The 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division was activated as a part of the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team (later Armored Brigade), 2nd Infantry division on 20 June 2005, with the 2nd Engineer Battalion being reflagged under the 1st BSTB designation (the 2nd had been inactivated five days earlier).
Nicknamed the “Spartans,” the 1st BSTB comprised a Headquarters Company; Reconnaissance and Security components; Chemical, Military Intelligence, and Signal companies; and a Military Police platoon.
On 2 July 2015, the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, with the official special designation “Iron Brigade," cased its colors as it was inactivated in a ceremony held at Camp Casey in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to the brigade, several other units were also inactivated, including the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion. It was the last Special Troops Battalion to inactivate as part of the Army’s transition to Brigade Engineer Battalions.
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Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been
authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
For Enlisted personnel, the insignia is centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e),
"Beret" and
"Garrison Cap," respectively.