Originally designated as an Air Defense Artillery Brigade, the 263d Army Air and Missile Defense Command was reorganized into a Theater-Level Air Missile Command and activated on 01 May 2000 in Anderson, South Carolina as part of the South Carolina Army National Guard. One of its recurring missions is to provide personnel to man the air-defense capabilities put in place to protect our nation’s capital following the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001. Between 2004 and 2018, the Command assumed this responsibility five times. Its most recent deployment came in 2022 - 2023 when its 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade spent a year supporting the European Deterrence Initiative, serving as a strategic command element to provide integrated air defense.
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The 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest or a DUI, was originally approved in February 1991 while the Command was still serving as an Air Defense Artillery Brigade. “Duty Honor Excellence,” the unit motto, is inscribed in gold (yellow) letters on a scarlet crescent, encompassing the two branch colors of Air Defense Artillery on an image taken from the South Carolina state flag. A highly stylized palmetto tree, also found on the state flag, can be seen behind an upright missile that denotes the Command’s mission and firepower.
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. Current regulations do not permit the DUI to be 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.
Related Items
263rd Army Air & Missile Defense Command Patch (SSI)
263rd Army Air & Missile Defense Command Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)