143rd Infantry Regiment (United States)

143rd Infantry Regiment
143rd Infantry Regiment coat of arms
Active	Constituted 15 October 1917 Restructured 16 March 1959 Reorganized 1 March 1963 Inactivated 12 August 2001 Reactivated 1 September 2010–present
Country	USA
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Airborne Infantry
Garrison/HQ	1st Battalion – Texas
Nickname(s)	Third Texas
Motto(s)	Arms Secure Peace
Engagements	Spanish–American War Mexican Border Service World War I World War II Global War on Terror

The 143rd Infantry Regiment is an Army National Guard unit assigned to the 36th Infantry Division. Currently, only one battalion, the 1st Battalion (Airborne), is active under the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

The lineage of subordinate units is as follows:

In February 1913, Mexico was in a state of turmoil between two rival factions for power and this prevented commanders in Mexican border towns from paying their soldiers. Concern over this caused County Judge and Sheriff of Cameron County, Texas, to appeal to the governor for assistance. In response, Governor Oscar Colquitt sent Texas militia, consisting of two companies of the Third Texas Infantry from Corpus Christi and Houston and two companies of cavalry. They remained until June 1913. The situation got worse, with American citizens being executed in Mexico and various factions conducting cross-border raids into Texas. Some Federal troops were stationed on the border and in August 1913, Colquitt sent the entire Third Texas Infantry to Fort Brown along with a battery of light artillery from Dallas. These were relieved by Federal troops in 1914. By 1916, the Third Texas was stationed at Harlingen while in Federal service.

In 1917, the 36th Infantry Division was formed from units in Texas and Oklahoma. The Third Texas and part of the Fifth Texas infantry regiments were organized as the 143d Infantry Regiment at Camp Bowie, Texas. The 143d was assigned to the 72d Infantry Brigade of the division. The 143d was then shipped to France in 1918 with the rest of the division for final combat training and then to the front. In September 1918, the 36th Division was attached to the French Fifth Army. The regiment participated in Meuse-Argonne Offensive from 7–28 October 1918.

The 36th Infantry Division was mobilized on 25 November 1940 at Camp Bowie, including the 143d Infantry. It was shipped to Algeria in early 1943.