The first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) NP Singh from Deccan Horse.

[3] It has an all-India all-class composition, drawing troops from various castes and religions.

[5] Two terrorists opened fire at the camp of the 81 Armoured Regiment on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, Samba on 21 March 2015.

[10][11][12] The regimental insignia consists of front face of a tank with numeral "81" inscribed on the tank’s hull, a scroll added at the base with the regimental motto inscribed in Devanagari script on it.

The motto of the regiment is शौर्यं तेजो युद्धे (Shaurya Tejo Yuddhe), which is coined from the Bhagavad Gita 18.43 and translates to ‘Heroism and boldness in battle’.