The Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest of DUI) of the 212th Aviation Regiment was approved on 12 June 1967, just six months after the unit was constituted in the Regular Army as HQ and HQ Company, 212th Aviation Battalion. An ultramarine blue annulet and torch with flames of golden orange are used to display the official branch colors of Army Aviation; the annulet recalls a Drop Zone with an Arrowhead piercing it from above, recalling the placement of men and supplies within the prescribed zone. Silver wings at the bottom of the insignia echo the motto of “Wings Of Freedom.”
After being activated in March 1967 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 212th Aviation Battalion was deployed to Vietnam. Between 1967 and 1971, the unit fought in a dozen campaigns while and was the recipient of three Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm awards. Inactivated 23 December 1971, the Battalion was redesignated as a Regiment in 1987 and assigned to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Today, the Regiment is comprised of a single battalion stationed at Fort Novosel (formerly named Fort Rucker) in Alabama, where it operates Lowe and Shell Army Heliports, with a mission to train initial-entry rotary wing students in the operation of several types of helicopters (UH-60A, OH-58C, TH-67A). Training includes but by no means is limited to basic war fighter and combat skills and night/night vision goggle qualification, as well as instructor pilot raining in the aforementioned helicopters and the UH-60M. It also provides training for pilots from Allied nations.