The 313th Military Intelligence Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, commonly referred to as a DUI or a unit crest, was originally approved for the 313th Army Security Agency Battalion on 11 April 1957. On May 1980, it was redesignated for the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion (CEWI) and also amended to change the color of the shield and revise the symbolism. More than two decades elapsed before any other changes were made: the insignia was amended to change the color of the shield (again), revise the symbolism, and update the description.
Teal blue and white, the colors used for the shield and the mullet (six-pointed star), are reserved for units not assigned to an existing branch and allude to the organization’s original designation as the 313th Army Security Agency Battalion. An orange-and-white checkerboard alludes to the Battalion’s former affiliation with the Signal Corps, and the six points of the mullet allude to the six Meritorious Unit Commendations the unit was awarded for serving during World War II and in Vietnam. SAVOIR C'EST POUVIOR, the unit motto, is a French phrase that means "Knowledge Is Power."
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 Battalion was originally constituted on 11 May 1942 as the 215th Signal Depot Company in the Army of the United States and took part in five campaigns in the European Theater of World War II under that designation, earning an Arrowhead device for participation in the assault landing at Normandy and an Army Meritorious Unit Commendation. The Battalion’s Company A was also individually awarded a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, while Company B was tapped for several foreign decorations: the Military Order of William (Degree of the Knight of the Fourth Class), a Netherlands Orange Lanyard, and a Belgian Fourragere 1940 for being cited twice in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.
Redesignated as the 313th Army Security Agency Battalion on 1 July 1956, the Battalion would serve in Operation PowerPack in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and take part in a dozen campaigns in Vietnam, garnering five Meritorious Unit Commendations and a Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. On 16 October 1979, HQ and HQ Company (HHC), 313th Army Security Agency Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as HHC, 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.
Under this designation, the unit took part in the invasion of Grenada and in two campaigns in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War, while its Company A served in Operation Just Cause in 1989. In 2003, Company C was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and, two years after the Battalion’s 2006 inactivation, was awarded a Valorous Unit Award for its service between August 2003 and March 2004 in support of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division’s mission of disrupting enemy operations in and around Fallujah and Mahmudiyahl/Yusafiyah provinces.