Approved for the 37th Engineers (General Service) on 4 March 1935, the 37th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia—colloquially referred to as a unit crest or a DUI—has as its centerpiece the rock taken from the arms of the town of St. Mihiel, site of one of the Battalion’s first battles during World War I. The oak leaves surrounding the rock are symbolic of the Meuse-Argonne region, another area in which the unit served during World War I. The Regiment’s motto, FORTUNA INFORTUNA FORTI UNA, is Latin for “Fortune Is All The Same To The Man Of Stout Heart.”
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. 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 37th Engineer Battalion was originally formed in the National Army as the 1st Battalion, 37th Engineer Regiment on 16 January 1918 and deployed to France as part of the American Expeditionary Force. It earned credit for participation in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns before the Armistice was signed in November 1918; after returning to the United States, it was demobilized at Camp Upton in New York.
It was reconstituted as the 1st Battalion, 27th Engineers on 1 October 1933 and activated on 14 July 1941, but it was redesignated twice before it saw combat as the 37th Combat Engineer Battalion in the European Theater. In all, it took part in four campaigns, earning an Arrowhead device for one (Normandy) for its planned participation in an assault landing. Other World War II decorations include a Presidential Unit Citation (also for Normany), a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and a French Croix de Guerre with Palm.
The unit was given its current designation in 1954, and would not see combat again until the Southwest Asia conflict, where it received credit for two campaigns as it served during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. And while the number of campaigns in which it has participated in the War on Terrorism has yet to be determined, the Battalion has been awarded five Meritorious Unit Commendations, the most recent for service between December 2016 and September 2017. As of Summer 2023, the 37th Engineer Battalion is assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.