The 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest or DUI) was originally approved for the 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion on 10 July 1952 and redesignated for the 127th Engineer Battalion on 28 February 1958; its description and symbolism were updated on 16 October 2013. It features a white ax on red background (the branch colors of the Corps of Engineers) symbolizing the Battalion’s various functions of construction, destruction, and combat. A winged lightning flash connotes the alacrity with which Airborne Engineers strike to enhance the advance of its fellow forces, to wit, “That Others May Follow.” Three green roundels are for three World War II campaigns (see below).
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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion was constituted in the Army of the United States under that designation on 12 November 1942. Assigned to the 11th Airborne Division on 27 November 1942 and activated in late February 1943, the Battalion would take part in the New Guinea, Leyte, and Luzon campaigns in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, earning a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its service and an Arrowhead device for the Luzon campaign streamer signifying that the unit took part in an assault landing.
Allotted to the Regular Army in November 1948, the Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 127th Engineer Battalion on 1 March 1957, but was inactivated on 1 July 1958 in Germany. When it was activated again on 18 July 1963, it was assigned once again to the 11th Airborne, which had been redesignated as the 11th Air Assault Division in February 1963, but its assignment ended with another inactivation on 1 July 1965.
Nearly forty years would elapse before it was reactivated on 16 October 2013 and assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. It is still assigned to the 1st BCT as of January 2020 but is now designated under its original title: 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion.