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Unit ("Challenge") Coins

Many units in the U.S. Army have coins.  These coins probably came into common use sometime in the 1970's or 1980's, and were generally given out by the unit commander as a sort of "on the spot" award for performance or as gifts to visitors to the unit.  In addition to the more standard "Commander's Coin", there were sometimes Command Sergeant Major's coins.  Another subset were coins commemorating specific events such as Operation Desert Storm.

We are in the process of collecting images of all the units coins within or near the 3d Armored Division.  In some cases, we have more than one face for a given unit coin.  We will try to present as many as possible over time.  Please note that there are many images on this page:  it may take a couple minutes to fully display on your screen.  Also, the coins are arranged in a generally brigade structure.  Thus, 1st Brigade would precede 2d Brigade, and the units within 1st Brigade would fall after 1st Brigade but before 2d Brigade.  We are also attempting to present all variations of unit coins.  Two examples here are the 3d Armored Division coin (three variants) and the 122d Main Support Battalion (three variants, one of which is larger than "standard").

If you have a related 3AD coin that you do not see here (including variants), we would very much appreciate an image of that coin.  If you email us such an image, please scan the coin at about 300 dpi in a format such as *.tif or *.bmp.  If you send the image as a *.jpg, please keep the resolution and quality settings high so that we will have enough image data to make a decent web presentation.  When you scan the coin, please send each side of the coin as a separate file.  The address to send to is spearheader@comcast.com.

If you are interested in a method of coin display/storage, here is the website of a serving member of the U.S. Air Force who makes display cases: Morgan House Woodprojects..

The images below came from the private collections of members of the Association of 3d Armored Division Veterans.  We greatly appreciate their help in completing this page.

Association of 3d Armored Division Veterans
		All Era Coin
		Cold War
		Desert Storm
		32nd Armored Regiment
Echelons Above Division
V Corps
3AD Divisional Unit Coins
3d Armored Division
3d Armored Division Assistant Chief-of-Staff G2 (Intelligence) Coin
3d Armored Division Recruiting Coin
1st Brigade
2d Battalion, 32d Armor
4th Battalion, 32d Armor
2d Battalion, 33d Armor
4th Battalion, 34th Armor (attached during Operation Desert Storm)
3d Battalion, 5th Cavalry
5th Battalion, 5th Cavalry
2d Brigade
3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry
4th Battalion, 8th Cavalry
4th Battalion, 18th Infantry
3d Brigade
2d Battalion, 67th Armor
4th Battalion, 67th Armor
5th Battalion, 18th Infantry
4th (Combat Aviation) Brigade
2d Battalion, 227th Aviation
3d Battalion, 227th Aviation
4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry (DIVCAV)
Division Artillery (DIVARTY)
2d Battalion, 3d Field Artillery
2d Battalion, 29th Field Artillery (attached during Operation Desert Storm)
2d Battalion, 82d Field Artillery
4th Battalion, 82d Field Artillery
Division Engineers (DIVENG)
12th Engineer Battalion (attached during Operation Desert Storm)
23d Engineer Battalion
Task Force 33d Engineers (Provisional) (Desert Storm only)
Division Support Command (DISCOM)
503d Forward Support Battalion
45th Forward Support Battalion
54th Forward Support Battalion
122d Main Support Battalion
Note that the above 122d MSB coin was minted about 25% larger than standard.
9-227th Aviation Support Battalion
3d Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery
5th Battalion, 3d Air Defense Artillery (attached during Operation Desert Storm)
533d Military Intelligence Battalion
143d Signal Battalion
503d Military Police Company
22d Chemical Company
Non-3AD Coins of Units/Organizations with some relationship to 3AD
Frankfurt Military Community
Hanau Military Community
Gießen Military Community
Kirch-Göns Military Subcommunity
42d Field Artillery Brigade (habitual GS support to 3AD)
2d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery (habitual GS support to 3AD)
3d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery (habitual GS support to 3AD)
130th Engineer Brigade (habitual support to 3AD)
317th Engineer Battalion (habitual support to 3AD)