The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are light infantry units assigned to the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams respectively of the 10th Mountain Division located at Fort Drum, New York.

The 4th Battalion was a Regular Army unit assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

[2] The 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion was activated on 15 November 1941 at Fort Lewis, Washington, with Lieutenant Colonel Onslow S. Rolfe as the commanding officer.

[3][4] According to Captain George Earle, 12 officers and one enlisted man had met at Fort Lewis and were designated as the cadre of this battalion.

"[5] Over the following months skilled skiers recruited by the National Ski Patrol, mostly Europeans some of whom had fled the encroachment of Nazi Germany, arrived at Fort Lewis.

[6] Lieutenant Colonel Rolfe negotiated a deal with the National Park Service to lease Paradise Inn through May for Army use, and the growing battalion trained there.

At the conclusion of the campaign, the 87th returned to the United States via Canada and went to Camp Carson, Colorado, arriving by 1 January 1944.

The regiment took part in the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, driving north from the Apennine Mountains on 20 April into the Po valley west of Bologna.

[14] The regiment continued to slice through the disintegrating enemy units, reaching Lake Garda days before the capitulation of the German forces in Italy on 2 May.

Until the regiment left for Caporetto, Italy on 17 July, its men served as peace keepers between Yugoslavian soldiers and Italian partisans, manning positions along the Isonzo River from Plezzo to Tolmino.

It was inactivated on 14 June 1958 at Fort Benning, GA.[17] During this era the Army reorganized its combat forces, abandoning three tactical infantry regiments per division for five battle groups of five companies each, known as the Pentomic organization.

It remained there until it the lineage was inactivated 1 October 1983 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division when the unit was reflagged with a different regimental designation.

The first was Company C, 87th Infantry, which was attached to the 92d Military Police Battalion guarding Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

Also coming from Fort Lewis was Company D, 87th Infantry, which was attached to the 95th Military Police Battalion at Long Binh from 1 December 1966 to 6 November 1969.

The unit served a second tour in Vietnam from 30 June 1971 to 30 April 1972 when it guarded installations of the 26th General Support Group at Tấn Mỹ.

It returned to Fort Carson on 1 May 1991, and personnel were released for terminal leave on 15 May 1991 as the battalion reverted to reserve status.

During the post-Cold War drawdown, when most reserve component combat arms units were concentrated in the Army National Guard, the battalion was inactivated on 15 September 1994 at Fort Carson.

On 20 December 1989 Task Force "Wildcat" (5th Battalion, 87th Infantry) and Task Force "Bayonet" (193rd Infantry Brigade), attacked and seized critical objectives in Panama City for Operation Just Cause, to include the Balboa DENI (Direccion Especial Nacional de Investigaciones), the PDF's investigative branch, the DNTT (Direccion Nacional de Transporte Terrestre, which served as the headquarters of the National Police) was seized by Charlie Company 5/87th Infantry 193rd Brigade, Code Name "Panthers", the Ancon DENI.

Members of TF 2-87 were first awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for actions in the Mogadishu suburb of Afgooye in January 1993.

[21] A detachment (3d Platoon) from Co C, 1-87 was attached to the 2d Battalion, 14th Infantry and served as the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) during the Battle of Mogadishu.

Although originally slotted as a six-month deployment the unit was extended to ten months due to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The unit was part of the "Surge" and remained in Kirkuk for 15 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom VI.

The unit's mission was to support Operation Enduring Freedom by partnering with ISAF forces to help establish Afghan government influence in the region.

The battalion successfully cleared villages of Taliban presence then established Afghan local police outposts in the newly acquired areas.

This task took several weeks, starting with securing the district of Aliabad to the south to impede the Talibans ability to reinforce and resupply the Gortepa valley.

Attached below the shield is a silver scroll inscribed "VIRES MONTESQUE VINCIMUS" in red letters.

The crossed ski pole and ice axe are symbolic of the tools used by mountain troops and the mule shoe indicates the pack element of the organization.

On 7 December 1964 the coat of arms was amended to change the wording in the blazonry of the shield and to add the crest.