Assigned to Eighth Army and stationed in the Republic of Korea, the 1st Signal Brigade's mission is to provide joint and combined Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Information Management (C4IM) capabilities throughout the area of operations to support the ability of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, United States Forces Korea, and Eighth Army to lead, direct, and maneuver available forces.
Both the Brigade's numerical designation and its core mission of communications are conveyed by the single lightning bolt in the center of the its Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), a design element it shares with the 1st Signal Brigade's Shoulder Sleeve Insignia - Military Operations in Hostile Conditions insignia (SSI-MOHC). Behind the bolt of lightning is a barbed arrowhead, a reference to the tactical and strategic impact of the 1st Signal Brigade's support mission.
The fiery flames are acknowledgement that fire—in the form of illumination by night and smoke by day—is the oldest basis of communication over distances. It is also an oblique reference to the unit's nickname, "First to Communicate."
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Also known as unit crests, Distinctive Unit Insignias (DUIs) are 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
Related Items
1st Signal Brigade Patch (SSI)
1st Signal Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)