Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the 104th Military Police Battalion approved on 7 April 2006, a mere 231 years after the oldest unit in the Battalion’s lineage—Captain Jacobus Frear’s Company, AKA “Poughkeepsie Invincibles”—were organized on 17 October 1775. The red area of the shield portion of the insignia denotes the unit’s designation as a Field Artillery Battalion that fought in both World War II and the Global War on Terrorism; the taro leaf and fleur-de-lis in side the red area denote service in the War with Spain and in France during both World Wars.
Opposite the red, the green area alludes to the organization’s current affiliation as a Military Police unit. A black silhouettes of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center commemorate the unit members who served in them at the time of the attack, as well as for the Battalion members deployed to Manhattan to ensure security at the site. In the uppert left, a red cross of St. George and the blue saltires superimposed on it stand for the Revolutionary War and the Civil War service of earlier components of the unit; the red color is also an allusion to Artillery. “Vanguards Of The Empire” is the unit motto.
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. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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Given the Special Designation “Poughkeepsie Invincibles” in honor of the original military organization in its lineage, the 104th Military Police Battalion is a New York Army National Guard unit stationed at Fort Drum. Over the course of its two-and-a-half centuries of service, as well as the hundreds of years of heritage of units that joined its lineage through consolidation, the unit has taken on several functions besides its current MP assignment, including Infantry, Field Artillery, Armored, and Service Roles. Its battle honors include two campaigns in the Revolutionary War’s earliest battles (New York 1776 and 1777), thirteen Civil War campaigns, five campaigns in France and Europe during the two World Wars, and a campaign in the War on Terrorism; its service in the Second World War was recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation streamer embroidered “European Theater.”
While under state control, the Battalion reports to the 53rd Troop Command and has four subordinate units in addition to its HQ and HQ Detachment: the 442nd and 107th Military Police Companies, 727th Military Police Detachment Law & Order, and the 222nd Chemical Company.