U.S. ARMY 11TH EXPEDTIONARY COMBAT AVIATION BRIGADE PATCH (SSI)

It is a bit difficult assigning this particular Shoulder Sleeve Insignia to a particular organization because it has been authorized for wear by several different units at different levels in the organizational chart. Over the past 30-plus years, it has been designated as:

On 25 August 1987, the 11th Aviation Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia—on a blue field, a silver-gray eagle detailed black with wings displayed and bearing on each wing a golden orange arrow—was approved for wear. The Brigade traced its lineage back to the 11th Air Assault Aviation Group constituted 1 February 1963 in the Regular Army; it was redesignated the 11th Aviation Group from 1965 until its redesignation as the 11th Aviation Brigade 16 October 1987.

The Brigade was redesignated the 11th Aviation Group on 17 November 1993. While The Institute of Heraldry does not note that the insignia was redesignated for wear by that unit, other reliable sources indicate that was the case (it almost always is). The 11th Aviation Group was inactivated 15 August 2005, but on 16 September 2007 it was redesignated 11th Aviation Command, withdrawn from the Regular Army, allotted to the Army Reserve, and activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky—and it brought its old insignia to its new designation.

After 2009, the 11th Aviation Command was either (a) redesignated as 11th Theater Aviation Command, or (b) was referred to interchangeably by the two titles, with the second case more likely. On 16 September 2016, the 11th Theater Aviation Command was redesignated as Army Reserve Aviation Command, and on 4 November 2017 was presented with new colors and a new Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: a highly stylized version of the old insignia with an orange and red eagle made of flames (?) with a star under each wing.

But this did not mark the end of the insignia that was originally authorized for the 11th Aviation Brigade over thirty years ago. The stars under the wings of the eagle on the Army Reserve Aviation Command insignia represent the Command’s two Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades—and this insignia is now designated for the 11th ECAB based at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

On 20 October 2022, both this insignia was redesignated and its associated Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, were redesignated for the 11th Aviation Brigade. The Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB) always has the same basic design as the unit's  corresponding Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, so it too was redesignated for the 11th
Aviation Brigade.

In all, this patch in all likelihood was worn by the following organizations: