Golden orange wings and ultramarine squares on a checky pattern incorporate the colors of the Aviation branch in the 82nd Aviation Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, commonly referred to as a unit crest or DUI. The insignia was approved for the 82nd Aviation Battalion on 8 February 1963, but was amended to change the shield’s color on 26 August 1981. It was redesignated for the 82nd Aviation Regiment (with an amended description) on 27 February 1987.
The checky field that serves as a background simulates a chess board, which itself is symbolic of the battlefield and thus is a reference to the strategies of warfare. A knight, the most versatile piece in chess when used to aid and guard the queen, is situated between two wings to denote the mission’s unit and its varied capabilities. The unit motto of “Ground Air Mobility” reflects the unit’s capabilities through the use of rotary-wing aircraft.
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The 82nd Aviation Regiment was birthed as the 82nd Aviation Company, constituted 1 September 1957 in the Regular Army, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Bragg. It became Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82nd Aviation Battalion on 7 December 1962 and remained assigned to the 82nd Airborne until 17 January 1987 when it reorganized and redesignated as the 82nd Aviation, a parent regiment in the U.S. Army Regimental System.
Battle Honors of the 82nd Aviation Regiment include campaign streamers for Armed Forces Expeditions in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama and two of the three campaigns in the First Gulf War, during which it was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC). While the Regiment’s units have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the War on Terrorism, exact campaign participation credits have not yet been determined for the Regiment (or at the battalion level), but the 1st Battalion has been awarded at least two MUCs for service between 2006 and 2010 and the 2nd has been awarded one (2009 – 2010); these numbers do not include awards to individual companies within battalions.
Today, three battalions and a company of the 82nd Aviation Regiment form the Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.