The decades following World War II saw the 26th Infantry Division undergo several redesignations as well as its consolidation with a variety of units. It wasn’t until 1993 that it was organized as a Brigade rather than a Division when it became the 26th Infantry Brigade; two years later, it was attached to the 29th Infantry Division. On 1 September 2006, as part of the Army’s move away from a division-based structure toward modular brigades that could be deployed on short notice anywhere across the globe, the unit was reorganized as the 26th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Its conversion to a Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) took place exactly two years later in 2008.
Officially nicknamed "Yankee Brigade," the 26th MEB deployed to Iraq in April of 2011 and assumed command from the 196th MEB. It was responsible for the security of all U.S. Forces and installations in Kabul, and also provided quick reaction forces and police advisory teams to support more than 13,000 Afghan National police officers assigned to the Kabul City Police Command.
As of Autumn 2023, the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is an active unit in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The Brigade was most recently in the news in May 2023 when it collected, organized, and packaged 1,000 sets of firefighter personal protective equipment, along with two fully equipped fire trucks, for donation to military firefighters in Paraguay.
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The 26th MEB’s Distinctive Unit Insignia, or Unit Crest, was originally designed for the 26th Infantry Division, Massachusetts Army National Guard, and was authorized for wear in February of 1956. It was redesignated and reauthorized to match the unit’s new title on three occasions, with the final authorization coming with the 26th became an MEB in 2008. It features a pentagon that is divided “per pairle Argent, Gules and Azure,” i.e., a “Y” divides it into three sections colored silver, red and blue. The top section contains the crest of the National Guard of Massachusetts, which bears an arm bent 90 degrees holding a sword. The bottom two sections, one red and the other blue contain three stars each that form a V and come to a point at the bottom of the crest. The six stars represent the six campaigns for which the 26th Division received official participation credit during WWI: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Ile de France, Lorraine.
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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26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Patch (SSI)
26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)