The Distinctive Unit Insignia (unit crest) of the 115th Combat Support Hospital was originally approved while the organization was designated as the 15th Evacuation Hospital on 5 February 1942. The unit would go on to be redesignated eight times after that (five of the designations were either “15th Evacuation Hospital” again or “15th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile), with the insignia redesignated for the 15th Combat Support Hospital on 8 March 1974, for the 15th Evacuation Hospital again on 22 October 1984, and for the 115th Field Hospital on 16 September 1993. The repeated use of “Evacuation” in the designation goes far in explaining the motto of the unit: EVACUARE is Latin for “To Evacuate.”
A silver cross in the insignia stands for the aid and assistance activities of the Army Medical Corps. The oak tree is specific reference to the work of the unit during World War I, while it was serving under the designation of Evacuation Hospital No. 15.
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 (ASU, 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.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Nicknamed “Warrior Medics,” the 115th Combat Support Hospital was originally constituted in the Regular Army on 28 December 1917 and organized on 21 March 1918. After service in the Meuse-Argonne campaign, the unit returned home for eventual demobilization on 28 June 1919. After a seventeen-year hiatus, the unit was reconstituted on 9 November 1936 in the Regular Army and became the 15th Evacuation Hospital. During World War II, it served under the designation of 15th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile as it took part in seven World War II campaigns, earning Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in the European Theater.
Between the end of World War II and the launch of the Southwest Asia conflict (casually referred to as the First Gulf War), the unit would be redesignated five times, serving in that conflict as the 15th Evacuation Hospital and earning credit for participation in all three campaigns. From 1994 to 2005, the unit was designated as the 115th Field Hospital; from 2005 to present it has been designated as the 115th Combat Support Hospital and has taken part in five campaigns in the War on Terrorism—three in Iraq and two in Afghanistan—and been the recipient of three Meritorious Unit Commendations.
In March 2019, the 115th Combat Support Hospital became one of two units (along with the 485th Preventive Medicine Detachment) comprising the 32nd Hospital Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.