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.
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The 11th Transportation Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was first approved while the unit was designated the 396th Quartermaster Battalion on 25 April 1938; it was redesignated for the 11th Transportation Battalion on 19 December 1961.
The insignia is anchored by the unit motto of “Preparedness-Dependability,” qualities the Battalion has evinced time and again in conflict and non-combat situations, earning three Meritorious Unit Commendations during its service over 11 Vietnam War campaigns and another MUC for its support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007-2008 to go alongside two Army Superior Unit Awards it received in the mid-1990s.
Above the motto is a shield divided into a buff upper area (color of the Quartermaster Corps) and a blue lower section with a wavy line indicating water; combined with the box hook superimposed on the blue half, this indicates the overseas transporation duties of the organization. The nod to he Quartermaster Corps reflects the unit’s origins in 1936 as the 396th Quartermaster Battalion; in 1942 it was reorganized and converted into the 396th Port Battalion, Transportation Corps, and again in 1944 to the 396th Port Battalion. It was under these two designations that the unit served in World War II, taking part in a total of four campaigns in Italy (Sicily, with Arrowhead, and Rome), France (Southern France), and Germany (Rhineland).
Today, the Battalion is headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virgina, with its unit engaged in deployment rotations in continuous support of the Global War on Terrorism.