102nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)

102nd Cavalry Regiment
Coat of arms
Founded	1913
Country	United States
Part of	N.J. Army National Guard
Motto(s)	"Show 'em the Way" "Fide et Fortitudine" ("Faithfulness and Strength", prior to reconsolidation with 117th Cavalry in 2008)
Branch color	Yellow
Commanders
Notable commanders	Donald W. McGowan
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

"Show 'em the Way"

The 102nd Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army first established in 1913 and which saw service in World War II.

The regiment was designated as the 102nd Cavalry on 17 August 1921 from the 1st New Jersey Cavalry Regiment and had its headquarters in Newark. The regiment was initially assigned to the 21st Cavalry Division. Regiment re-designated 102d Cav. Regt. (Horse and Mecz) on 16 November 1940. The regiment was inducted into federal service in January 1941 and reorganized in 1943 and 1944. The 1st Squadron was retitled the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) while the 2nd Squadron became the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized). The regimental headquarters troop became the headquarters of the 102nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) on 2 January 1944 in Exter, England. With the 38th and 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons under its command, the group saw combat in northwest Europe during World War II with the V Corps. The group fought in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns. Following the war, the 102nd Group was inactivated on 22 October 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. The 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron was shipped to Algeria and later fought in Italy, southern France, Alsace, and Germany.

Following a series of postwar reorganizations and a period in which the unit was known as the 102nd Armor Regiment, the unit was consolidated with the 117th Cavalry Regiment on 1 August 2008 and designated the 102nd Cavalry Regiment, with a strength of one squadron that is subordinated to the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

The 1st New Jersey Cavalry Regiment had existed previously during the American Civil War, but the lineage of that incarnation of the unit was not officially carried over, apparently due to the lapse in a regimental structure between 1865 and 1913.

Organized 29 May 1913 in the New Jersey National Guard as the 1st Cavalry Squadron with headquarters at Newark