The unit was activated shortly thereafter on 1 October 1941 at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as an element of the 5th Armored Division.

In March 1945, 772nd Battalion was attached to the 44th Infantry Division only days before crossing the Rhine River south of Worms, Germany.

The battalion then led the attack of the 44th Infantry Division, which seized the city of Mannheim, an industrial, and transportation center.

In April and May 1945, with the war fast approaching an end, the 772nd Tank Battalion moved rapidly across Germany into Austria, again leading the 44th Infantry Division.

The 1st Battalion, 34th Armor was reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas on 1 August 1979 and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division (United States), the "Big Red One."

From 1980 to 1990 the Centurion Battalion participated in numerous field-training exercises to include 4 REFORGER trips to Germany, and 4 deployments to the National Training Center in California.

Elements of 1-34th Armor served in Habbaniyah and Ramadi in the Al Anbar province under the 82nd Airborne and 1st Marine Divisions.

In Iraq, Task Force 1-34th encountered the beginning of the insurgency in Al Anbar performing full spectrum operations.

However, in 2006 the mission of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division changed to one of training units for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as providing small security forces (SECFOR) elements.

On a wreath Or and Azure, in front of a tower Gules masoned of the first and emitting from each side a stream of water of the second, three spears one in pale and two in saltire with shafts of the first and points of the second those points in saltire each charged with a fleur-de-lis of the first, over all in pale an escutcheon barry of ten Argent and of the second.

The red tower gushing water to each side alludes to the bitter campaign to secure the dams of the Roer River, for which the Regiment received a Distinguished Unit Citation.