Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a 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. Current regulations do not permit the DUI to be worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
The 59th Ordnance Brigade’s Distinctive Unit Insignia honors the Brigade’s service in Germany during World War 2 with a castle tower and a wavy band at the base, signifying the Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns. A dragon’s leg and foot is take from designs seen on Korean artifacts; five claws on the foot are an allusion to the five Korean War campaigns. The taeguk symbol (often called a yin-yang symbol) is a sign of the Meritorious Unit Citation it earned during the Koeran War.
The 59th Ordnance Brigade unit crest was approved on 18 April 1980.
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 59th Ordnance Group, predecessor of the 59th Ordnance Brigade, had served with distinction in both World War II and Korea, and in 1962 it was activated in Germany as 59th Ordnance Group (Ammunition). Redesignated the 59th Ordnance Group, Advanced Weapons Support Command (AWSCOM) that same year, it was consolidated in 1972 with the old Special Ammunition Support Command (SASCOM) to create a new version of SASCOM, officially known as 59th Ordnance Group (SASCOM); the new organization relocated from Frankfurt to Pirmasens, where the now-defunct SASCOM was once headquartered. The unit received its current Brigade designation in 1977.
With eight battalion-sized units comprising over 6,500 personnel, the Brigade had subordinate units station in nearly three dozen cities and towns in West Germany and the Netherlands. Assigned two missions, Ordnance and Artillery, the Brigade allotted Ordnance units in support of deployed U.S. units and Artillery Groups to support units deployed by the NATO countries of German, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
With its nuclear weaponry ("Power To Spare," so to speak), the Brigade was a vital component of the NATO alliance’s deterrence force, but the collapse of the Soviet Union the early years of the 1990s and subsequent agreements between NATO and Russia to drastically reduce nuclear weaponry led to the Brigade’s inactivation in 1992. It was reactivated in 1994 to serve as the Training Brigade at the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile and Munitions Center and School; today, the Brigade’s official name is U.S. Army Ordnance Missile and Munitions Center and School/59th Ordnance Brigade.
Related Items59th Ordnance Brigade Patch (SSI)