Also known as a unit crest or DUI, the 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. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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Worn by the 1204th Aviation Support Battalion at the time of its inactivation in January 2016, the 1204th Support Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved less than eight years earlier on 5 August 2016. Its shield is divided into four quadrants, two in brick red for the Logistics branch and two in golden orange, secondary branch color of the Aviation Corps to reflect the type of operation the Battalion supported.
The border of the blue and gray disc is a circle illustrating the main rotor of a helicopter, the workhorse of Army Aviation; it also denote the Battalion’s constant commitment to protect and maintain the security of both its home state of Kentucky as well as the nation. Blue and gray are an allusion to the unit’s parent headquarters, the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, the Aviation Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division that is famously known as the ‘Blue and Gray Division” because it comprised men from both Confederate and Union states when it was formed in 1917.
A winged horse, Pegasus, is featured in the center of the disc and symbolizes flight and strength, both essential to the success of the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade and thus the focus on the Battalion’s mission. "Wings Of Thunder," the unit motto, is alos a reference Pegasus and the Battalion's mission.
The 1204th Aviation Support Battalion was a unit in the Kentucky Army National Guard (ARNG). On 16 December 2011, soldiers from the Battalion who were serving at contingency Operating Site Taji, Iraq departed the country for Kuwait, making it the last Kentucky ARNG to leave the country and also ending eight continuous years of a Kentucky Army National Guard overseas support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.