Echo Company

Echo Company has adopted the Nevada Army National Guard patch. The first officially recognized local militia unit in the territory was Company A. Nevada Volunteers (Union Blues), organized at Virginia City four years prior to statehood. The Echo Company patch is the original patch adopted by this group. They were formed to protect the silver mines from a group of Confederate sympathizers who attempted to hold certain key properties of the lode. However, the Nevada National Guard suffered the humiliation of being disbanded after federal inspections revealed the state’s guard fell far short of federal requirements. For the next 20 years, Nevada was the only state in the Union without a guard. The reorganization of the Nevada National Guard commenced on July 1, 1946.