A unit in the Washington Army National Guard (ARNG), the 181st Support Battalion—now serving as the 181st Brigade Support Battalion, 81st Brigade Combat Team—was originally organized on 15 November 1965 in the Washington ARNG from new and existing units as the 141st Support Battalion and assigned to the 41st Infantry Brigade. On 1 January 1968, it was reorganized and redesignated as the 181st Support Battalion and assigned to the 81st Infantry Brigade, a process that was repeated with the conversion of the 81st Infantry Brigade to the 81st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Since the launch of the War on Terrorism, it has been ordered into active Federal service on two occasions, once in 2003 and another in 2008.
While the Battalion as whole is credited with participation in an single campaign (Iraq Sovereignty), five of the Battalion’s companies are individually credited with participation in a total of fifteen campaigns because they were existing companies with lineages that included action in World War I and/or World War II. Similarly, the Battalion as a whole is the recipient of a Meritorious Unit Commendation, but several individual companies have been awarded military decorations for actions in World War II and the War on Terrorism; you can see the details at the
180th Support Battalion’s Lineage and Honor’s Web page at the U.S. Army Center of Military History.
When called into Federal service, the 181st Brigade Support Battalion mobilizes and deploys to plan and oversee logistics and health-service support for the 81st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Its state mission is to support the 81st Brigade Combat Team’s State-directed operations to support civil agencies tasked with the protection of life and property, preservation of the peace, and maintaining public safety and order.
The chevron rising from the base of the 181st Support Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (also known as a DUI for unit crest) is a traditional symbol of support in heraldry and epitomizes the Battalion’s basic mission, which is further emphasized with the motto “We Support The Mission.” The chevron also recalls Mr. Rainier, one of the highest mountains in the Battalion’s home state of Washington. Above the chevron is a carbao’s head, a reference to the water buffalo found I the Philippine Islands and an allusion to the areas where the Battalion’s predecessors served during World War II. A pair of arrowheads stand for assault landing at Luzon and New Guinea (credited to Companies C and D), and the colors of red, blue, and white recall the colors of the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation awarded to several Companies in the Battalion.
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.
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.