U.S. ARMY 194TH ARMORED BRIGADE UNIT CREST (DUI)

Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. The 194th Armored Brigade Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved for wear on 18 March 1966. Blue, yellow, and red overlapping lightning flashes stand for Infantry, Armor/Cavalry/ and Artillery, respectively; the mace superimposed at their juncture indicates the overwhelming smashing power of Artillery, and also represents the unit’s World War II service in the Central Europe campaign. Lightning flashes also reinforce the unit motto.

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.

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After more than a dozen years of inactivation the 194th Armored Brigade was activated in July 2007 at Fort Knox, Kentucky and assigned the mission of serving as a training brigade. Unofficially nicknamed the “Battlehard Brigade” under the motto “Thunderbolts of Battle,” the Brigade is now based at Fort Moore (previously designated as Fort Benning) in Georgia, home of the U.S. Army’s Armor School and comprises several Battalions and Cavalry Squadrons conducting three types of training programs.

As of Autumn 2023, two Squadrons from the 15th Cavalry Regiment—the 2nd and the 15th—were leading One Station Unit Training (OSUT), which combines Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in one location/session. 1st Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment conducts OSUT and AIT for Soldiers slated to serve in one of two Military Occupational Specialties, M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer (91A) or Bradley Fighting Vehicle System Maintainer (91M). And the 30th Adjutant General Battalion "initiates the transformation of civilian volunteers in order to prepare them for their development into disciplined, competent, professional, well-trained Soldiers."

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