The 228th Combat Support Hospital is an Army Reserve unit assigned to the 176th Medical Brigade, 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support). It was constituted on 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as the 30th Surgical Hospital but was not activated until a decade later in June 1943 as the 30th Portable Surgical Hospital.
Deployed to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in World War II, it took part in four campaigns, earning an Arrowhead device taking part in assault landings in the Bismarck Archipelago campaign. It was also awarded a Presidential Unit Citation (embroidered LOS NEGROS ISLAND) and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. It was inactivated on 31 October 1945.
Nearly a half-century later, the unit was redesignated again as the 30th Surgical Hospital in October 1993 and then again in August 1996 when it was given its current designation, withdrawn from the Regular Army, and allotted to the Army Reserve. It was finally activated again on 16 January 2011 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Called into active military service and assigned to the 4th Medical Command, the unit was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service between 13 January 2005 and 10 October 2005. Now headquartered in San Antonio, the unit’s most recent deployment (as of January 2021) was to Kuwait, where one of its first tasks was to train Kuwait National Guard Soldiers in conducting medical evacuation.
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The 228th Combat Support Hospital Distinctive Unit Insignia, more familiarly known as a “unit crest” or a DUI, was approved on 1 December 2000. In the center of the insignia is a scarlet disc that represents World War II Japan. Plunging through the center of the disc is a pheon (arrow) with a serpent entwined around the shaft both to emulate a Rod of Asclepius. This conveys the medical mission of the unit while simultaneously suggesting the Arrowhead device the unit was awarded for its assault landing in the Bismarck Archipelago. UNITAS ET PARATI, the unit motto, is Latin for “United And Ready.”
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. DUIs are not 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.