The 88th Brigade Support Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, commonly known as a unit crest or DUI, was originally approved for the 88th Engineer Battalion on 6 April 1966. It was redesignated for the 88th Supply and Service Battalion on 14 July 1967, then redesignated three decades later for the 88th Support Battalion on 16 September 2007 and later authorized for the 88th Brigade Support Battalion.
Scarlet and white (silver) are used in the insignia to reflect the Battalion’s origins in the Engineer branch. In its center is a scarlet pentafoil (pentagram with rounded sides) that alludes to the five elements that comprised the HQ and HQ Detachment, 88th Engineer Battalion (Depot). The Pentagon fleury device (pentagon with five fleurs-de-lis) with a black gear is a reference to embattled depot areas and to the unit’s five World War II battle honors. “Give Way,” the unit motto, was also the motto when the unit was designated as an Engineer Construction battalion.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. 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 88th Brigade Support Battalion was originally formed in the Organized Reserve as the 19th Engineer Battalion (Heavy Pontoon) (Motorized) in Cleveland, Ohio, but its numerical designation was quickly changed to the 88th in 1940; the unit was activated on 2 June 1941. It would take part in five campaigns in the European Theater before returning to the U.S. and eventual inactivation on 23 November 1945. Reactivated in 1955, the unit was based at Fort Carson until its 1956 deployment to France to provide Engineer support for the nascent NATO forces there.
It was inactivated in 1962, then reactivated in June 1965 as the 88th Engineer Battalion (Depot), a designation it would hold for just a year before becoming the 88th Supply and Service Battalion in 1966. It was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation during its service in three Vietnam War Campaigns, specifically for the period from September 1968 to February 1969. It was inactivated again on 11 May 1972.
Reactivated briefly from 1991 to 1992, the Battalion was redesignated as the 88th Support Battalion on 16 September 2007; its title changed to the 88th Brigade Support Battalion when it was assigned to the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. It was the recipient of an Army Superior Unit Award for its outstanding performance in carrying out a difficult and challenging mission between October 2010 and September 2013.
On 12 June 2014, an inactivation ceremony for the 88th Brigade Support Battalion was held at Warrior Field at Fort Polk, Louisiana.