The 116th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, also commonly called a unit crest of a DUI, was originally approved for the 116th Engineer Regiment (see below) on 13 January 1930. It was redesignated for the 116th Engineer Battalion. The blue in the upper shield the color of Infantry, reflecting the organization’s roots in that branch. In the lower half, a red background with white key yield the colors of the Corps of Engineer. A castle stands for service in the War With Spain, while the cactus beside it symbolizes service along the Mexican border. The key is taken from the coat of arms of Angers, France, where the unit was stationed in World War I. "Prepare The Way" is the Battalion motto.
Distinctive Unit Insignias 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 (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.
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.
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Now deactivated, the 116th Engineer Battalion was a unit in the Idaho Army National Guard with a history that dated back almost to the Civil War. Constituted on 19 June 1877 as the 1st Regiment in the Idaho Volunteer Militia and organized between June and August of that year. It was mustered into Federal service for the War With Spain and the Philippine Insurrection in May 1898 as the 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry and was mustered out in September 1899. Redesignated as the 2nd Infantry Regiment in the Idaho National Guard, the unit would mustered into Federal service under that title and then broken up and its component units redesignated and reassigned as elements of the 41st Division. The 41st was designated the 1st Depot Division and broken up into training cadres to serve as replacement troops for the front lines, earning the Division and its component units an uninscribed World War I streamer.
Following several organizational reshuffles, some former units of the Regiment that had been redesignated as the 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry became the 116th Engineer Regiment in August 1926. It was assigned to the 41st Division in January 1930 and inducted into Federal service in September 1940, only to broken up again and the Regiment (less the 2nd Battalion) being redesignated as the 116th Engineer Battalion; in March 1943 it became the 116th Engineer Combat Battalion. Deployed to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, it fought in four campaigns and was awarded an Arrowhead devices for assault-landing participation in two of them, as well as Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
During the Korean War, it remained designated the 116th Engineer Combat Battalion and took part in seven campaigns, earning a Meritorious Unit Commendation and two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations between 1950 and 1954. It was again ordered into Federal service during the Vietnam War from May 1968 to September 1969 and was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for that period to go along with four campaign streamers. The Battalion would not be deployed to a combat zone again until the War on Terrorism, where its C Company earned Meritorious Unit Commendations but the battalion as a whole was not recognized with military honors. In 2007, the 116th Engineer Battalion was deactivated and some of its personnel used to form the 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion.