The mission of the 3d Cavalry Regiment is to, on order, deploy to a designated theater of operations to conduct full spectrum operations in support of a designated headquarters.
The Regimental Coat of Arms for the 3d Cavalry Regiment was originally approved for the 3d Cavalry Regiment on 7 May 1921.  The Coat of Arms was redesignated for the 3rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized on
28 February 1945.  On 18 December 1951, the Coat of Arms was once again  redesignated, this time for the 3d Cavalry Regiment.  The Coat of Arms  was amended to revise its symbolism on 27 June 1960.  On 21 February 1974 the  3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was issued a formal Grant of Arms by the US Army
Institute of Heraldry.

 The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was first constituted in the US Army as the  Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, organized by Act of Congress in 1846.  With its activation the unit brought into existence a new organization in the American Army: a regiment of riflemen, mounted and equipped with hunting rifles to provide longer range and more firepower than the smoothbore muskets of the infantry and cavalry.