295th Infantry Regiment (United States)

295th Infantry Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	January 23, 1923–May 1, 1964 (41 years of service)
Country	United States of America
Allegiance	Constitution of the United States
Branch	United States Army National Guard
Type	light infantry
Part of	Puerto Rico Army National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Puerto Rico
Motto(s)	Todo Por La Patria (English: "All For The Motherland")
Engagements	World War I World War II Afghanistan War Iraq War
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 295th Infantry Regiment was a light infantry regiment of the Puerto Rico Army National Guard consisting mostly of Puerto Rican enlisted soldiers and officers. The regiment was the first regiment of any kind assigned to the Puerto Rico National Guard back when it was known locally as the 1st Infantry Regiment.

The 295th traces its history back to the Spanish colonization of the Americas as an infantry militia constituted on May 17, 1762, as part of the reorganization of the Milicias Disciplinadas (English: "Disciplined Militias") decreed by Spain. However, on February 12, 1870, the militia were reduced to en cadre until their disbandment in April 1898 after Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States.

Almost two decades after, on 1917 and at the brink of World War I, Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship. Right after, the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico requested the United States Army to include Puerto Ricans on the draft. At the time, the United States Army was segregated, and, in order to assign more than 18,000 Puerto Ricans that enlisted or were drafted into the Army for the war effort, the Army created an infantry regiment and the Puerto Rico Voluntary Infantry. The regiment was merely a reconstitution of the disbanded Spanish-era militia as an infantry regiment assigned to the Puerto Rico National Guard on April 12, 1917. Two years later, this freshly created regiment was designated as the 1st Infantry Regiment on July 19, 1919. Several years later, somewhen between July 9 and September 13 of 1922, the Puerto Rico National Guard established a new battalion and called it the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment. A few months later, the battalion was renamed as the 1st Battalion, 296th Infantry Regiment (1-296) on December 26, 1922. A few weeks later, on January 23, 1923, the aforementioned 1st Infantry Regiment was renamed as the 295th Infantry Regiment. This series of events would establish a long parallel history between the 295th and the 296th infantry regiments.