The 479th Chemical Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, was approved on 31 May 1967. In the center of the disc is a vertical arrangement of images that are intended to convey the concept of chemical reactions and the Battalion's use of them to support the combat arms units. The disc with wavy blue and white lines is what is known as a heraldic fountain and stands for water. When the fountain is combined with the two tongues of fire on either side and an ancient chemical sign called an amalgam above it, you have a representation of the elements of fire and water and the basic principles of chemistry, an allusion to the organization’s mission to provide for the technical and operational control of the Chemical units under its command.
“Command Serve Operate,” the Battalion motto, highlights the three main responsibilities of the Battalion.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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The 479th Chemical Battalion was first constituted in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 14th Chemical Composite Battalion on 13 May 1944 and activated one week later. It was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 14th Chemical Service Battalion on 25 April 1945 and was awarded an uninscribed Asiatic-Pacific Theater Streamer, which usually indicates that not enough of the Battalion’s components served together for long enough to earn credit for a specific engagement or campaign. It was inactivated July 1949.
Allotted to the Organized Reserve Corps in September 1950 as HQ, 479th Chemical Service Battalion and activated in October 1950 at Providence, Rhode Island, the unit would be given its current designation of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 479th Chemical Battalion on 21 November 1953. It was inactivated from 1968 until September 2002 when it was reactivated at Far Rockaway, New York, but it was not called into active military service until May 2009; it was released from that service in June 2010 and reverted to Reserve Status.
As of Spring 2022, the 479th Chemical Battalion remains an Army Reserve organization. When not called to active miliary service, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 479th Chemical Battalion is assigned to the 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 412th Engineer Command and is based at Fort Drum, New York.