The 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion is a Nevada Army National Guard that as of May 2022 is assigned to the 991st Aviation Troop Command and is headquartered at Reno, Nevada. Its lineage dates back to 21 June 1928 and the organization of the 40th Military Police Company, an element of the 40th Division in the Nevada National Guard. It would undergo numerous redesignations and reorganizations over the decades—it would not be organized as a unit in the Signal Corps until 1981—and along the way was consolidated with two other units.
The first came in January 1949 when it was designated the HQ Battery, 421st Rocket Field Artillery and was consolidated with Battery A from the same Battalion to create HQ battery, 421st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. A second consolidation came after this unit was redesignated as the HQ Battery, 421st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion and it consolidated with Medical Detachment, 421st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons to create a unit with a thankfully shorter title: HQ Battery, 1st Gun Battalion. It was given its current designation on 1 March 1981.
Battle honors for the Battalion include the Ryukyus campaign in the Pacific during World War II and the Consolidation III campaign in Afghanistan in the War on Terrorism (Company A’s campaign participation status for the War on Terrorism is yet to be determined). The Battalion has awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service in Afghanistan between February and December 2011, while Company A was selected individually for another MUC for service in Southwest Asia between 2002 – 2004.
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The 422nd Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, better known by the name “unit crest” or DUI, was approved on 7 December 1981 and features a “square on square” image that is adapted from the flag of the Signal Corps as well as other branch insignia. Here, the squares are oriented into a “diamond” configuration an orange square holding a white (silver) star centered inside a larger silver (white) square; the orange and white are the official branch colors of the Signal Corps.
Above the squares are a pair of lightning flashes that symbolize the speed of modern electronic communications. Both the silver star and the laurel branches encircle the silver square are adapted from the shoulder sleeve insignia of the Battalion’s parent organization, the Nevada Army National Guard, while the light blue used for the scroll containing the motto “Battle Born” is an allusion to the “Virginia Blues,” Nevada’s first organized state militia.
The 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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."