Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a 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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The Fourth Army NCO Academy was an Enlisted Professional Military Education school based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Readily available public records detailing when the school was active or even when it was decommissioned are essentially nonexistent, but it is likely that the Academy was shuttered when Fourth United States Army was itself inactivated on 30 September 1991.
While the Academy’s purpose was to train Noncommissioned Officers to prepare them for advancement to higher positions of leadership, it also developed learning processes that had a direct impact on the training of junior enlisted personnel as well, specifically those entering the Field Artillery branch.
One example was its development of what was referred to as “shared training,” in which recruits undergoing One Station Unit Training (where Soldiers receive Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at the same location) would take part in the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course’s (BNCOC) three-day field Field Artillery training exercise. The OSUT Soldiers, in their 13th week of training, would serve as cannoneers, while the BNCOC pupils acted as Gunners, Assistant Gunners, or Section Chiefs. Meanwhile, students in the Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course would serve as Gunnery Sergeants or Chief of the batteries, thus providing all three levels of enlisted personnel a chance to acquire knowledge and hands-on experience before these skills were tested in a real-life situation.
The Fourth Army NCO Academy Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, features the cloverleaf emblem used on the Fourth United States Army Shoulder Sleeve Insignia. Black and gold forming the shape of chevrons represent solidarity and support (black) and excellence (gold), and "Forge Steel Links" was the official school motto.