Now worn by personnel in the 1225th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, the 1225th Support Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia features an extremely unique design highlighted by a lion rampant rendered in blue and buff horizontal sections beneath a chevron of eleven stars and above the unit motto of “Let The Drum Beat.” Other elements include an arrow (a reference to participation in the Black Hawk Indian War) and a palm tree, but without an entry at The Institute of Heraldry Web site providing information on the insignia’s origins it’s impossible to say what some of these images really stand for.
Also known as a unit crest or DUI, the 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.
More 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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The Battalion’s history goes back to the organization of the Detroit City Guards in the Michigan Militia in 1830-1831, a unit that was almost immediately mustered into Federal service as Captain Isaac S. Rowland’s Company, 1st Michigan Militia in May 1832. In 1836, the Company was again mustered into service, this time as the Brady Guards—a title the unit would retain for nearly twenty years until it was redesignated as the Detroit Light Guard in 1855. Today, this is the Battalion’s official Special Designation per the U.S. Army Center of Military History, but the Battalion was also nicknamed “Tigers,” which in turn served as the inspiration for the nickname of the city’s Major League Baseball Team and its ballpark, Tiger Stadium.
Battle honors for the Battalion include the aforementioned Black Hawk Indian War campaign, the Mexican War, a dozen Civil War campaigns, and four World War I offensives (Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, Meuse-Argonne, and Alsace 1918) with a French Croix de Guerre with Palm for its actions as OISE-AISNE; the unit’s War On Terrorism campaign credits have yet to be determined. (A Headquarters Detachment was also tapped individually for taking part in the Aleutian Islands campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II).
The Battalion has also been twice selected for a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service in the War on Terrorism, first for its support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and then for its sustainment operations for Regional Command-South between September 2010 and Jul 2011 (the award was announced in April 2013).
As of 2023, the 1225th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion is headquartered in Detroit, with three Companies stationed at Camp Grayling, Lapeer, and Greenville in Michigan.