The 49th Personnel Services Battalion was originally constituted in the California Army National Guard as the 49th Administration Company and assigned to the 49th Infantry Division on 23 April 1959; it was organized at Alameda and Federally recognized on 1 May 1959. It was reorganized and redesignated as Company A, 49th Support Battalion and made an element of the 49th Infantry Brigade on 4 December 1965. It would be relieved from assignment to the Brigade on 13 January 1974 when it was again reorganized and redesignated, this time as the 49th Personnel Services Company.
Between 1988 and 1995, the unit would relocate three times from its original station in Alameda, first to Fairfield (December 1988), then Richmond (March 1994), and finally Sacramento (1995). After its move to Richmond, the unit was expanded, reorganized and redesignated as the 49th Personnel Services Battalion and the 79th Personnel Services Detachment (which began its own separate lineage at this point).
In 2009, the Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 49th Human Resources Company, followed by another relocation three years later to Sacramento in 2012. Its most recent redesignation came in 2013, when it became the 49th Personnel Company.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
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.
The 49th Personnel Company Distinctive Unit Insignia—a device commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short—was originally approved in 1995 while the unit was designated as the 49th Personnel Services Battalion. It was at this time that the unit motto of “People Service Duty” was also approved. Its origins as an Administration Company are reflected in the shield’s background of dark blue, color of the Adjutant General Corps, and the quill pen symbolizing record-keeping. The dagger crossing the quill pen alludes to its affiliation with and support of Infantry units, and the pickaxe is a symbol of the gold rush associated with the history of the unit’s home state of California.
Full 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.