4.7 by 5.3 inches
Mort Cohen collection
The 243rd Regiment carries the lineage—and the Distinctive Unit Insignia, or unit crest—of the 243rd Coast Artillery which was organized on 29 May 1924 as the Rhode Island National Guard component of the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island; the Regular Army counterpart of the 243rd as the 10th Coast Artillery.
The 243rd was broken up into a pair of Battalions in October 1944 that were soon inactivated, but in the late 1990s the Regiment was reorganized, converted, and redesignated as today’s 243rd Regiment, which is responsible for the administration, operation, and maintenance of the 243rd Regional Training Institute, also in Narragansett. The Institute offers training in MOS (military occupational specialty) Qualification, Leadership, Professional Development, and Instructor Qualification. Like other RTIs around the country, the 243rd is also host to an Officer/Warrant Officer Candidate School.
This insignia celebrates the sacrifices and victories of the units in the 243rd’s ancestral lineage, beginning with a pine tree in the upper left of the insignia is a symbol of service of units in its lineage that fought as New Englander Soldiers in the Revolutionary War. A maple leaf in the center stand for service in the War of 1812, while the blue saltire recalls Civil War service. An embattled chief denotes Coast Defense service during World War I, and a famed Rhode Island red rooster identifies the unit’s allocation to the “Ocean State.” “Game To The Last,” the unit motto, is also a reference to the red rooster.
Originally approved for the 243rd Coast Artillery Regiment on 17 May 1927, this insignia was redesignated for the 243rd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 3 December 1952. It would be redesignated once more—for the 243rd Artillery Regiment on 20 June 1961—before it was given its current designation for the 243rd Regiment on 20 March 1997.
