296th Infantry Regiment (United States)
| 296th Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
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| Active | December 26, 1922–May 1, 1964 (41 years of service) |
| Country |
 United States of America
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| Allegiance | Constitution of the United States |
| Branch | United States Army National Guard |
| Type | light infantry |
| Part of | Puerto Rico Army National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Allen, Puerto Rico |
| Motto(s) | Alerta Está (English: "Alert It Is") |
| Engagements | |
| Disbanded | reorganized as two battalions of the 92nd Infantry Brigade; only its 1st Battalion remains active as part of the 92nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
| U.S. Infantry Regiments | |
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| Previous | Next |
| 295th Infantry Regiment | 297th Infantry Regiment |
The 296th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Puerto Rico Army National Guard consisting mostly of Puerto Rican enlisted soldiers and officers. Today, only its 1st Battalion remains active; being allotted to the 92nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade of the Puerto Rico Army National Guard. The 296th is composed by the first battalion of infantrymen that engaged in combat as a Puerto Rico National Guard unit, as the 65th Infantry Regiment was, at the time, a regular Army unit.
The 296th 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. It is this battalion that gives birth to the 296th as a few months later after being established it was renamed as the 1st Battalion, 296th Infantry Regiment (1-296) on December 26, 1922. A few weeks after, 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.
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Wikipedia