Frequently referred to as a unit crest or as a DUI for short, the 317th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was first approved for the 317th Engineer Combat Battalion on 9 January 1943. It was redesignated for the 317th Engineer Battalion on 16 November 1954. Scarlet and white, official branch colors of the Army Corps of Engineers, are the exclusive colors used for the insignia. In the shield portion of the insignia, a horizontal band of scarlet serves as a heraldic symbol for a military belt or girdle of honor. A crossed pick and shovel, tools commonly used by Engineers in the field, symbolize the organization’s functions.
Battle honors awarded to the unit are denoted by the Lorraine Cross in the chief (upper third of shield) for the Lorraine 1918 campaign and an oak tree at the bottom for Meuse-Argonne. “By Industry And Honor” is the unit motto, expresses the unit’s methodology for its storied successes.
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. 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.
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The 317th Engineer Battalion was originally created in the National Army on 24 October 1917 as the 317th Engineer Regiment, an element of the 92nd Division. Serving in France as the 317th Engineer Regiment and Train, the Battalion took part in two campaigns before returning to the U.S. to be demobilized on 31 March 1919 at Camp Sherman, Ohio.
Reconstituted as a the 317th Engineer Battalion in the Army of the United States on 5 May 1942 and redesignated as the 317th Engineer Combat Battalion, the unit was organized as an element of the 92nd Infantry Division and activated on 15 October 1942 at Fort McClellan in Alabama. It fought in two campaigns in Italy (its B Company fought in a third, the Rome-Arno campaign) and was awarded an Italian Croce al Merito di Guerra (War Merit Cross) for its valorous service.
Following the war, the unit was relieved from assignment to the 92nd Infantry Division and allotted to the Regular Army in 1950, receiving its designation as the 317th Engineer Battalion on 5 June 1953. It would go on to take part in all three campaigns of the Southwest Asia conflict, also called the First Gulf War (Company D was selected for a Valorous Unit Award for its service in Desert Storm) before being assigned to the 24th Infantry Division in July 1992 (it was relieved from this assignment in 1996).
With the outbreak of the War on Terrorism, the Battalion was deployed to Southwest Asia to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its superior service between 19 March and 1 May 2003 was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation (issued in 2008). The Battalion received its last reassignment in September 2015 when it was sent to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Team, but the Brigade and all its component and subordinate units were inactivated the following year.