As part of the transformation of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division to a Brigade Combat Team (BCT), the Brigade’s Headquarters Company was reorganized and redesignated as the BCT’s Special Troops Battalion. The unit’s lineage stretches back to 5 August 1917 and the constitution of Headquarters, 159th Infantry Brigade as an element of the 80th Division. Under various designations, the unit would spend most of the next forty-plus years of the 80th Division (later 80th Infantry Division and earn credit for participation in seven campaign of World War I and II before receiving its designation as 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne in 1964. As part of the 101st Airborne, the Brigade took part in a dozen named campaigns during the Vietnam conflict and was honored with three Republic of Vietnam Crosses of Gallantry with Palm and a Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class.
In the War on Terrorism, the brigade received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its first deployment to Iraq in 2003. Following its transition to a Special Troops Battalion, the outstanding performance by the Battalion (or some of its subordinate units) was rewarded with four more Meritorious Unit Commendations. And over a period of five months in 2010 (July 13 to December 10), the Battalion’s achievements were recognized with not one but two Presidential Unit Citations, as well as a Valorous Unit Award. The unit’s commitment to providing full-spectrum support to the Brigade Combat Team through its Military Intelligence, Signal, and Engineer units is reflected in the unit motto, “One Strike One Team,” a reference to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team’s nickname of “Strike.” These units are represented by the imagery of of 2nd Brigade Combat Team Special Troops Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia in the form of a lightning flash (Signal), key (Military Intelligence), and castle wall (Engineer).
The Special Troops Battalion was inactivated and replaced by 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion in 2015.
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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 (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.
For Enlisted personnel, the insignia is centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
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.