86th Brigade - 42nd Infantry Division (Mechanized)

The 43d Infantry Division became an active National Guard unit in 1923 in accordance with the National Defense Act of 1916. Originally there were two infantry brigades, the 85th in Connecticut, and the 86th in Vermont. The 85th Brigade consisted of the 102d Infantry and the 169th Infantry Regiments both in Connecticut. The 86th Brigade was made up of the 172d Infantry Regiment in Vermont and the 103d Infantry Regiment in Maine. The Division saw extensive combat in Guadalcanal; New Guinea; the Northern Solomons and Luzon in the Philippines. The unit was inactivated at Camp Stoneman in California on 1 November 1945. In 1963, in one of the many down-sizings of the Armed Forces, the 43d Infantry Division left active National Guard service.