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 (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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The 29th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 12 February 1924 and celebrates highlights of the unit’s history to that point. A blue shield with red saltire (“x” figure) is taken from the coat of arms of Langres, Haute Marne in France and alludes to the headquarters of the 29th Engineers during World War I; white piping along the red diagonal lines of the saltire yield the Corps of Engineers branch colors. Four stars represent four significant operations carried out by the 29th Engineers, while the red, five-bastioned fort points to the numerical designation of the unit's parent organizations (5th Engineers) and also recalls the Santiago campaign in the War with Spain. The crescent denotes combat against the Moros in the Philippine Insurrection.
Originally organized as the 29th Engineer Regiment between September and November 1917, the 29th Engineer Battalion, nicknamed "Wayfinders," was first given Battalion status when the Regiment was reconstituted under that title following four years of demobilization. On 7 November 1941 it was redesignated as the 29th Engineer Topographic Battalion, and in June 1944 its Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company were reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 29th Engineer Base Topographic Battalion.
In 1953, it became HHC, 29th Engineer Battalion, with the HHC becoming Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment on 22 March 1954. Nearly twenty years later, it was inactivated on 15 September 1972 on Ford Island, Hawaii; it was redesignated once again as HHC, 29th Engineer Battalion and activated at Fort Shafter, Hawaii on 15 August 1980. In October 2007, it was inactivated at Fort Shafter for what would eventually be seven-year stretch, ending with its reactivation and assignment to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. As of Summer 2023, the unit is serving as the 29th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
The 29th Engineer Battalion’s battle honors include World War I and World War II Asiactic -Pacific streamers (without inscriptions) and two Meritorious Unit Commendations from the Vietnam War era.