The 311th Army Agency Battalion Airborne background trimming, colloquially referred to as an oval, was approved for wear on 14 August 1962. Per current regulations, it is placed beneath Parachutist and/or Air Assault badges and the combination worn on Service Uniform coats and shirts (excluding the Class B AGSU shirt) and on blue or green Army Maternity Tunics (female Soldiers only). Refer to
Chapter 21-32, subsection (b) and
22-16, subsection (b) for general wear guidance and detailed instructions on the placement of the Parachutist and Air Assault badges on authorized uniforms.
Constituted on 1 June 1954 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 311th Communication Reconnaissance Battalion in the Regular Army, the 311th Army Security Agency Battalion served under that designation from 1 July 1956 until it began an eight-years-plus period of inactivation on 18 December 1957.
On 15 February 1966, the Battalion’s HQ and HQ Company (HHC) was activated at Fort Wolters, Texas, but its A and B Companies were concurrently disbanded; they would be reconstituted as the 336th and 359th Army Security Agency Companies on 21 September 1978.
A little under three years later, on 1 June 1982, the HHC, 311th Army Security Agency Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters, Headquarters Operations Company, 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The new Battalion was given a new Distinctive Unit Insignia and new Airborne background trimming.