The Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, of the Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (ID) was approved on 6 January 2005, less than a month after it was established from the Headquarters Company of the 4th ID’s 2nd Brigade in December 2004. A blue chevron connoting the unit’s support role is divided by a silver chevron; the two parts of the divided chevron are a reference to the Brigade Combat Team’s numerical designation.
Superimposed on the insignia is a bayonet, a reference to the unit’s role in providing combat and security support, while lightning flashes at the bayonet’s tip refer to its communication and intelligence roles. The unit motto, “First In,” is inscribed on a tri-sectioned scroll at the bottom of the insignia.
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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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Originally established as Headquarters, 7th Infantry Brigade on 19 November 1917 and subsequently organized at Camp Greene in North Carolina the next month, the unit was an element of the 4th Division (later 4th Infantry Division) and earned credit for participation in five World War I campaigns. Disbanded in 1939, it was given its designation as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in 1963 and went on to take part in eleven campaigns in the Vietnam conflict.
Following its reorganization as a Special Troops Battalion from 2nd Brigade’s HQ Company, the “Lonestars, ” the unit was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in November 2005 and garnered a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its performance during the year-long tour. It was the recipient of a second MUC for another year-long deployment (September 2008 – September 2009), and was further honored with a Valorous Unit Award for its role in carrying out combat and stability operations in Afghanistan that cleared enemy forces from prepared defensive positions around Kandahar City, Badghis,and Herat and Farah Provinces in Western and Southern Afghanistan.
In 2015, the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Division was inactivated along with the rest of the Brigade. The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division was realigned later that year as the 2nd Brigade Combat, 4th Infantry Division.