The 653rd Regional Support Group Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), colloquially referred to as a unit crest, was approved on 7 October 1999. Its scroll and crest of scarlet and highlights of buff (gold) are the colors traditionally used in heraldry by Support units. A black pheon (arrowhead shape) with two lightning flashes surmounted on it are an allusion to the significant number of industries in Moreno Valley, the unit’s location at time the insignia was approved, that manufacture products or materials used in the Support mission. The pheon symbolizes companies producing aluminum and steel; the lightning flashes are for electronic and aerospace companies. “Integrity And Determination” is the Group’s motto.
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 (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. Current regulations do not permit the DUI to be worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
More 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.
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Originally constituted in the Army Reserve on 31 December 1998 as HQ and HQ Company, 653rd Support Group and activated on 16 April 1999 at March Air Force Base, the 653rd Regional Support Group was first called to active military service on 17 May 2004.. Released from active service two years later, it reverted to Reserve status on 16 May 2006.
Reorganized and redesignated as HQ and HQ Detachment, 653rd Support Group on 16 September 2006, its location was changed to Mesa, Arizona on 16 July 2007, where it was subsequently ordered to active military service in October 2009. Over the next twenty months, the Group was the linchpin of a massive logistical operation caused by the simultaneous drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and the movement of some 40,000 troops into Afghanistan.
The scale of the Group’s achievement, for which it was tapped for a Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2013, is detailed in Permanent Orders 187-12, which states that “The unit ensured that 23, redeploying Brigade Combat Teams, 17 deploying Brigade Combat Teams, 440 redeploying Corps Separates and 408 deploying Corps Separates consisting of over 100,000 troops and 47,000 pieces of equipment efficiently completed the process and proceeded expeditiously to their destinations.”
Still an Army Reserve unit, the 653rd Regional Support Group is assigned to the 311th Sustainment Command, 79th Theater Sustainment Command as of Winter 2024. It is headquartered in Mesa, Arizona.