On 1 October 1984, the U.S. Army Computer Systems Command—a Field Operating Activity of Headquarters, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations-Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4), Department of the Army—was transferred to the United States Army Information Systems Command (USAISC) and designated as a major subordinate Command.
The USAISC had been concurrently established at the time of the Computer Systems Command’s transfer and redesignation and was tasked with the management of the Information Mission Area, placing all aspects of the Army’s information management within the purview of a single command.
And, to make 1 October 1984 arguably the busiest day of the history of Information System reorganizations in the history of the United States Army, the Computer Systems Command was redesignated as the U.S. Army Information Systems Software Command at the same time it was transferred to USAISC and made a major subordinate command. Today, it is designated as the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, or USAISEC.
The Institute of Heraldry does not list a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) for the Computer Systems Command. But its entry for the USAISEC reveals that the Computer System Command’s Distinctive Unit Insignia, or unit crest, is now designated for USAISEC—and that it was originally approved for Computer Systems Command on 24 November 1970, which means the Computer System Command’s SSI was likely approved at or very close to that date. What’s more, the unit crest uses the same design elements—lightning flash, diamond, and stars—found on this patch.
The vertical thunderbolt—rendered in scarlet on the colored patch—denotes the rapid flow of computerized information. The blue diamond in the center of the patch symbolizes the decision-making process (diamonds are used in flow charts to indicate when a decision is required to proceed). A pair of stars, signs of command and authority, allude to the parent units of the organization at the time the insignia was approved.
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Information Systems Engineering Command Patch (SSI)