The 303rd Armor traced its lineage back to the 103rd Antitank Battalion, constituted on 14 August 1940 in the Washington National Guard.The 803rd helped eliminate the Ruhr Pocket in April, then advanced southeast through Austria and Czechoslovakia, ending the war there in May.Between 15 April and 1 September 1993, the 303rd was consolidated with the 803rd Armor, which had been organized on 1 January 1974 in the WA ARNG as a CARS parent regiment.On 28 June 1916, it was mustered into Federal service at Camp Murray to guard the Mexican border in place of Regular Army units deployed to support the Pancho Villa Expedition.Mustered out on 15 February 1917 at Vancouver Barracks, it was drafted into Federal service on 5 August at Tacoma after the United States entered World War I.It became B Troop, 58th Machine Gun Squadron, Cavalry, on 16 May 1922, conducting annual summer training at Camp Murray.It deployed to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the rest of the 81st Brigade, and after returning home was released from active Federal service on 19 September 2009.The squadron was reactivated on 7 May 2016 at the Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center in Warrenton, Oregon, operationally controlled by the 96th Troop Command.In event of mobilization, it was to become part of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team.The 1/303rd was replaced at Kent on 28 August by the reactivation of the 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry, forming part of the 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team.They were later activated in January 2021 following the trespassing on the Governor's residence and prior to President Biden's Inauguration, remaining in the state capitol of Olympia for three weeks.
A 1977 newspaper recruiting advertisement for Troop E, 303rd Cavalry
1/303rd Guardsmen depart for final training to assist in firefighting during the 2014 Washington wildfires