Introducing project “Military Insignia”, featuring top quality military heraldry designs. Here you will find designer apparel, accessories, custom postage and gifts decorated with insignia of the 28th Infantry Division. The 28th Infantry Division ("Keystone") is a unit of the Army National Guard and is the oldest division-sized unit in the armed forces of the United States. The division was officially established in 1879 and was later redesignated as the 28th Division in 1917, after the entry of America into the First World War. It continues its service today as part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is nicknamed the "Keystone Division," as it was formed from units of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard; Pennsylvania is known as the "Keystone State". It was also nicknamed the "Bloody Bucket" division by German forces during the Second World War due to its red insignia. The 28th is the first Army National Guard division to field the Stryker infantry fighting vehicle, as part of the Army's modern transformation. Co A, 28th Signal Battalion deployed in April 2004 to April 2005 in support of major combat missions in the Anbar province. Elements of the 1st Battalion operated in Iraq from February to December 2004, serving in Kirkush, Tuz Khurmatu, Jalawla, and Baghdad. Assigned to the 28th Infantry Division in September 2008, the 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry during the years 2006–2010 deployed at different times Troops A, B, & C in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom conducting various SECFOR and Convoy Escort missions. In December 2003 the 1st Battalion 107th FA was activated and received Military Police training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Following a month of training, the soldiers of the 107th where deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January, 2004, B and C Companies of the 2nd Battalion, 103rd Armor Regiment were activated and, with attachments from several other Pennsylvania Army National Guard units, reconfigured as military police companies and trained at Ft. Dix for deployment to Iraq. Once in Iraq, they were assigned to some of the most sensitive missions of OIF II. Three platoons of Bravo Company (1st, 3rd and Headquarters) were attached to the Iraq Survey Group; while 2nd and 4th Platoons served in Iraqi Police Support, later as area patrols for Camp Fallujah and eventually as transportation escorts for high-ranking Iraqi government officials. Charlie Company was assigned to the HVD facility at Camp Cropper, with an entire platoon assigned solely to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The units both redeployed in March 2005. In June 2004, the 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor was activated at Fort Bliss, Texas and deployed to Iraq in November in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This marked the first deployment of a 28th ID combat battalion to a war zone since World War II. The battalion, now designated as a Task Force (Task Force DRAGOON), was stationed at Forward Operating Base Summerall, near Bayji. Attached initially to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, and then the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, the 800 man TF 1–103rd Armor, commanded by LTC Philip J. Logan, engaged in combat operations for 12 months, including combat operations in Salah Ad Din Province, a heavily Sunni Muslim area in the north part of the "Sunni Triangle", before redeploying to the United States in November, 2005. 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division (2/28 BCT) was mobilized in January 2005, and in late June and early July 2005 2nd Brigade soldiers began deploying to the Al-Anbar province. The 56th SBCT, based out Camp Taji, Iraq, conducted operations in the northern Baghdad Governorate from January to September 2009, before redeploying to Kuwait and returning home at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Soldiers of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 28th Infantry Division began mobilization on 29 January 2009 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 28th Infantry Division Headquarters; Headquarters Detachment, 28th Division; Headquarters Company, 28th Division; Headquarters Special Troops, 28th Division and Headquarters Detachment Special Troops, 28th Division on 6 February 1929. It was redesignated for the noncolor bearing units of the 28th Infantry Division on 10 July 1968. The device was designed by Benjamin Franklin. In 1747, during the war of the Spanish Succession, the Spaniards threatened Philadelphia, coming up the Delaware as far as New Castle. Dr. Franklin aroused the people and designed a crest and flag which was carried through Philadelphia in 1748 by Colonel Taylor’s Battalion. The shield on the device is that of William Penn, while the colors of the wreath, red and white, denote the predominantly English origin of the early settlements.