U.S. ARMY NORTHERN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER UNIT CREST (DUI)

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.

Enlisted personnel wear the insignia 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.

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 U.S. Army Northern Warfare Training Center Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally for the U.S. Army Cold Weather and Mountain School on 17 September 1958. Though rescinded on 17 June 1963, the insignia was reinstated and redesignated for the U.. Army Northern Warfare Training Center on 18 August 1977.

A large triangle, symbol for the Greek letter “delta,” is the focal point of the insignia and is an allusion to “Big Delta, the first military installation on the site of today’s Northern Warfare Training Center. Established in 1942 as Big Delta Army Airfield, the based provided refueling and servicing for aircraft taking part in ferrying materials to the USSR during World War II. Its name was inspired by the river delta that’s formed by the confluence of the Delta and Tanana Rivers, but it was later renamed Allen Army Airfield and would help provide supplies to Fort Greely, built south of the installation after the War.

Inside the triangle is an abstract rendering of Mount Hayes, one of the dominant terrain features in the area and a clear reference to the mountain-operations training that makes up part of the Center’s mission; the cold-weather component of the mission is represented by the white snow on the lower half of the image. HIEMES OPPUGNAMUS ET MONTES SUPERAMUS, the unit motto, is a Latin phrase that The Institute of Heraldry says translates into English as “We Battle Cold And Conquer Mountains,” but which a consensus of Latin translators says is more accurately translated as simply “Attack And Conquer Mountains.”

Beginning in November 1948, the Army Arctic School was established at Big Delta and tasked primarily with providing training in summer and winter operations under both sub-arctic and arctic conditions; areas of instruction included mountaineering, arctic survival, skiing, and learning how do find solutions to tactical, logistical, and technical problems in conditions of extreme cold. Following eight years of training held both at Fort Greeley (see above) and at Camp Carson, Colorado, all Arctic training was moved to Alaska in 1957, and in April 1963 the U.S. Army Cold Weather And Mountain School was redesignated to today’s U.S. Army Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC).

As of Winter 2024, the NWTC is managed out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

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U.S. ARMY NORTHERN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER UNIT CREST (DUI)