The 11th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, was approved on 17 August 1925. Its design was based upon the unit’s 1920 activation in the Regular Army: It was organized in the Panama Canal Zone of the Isthmus of Panama and performed most of its field work in the thick jungles found in the Isthmus. To allude to the area where the unit was formed and first served, one of the common denizens of the region was selected for the insignia: the tigre negro, or black panther.
he 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.
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While the lineage of the 11th Engineer Battalion officially dates back to the constitution of the 1st Reserve Engineers in the Enlisted Reserve Corps on 19 March 1917, the Battalion’s service in the Regular Army began in November 1920 when the demobilized 11th Engineers—which had taken part in three World War campaigns—were reconstituted and expanded to form the 363rd Engineers in the Organized Reserves and the 11th Engineers in the Regular Army, which was activated in the Panama Canal Zone on 4 November 1920.
Reorganized and redesignated first as the 11th Engineer Battalion in April 1943 and then the 11th Engineer Combat Battalion on 23 September 1943, the unit would earn honors for service in both the American Theater (streamer without inscription) and the European Theater, taking part in the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe Campaigns.
During the Korean War, the 11th Engineer Combat Battalion participated in all ten campaigns of the conflict and was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations for exceptional service. It would not deploy to a combat zone again until the First Gulf War, where it earned credit for participation in the Cease-Fire Campaign; just over a decade later, it would journey back to Southwest Asia, where its service in 2003 was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation.
Inactivated in 2016, the Battalion was reactivated in 2017 and relocated to Camp Humphries in South Korea, where it supports the 2nd Infantry Division, 8th Army.