The 24th Transportation Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, sometimes called a unit crest or simply a DUI, was approved 22 April 1966, the same time the unit motto of “Service Is Our Product” was approved. A pilot’s wheel forms the basis of the insignia; it is a reference to the Battalion’s mission of providing attached units with command staff direction. The lines are an allusion to the terminal facilities operated by the Battalion for loading and unloading and the transshipment of personnel and cargo. A diagonal wavy band is taken from the arms of the Rhineland and is a reference to the Battalion’s Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment’s participation in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns of World War II.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.
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Originally constituted as the 1st Battalion, 24th Quartermaster Regiment in May 1936 and activated 10 March 1942, the 2th Transportation Battalion began its World War II service as the 1st Battalion, 24th Quartermaster Truck Regiment. The Battalion was broken up before it was deployed to Europe, with its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) becoming the HHD, 24th Quartermaster Battalion, Mobile; it was under this designation that the unit would take part in the Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns.
Following the war, the unit was inactivated briefly before being converted and redesignated as the 24th Transportation Corps Truck Battalion in August 1946, then the 24th Transportation Truck Battalion (February 1948); it was responsible for command and control of the famous Berlin Airlift, and would remain in Germany until inactivated in 1957. It was while here thatt he Battalion was first designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 24th Transportation Battalion on 1 April 1953.
Reactivated in 1965, the Battalion would serve in 15 campaigns during the Vietnam War between 1965 and garner two Meritorious Unit Commendations for its exceptional service. It would not deply to a combat zone again until the First Gulf War, where it took part in all three campaigns and earned another Meritorious Unit Commendation.
The 24th Transportation Battalion was inactivated in 2011.