The brief war with Spain ended before the regiment could be sent into action, and the Guardsmen were mustered out of federal service by companies between 30 November and 10 December 1898.

[3] It was also deployed for guard duty at Pharr, Texas on the Mexican border in 1916 during the U.S. Army's expedition against the guerrilla commander Pancho Villa.

[4] On October 1, 1917, nearly six months after the American entry into World War I, as New York National Guardsmen trained at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, the 108th Infantry Regiment was formed pursuant to a general order.

[5] In November 1917 the regiment was organized into the 54th Infantry Brigade as part of the 27th Division, commanded by Major General John F. O'Ryan.

The Regimental Scout Officer of the 108th noted that "we were supposed to leave behind the customs and traditions of the U.S. Army, in which we had been so carefully brought up, in order that we might study and adapt ourselves to those of our Allies, the British, with whom our lot had been cast for the duration of the war.

In September, the New Yorkers joined the British Fourth Army in the infamous Somme region, facing the Germans' formidable Hindenburg Line.

German artillery, poison gas, and machine guns took a heavy toll as the Americans struggled through barbed wire and shell holes to reach the Hindenburg Line.

The 108th penetrated the German defenses at Quennemont Farm, although they were stalled by severe casualties and an enemy counterattack, and Australian units were sent in to complete the assault.

Reasons for the heavy losses included a lack of experienced leadership and the eagerness of the doughboys, who often made frontal assaults on enemy machine gun nests.

Additionally, Allied artillery did not "soften up" the Germans with a preparatory bombardment before the attack, for fear of hitting Americans lying wounded from an earlier assault.

[7][10]: 123  Nevertheless, as the 27th Division commander Major General O'Ryan remarked: "That the 108th Infantry ... should have broken through the maze of wire that existed and in the face of machine guns firing from every trench and nest, lodged one battalion in the main position, now seems an extraordinary feat.

[17] On 28 November the 40th Infantry Division was concentrated at Borgen Bay to prepare for the invasion of Luzon, the largest and most strategically important of the Philippine Islands.

[18]: 662  Japanese resistance intensified as the GIs moved south toward Manila, and the 108th fought brutal battles for possession of Fort Stotsenburg, Clark Field, Top of the World, Hill 7, and Sacobia Ridge.

The regiment made an unopposed landing at Macajalar Bay near Bugo and moved south to clear the Sayre Highway with the assistance of Filipino guerrillas.

[18]: 186, 641–643  After six weeks of enduring thick jungle, heavy rains, knee-deep mud, and tall, razor-sharp grass—not to mention Japanese resistance—the 108th rejoined the 40th Division on Panay.

Its long, grueling service in the Pacific Theater earned the 108th Infantry four campaign streamers and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

[23] On 1 May 2004, while providing security for a pipeline repair crew west of Balad, Iraq, soldiers of the battalion helped to rescue American truck driver Thomas Hamill, who had been held captive by insurgents since 9 April.

The shield is Infantry blue; in the center the fasces representing France and on either side and supporting it the lions of Great Britain and Belgium in gold.

That for the regiments and separate battalions of the New York Army National Guard: On a wreath Argent and Azure, the full-rigged ship "Half Moon," all Proper.

The shield is Infantry blue; in the center the fasces representing France and on either side and supporting it the lions of Great Britain and Belgium in gold.

The insignia was redesignated for the 108th Infantry Regiment and amended to correct the blazon of the crest to restore the colors of the wreath on 19 March 1962.