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 (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.
For Enlisted personnel, the insignia is 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.
Full 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.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Approved for wear on 15 July 1969, the 353rd Engineer Group Distinctive Unit Insignia adds blue to the Corps of Engineers branch colors of red and white to display not only our national colors, but also the colors of the Republic of the Philippines, site of the unit’s World War II combat service.
Deployed to Luzon as the 1164th Engineer Group, the unit earned a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and its service on the island is also recalled by the stylized red volcano (a notable geographic feature on Luzon) and the white representation of the Philippine “sun” displayed upon it. Nested atop the volcano is a blue trefoil; the three sections of the trefoil signify the three states where units subordinate to the Group were stationed; the star in each one denotes the Group’s command and control over them.
Following its service on Luzon in World War II, the Group was inactivated in May 1946 at Sendai, Japan. It was allotted to the Organized Reserves in March 1947 and assigned to Fourth Army, activated on 3 April 1947 at Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was redesignated as HQ and HQ Company, 353rd Engineer Combat Group in June 1948, but it was only for a relatively brief period: the Group was subsequently inactive from November 1950 until July 1963 when it was reactivated at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The 353rd Engineer Group was deployed during the early years of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom as part of the 1st Cavalry Division, but there is no publicly available evidence that the unit was ever again posted to a combat zone. We encourage visitors with information regarding the history of the 353rd Engineer Group following its service in Iraq and Afghanistan
to contact us so that we can share that information with customers who might be interested in the Group.