Since 1922, the eye-catching unit patch featuring a lightning bolt flashing from right to left that’s currently designated as the 78th Training Division (Operations) Shoulder Sleeve Insignia has been worn by every iteration of the unit that was originally constituted as the Headquarters Troop, 78th Division on 5 August 1917. These include the Headquarters for:
- 78th Infantry Division
- 78th Division (Training)
- 78th Division (Exercise)
- 78th Division (Training Support)
- 78th Training Brigade
- 78th Training Division
The lightning flash is allusion to the Division’s World War I combat record in which it was referred to as a “bolt of lightning,” a reference that also led to its nickname “Lightning Division.” During that conflict, the Division earned three campaign streamers for its World War I actions (St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine 1918), the same number that it earned during its deployment to the European Theater in World War II.
Although some of the Division’s assets were deployed during the First Gulf War, the Division has primarily been a training division since 1959. It currently is a subordinate unit of 84th Training Command, 84th Division in the United States Army Reserve and is headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.