The imagery of the 29th Signal Battalion Distinguished Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest or a DUI for short, could not be more clear in its meaning. An orange bend dexter with white borders incorporates the colors of the Signal Corps, and in the upper right corner a classic white telephone pole, combined with the X-frame in the lower left, makes it obvious the unit’s function was communications. This is reinforced by the unit motto “Clear And Open,” a textbook telephone phrase meaning that a circuit has been successfully repaired or constructed.
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. 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.
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The 29th Signal Battalion was originally constituted in the Army of the United States as the 29th Signal Construction Battalion on 20 March 1942 and activated on 10 April 1942 and Camp Gordon, Georgia. During World War II, it served in the European Theater and took part in five campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.
It was redesignated as the Signal Light Construction Battalion on 14 May 1945, then reorganized and redesignated the 29th Signal Construction Battalion on 15 August 1949. It was subsequently allotted to the Regular Army on 31 October, and in October 1953 it was redesignated for the final time as the 29th Signal Battalion. It was then inactivated in August 1963 and remained so until reactivation on 1 May 1983 at Fort Lewis, Washington. It was assigned to the 142nd Signal Brigade, but was either reflagged or redesignated before that unit was inactivated in August 2008.