PHILADELPHIA –
On Dec. 7, 1747, Benjamin Franklin lead approximately 600 "gentlemen and merchants" to what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia to sign “Articles of Association” to provide for a common defense of the city.
That group of “Associators” is recognized as the foundation of the Pennsylvania National Guard.
On Dec. 7 of this year, one of the units that descended from that group, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment – known as “Ben Franklin’s Associators” – returned to Independence Hall for a change-of-command ceremony.
During the ceremony, outgoing commander Lt. Col. David Fittipoldi relinquished command to incoming commander Maj. Michael Tier.
Relinquishing command was bittersweet, said Fittipoldi, who served as commander since September 2022.
“It was a great command experience,” Fittipoldi said. “The team was awesome; the organization had a lot of accomplishments over the last three years. It was an extremely busy time, but it was a great experience.”
Fittipoldi will move on to become the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s executive officer.
Tier, who previously served as the 1-111th’s executive officer, said he is looking forward to leading such a historic unit.
“There’s two things that really sets our unit apart,” Tier said. “The first thing is our lineage, and the second thing is our Soldiers. We have a lot of hard-working, dedicated Soldiers who are extremely experienced and have the tactical and technical knowledge needed to be successful anywhere, so I’m honored to serve with them and look forward to working with them as their commander.”
Although officially constituted on Dec. 7, 1747, Franklin actually founded the unit on Nov. 21, 1747. It was organized on Dec. 29, 1747, as the Associated Regiment of Foot of the City of Philadelphia.
The unit was reorganized and redesignated several times throughout its history before being redesignated as the 111th Infantry and assigned to the 28th Division on April 1, 1921.
The unit has participated in nearly every major conflict in U.S. history, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World Wars I and II and Iraq.
Of note, the unit fought alongside Gen. George Washington at the Revolutionary War’s battles of Trenton and Princeton and helped turn back the center of Pickett’s Charge at "the Angle" during the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg.
“What makes the organization so great is, obviously, its history and lineage, but also the people,” Fittipoldi said. “Even outside of Ben Franklin, just how sharp the unit is and what it did in the Revolutionary War and pretty much every major campaign since.”
Tier, who has been in the unit since 2020, said a significant part of being in the battalion is its history.
“It predates the birth of the nation,” Tier said. “Many of the first people who called themselves Americans were Associators first. I think it’s great to be part of a unit that traces its lineage back to the founders of the nation.”
Most recently, the battalion deployed to the Horn of Africa from September 2024 to July 2025. During the deployment, the unit served as the command element of Task Force Associator, which was responsible for security for Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.
Task Force Associator comprised more than 1,100 service members and was headquartered in Djibouti with out-stations in Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.
“It was a very interesting mission,” said Fittipoldi, who served as task force commander. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in eastern Africa with counterterrorism, to force protection. It was difficult in that it was a very austere environment, especially at our out-stations in Somalia and Kenya.”
Tier, who served as the task force executive officer during the deployment, said the deployment was different than his previous two mobilizations.
“We got to work with a lot of foreign partners,” Tier said. “It was really interesting working in a scenario where the task force was completely decentralized and spread throughout three different countries, so there were some unique challenges to that aspect.”
The 1-111th is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.