Other units slowly began to wear qualification patches in the late 1970s.

            The Vermont National Guard's 86^th Brigade, 50^th Armored Division wore TCQC patches in at least 1977 and 1978. See, e.g., Figure 2.

At this time the 86^th Brigade had two tank battalions, the 1^st and 2^nd Bns, 172^nd Armor.

            The 1^st Bn, 635^th Armor (KS ARNG; 69^th Infantry Brigade(Mech)) issued a Distinguished TCQC patch in 1979. See Figure 3.

"AT-79" refers to the Annual Training conducted in 1979, i.e., the two-week training period the National Guard usually conducts at an Army installation, typically in the summer. I do not know if this unit issued any other patches, e.g., "Qualified."

            The 1^st Bn, 108^th Armor (GA ARNG; 48^th Infantry Brigade(Mech)) issued Qualified and Distinguished TCQC patches in 1979 and, in 1980, at least Distinguished patches. See, e.g., Figure 4.

            The 49^th Armored Division (TX ARNG) issued a TCQC patch in 1980. See Figure 5. The 49^th AD also wore gunnery patches in at least 1981 and 1984, but I do not know if they were the same patch as illustrated in Figure 5.

            There is a similar patch for the 50^th Armored Division. See Figure 6.

The 50^th Armored Division was primarily a New Jersey ARNG unit. However, from 1988 to 1992 one brigade of the 50^th AD was allocated to the Texas ARNG, so this patch may have been worn by that Texas Guard unit rather than by the New Jersey ARNG elements of the 50^th Armored Division.

            The 278^th Armored Cavalry Regiment (TN ARNG) issued qualification patches in 1981. This consisted of a standard patch and a series of tabs, with the patch being sewn over the tab to make it appear that the patch and tab were one unit. See, e.g., Figure 7.

The 278^th ACR was also wearing gunnery patches in 1986, but I do not know if these patches were the same design as they wore in 1981.

            The 1^st Bn, 127^th Armor (NY ARNG; 42^nd Infantry Division) issued a TCQC patch in 1981. See Figure 8.

This patch shows a U.S. tank gunner's reticle (gunsight) superimposed on the front of a Soviet-made tank. The tab reads "TK TBL VII DISTINGUISHED 1981," which refers to Tank Table VII. Active duty units based the determination whether a tank crew qualified based on their performance on Tank Table VIII, but RC units' training typically culminated with Tank Table VII due to resource constraints. Accordingly, whether an RC tank crew qualified was typically based on its performance on Tank Table VII.

            The 1^st Sqdn, 194^th Cavalry (MN, IL, IA ARNG; 47^th Infantry Division) wore a TCQC patch in 1981 that was the same design as the Active Army's 4^th Infantry Division(Mech), although the materials used were somewhat different. See Figure 9.

            The 2^nd Bn, 252^nd Armor (NC ARNG) issued a TCQC patch in 1981, 1982, and 1983. See Figure 10.

This unit was attached to the Active Army's 2^nd Armored Division and may have worn the standard 2^nd AD TCQC patches prior to adoption of their own patch. See CONUS Article.

            The 40^th Infantry Division(Mech) (CA ARNG) issued TCQC patches in 1982. See Figure 11.

There were several versions of this patch.

            The 1^st Sqdn, 150^th Armored Cavalry (WV ARNG) issued TCQC patches in at least 1983 and 1985. See, e.g., Figure 12.

            There are a large number of RC TCQC patches that do not state the year they were earned, and if there were tabs issued with those patches that included that information they have not survived. See, e.g., Figures 13-17.

            Several of these patches are peculiar in that they use an inaccurate/non-standard unit designation. For example, Figure 18 shows a patch that states, "246^th Armor Battalion." The correct designation for this unit was "1^st Bn, 246^th Armor."

Moreover, none of these patches indicate they are gunnery qualification patches; it is possible they were pocket patches worn by all the soldiers assigned to the unit, rather than gunnery qualification patches issued to the tank crews that qualified at tank gunnery.

            It is also possible that these are novelty patches that were never worn on the uniform. The Facebook page for the veterans of the 1^st Bn, 246^th Armor has a photo of a veteran in civilian clothes wearing a civilian hat with the 1-246 Armor TCQC patch on it. Of course, it is always possible that the veteran sewed an actual TCQC patch that had been worn on the uniform onto his civilian hat. And, if these were novelty patches for wear on civilian attire, it seems more likely they would have been color patches, rather than subdued. Similar patches exist for 1^st Bn, 103^rd Armor (PA ARNG; 28^th Infantry Division), 1^st Bn, 127^th Armor (NY ARNG; 42^nd Infantry Division), and 1^st Bn, 210^th Armor (NY ARNG).

            While most Active Army units stopped wearing qualification patches in the early or mid 1980s, several RC units continued to wear them into the late 1980s and beyond. For example, all three Armor branch units in the Washington ARNG in the late 1980s – the 1^st Bn, 303^rd Armor, 1^st Bn, 803^rd Armor, and Troop E, 303^rd Cavalry – wore the same patch, with just the unit designation changed, in 1987, 1988, and 1989 – and possibly 1985 and 1986. See, e.g., Figure 19.

            The 40^th Infantry Division(Mech) (CA ARNG) issued a series of TCQC patches with a different design, apparently in the mid or late 1990s. These patches came in qualified, superior, and distinguished versions (with either "Q," "S," or "D" on the patch). See, e.g., Figure 20.

I understand these patches were also issued with "1994" and "1995" on the patch, but I do not know anything else about these patches.

            The latest RC qualification patch I am aware of was worn by 3^rd Bn, 116^th Cavalry (116^th Cavalry Brigade, ID ARNG) in 1999. See Figure 21.

            The above discussion addresses qualification patches worn by Army National Guard units. There was also at least one Army Reserve unit that wore gunnery patches: 6^th Bn, 68^th Armor (PA USAR; 157^th Infantry Brigade(Mech)). See Figure 22.

There is also a manufacturer's error with regard to this patch that erroneously states: "6^th Bn, 8^th Armor." See Reproductions, Errors & Phony Patches Article, Figure 1. There is no 8^th Armor, and the 8^th Cavalry did not have a 6^th Battalion.