The 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 15 October 1993. The unit’s status as part of the Civil Affairs Corps is denoted by the use of purple for the background of both the shield and scroll components of the insignia. In the purple shield is a red, blazing sun surmounted by a sheathed sword that alludes to the peaceful transition from military operations to civilian government, the primary mission of all Civil Affairs units. This transition is also summed up succinctly in the unit motto, “Bringing Order To Chaos.”
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 (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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One of several Civil Affairs Battalions that were constituted in late August following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but before Japan’s formal surrender on 2 September 1945, the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion was originally created as the 103rd HQ and HQ Detachment, Military Government Group and activated at the Presidio of Monterey, California.
Inactivated 30 June 1946 in Japan, the unit was redesignated as the 432nd Military Government Company and allotted to the Organized Corps (later the Army Reserve) in July 1949; it has remained a Reserve unit ever since. It would be reorganized/redesignated twice—in August 1956 as the 432nd Civil Affairs and Military Government Company and in November 1959 as the 432nd Civil Affairs Company—before it was ever called to active military service.
Three of the Company’s Detachments were ordered to active service between mid-December 1990 and early January 1991; these would go to take part in two campaigns in the First Persian Gulf War and were eventually awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Reorganized and redesignated on 16 September 1992 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 432d Civil Affairs Battalion (with its organic elements concurrently constituted and activated), the Battalion was called to active service one more time (January to August 1996) before the launch of the Global War on Terrorism. After its service deployment as part of the 1st Marine Division, the Battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation by the Navy; it was also selected for an Army Meritorious Unit Commendation for service between May and December 2003 while assigned or attached to the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade.
The 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion remains allotted to the U.S .Army Reserve. When it is not called to military service, it is assigned to the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade, 353rd Civil Affairs Command and is headquartered at Green Bay, Wisconsin.