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 (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.
For Enlisted personnel, the insignia is centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
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 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 2 October 1925. On a scarlet field in the upper right corner is a fishhook denoting the shape of the Union line that held at Gettysburg, thanks in large part to murderous artillery fire that was unleashed during the Confederate advance (Pickett’s Charge) on the final day of battle. The pair of cannons stands for the Battle of New Market, also from the Civil War, while the Lorraine Cross in the lower left is a reference to the service in that area of France by an element of the Regiment.
Over the years, the units that made up the 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment underwent almost countless redesignations as the Army wrangled with separate branches for Coast and Field Artillery before addressing the pressing need for a dedicated branch to defeat aerial threats. Since 1988 and the establishment of the Regiment in the U.S. Army Regimental System, there have been a total of five Battalions in the Regiment, but as of 2023 only two remain active. The 4th Battalion, 5th ADA Regiment is a subordinate unit of the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and is stationed at Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) in Killeen, Texas. The 5th Battalion is a component of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.