Originally approved for the 78th Division (Training) on 21 December 1971, the 78th Division Training Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest or DUI) has also been authorized for the 78th Division (Exercise), 79th Division (Training Support), and the 78th Training Brigade. The white alerion (a heraldic bird) on scarlet is taken from the arms of the Lorraine Province in France, site of the Division’s service in three World War I campaigns. Its three World War II campaigns are represented by the points of the triangle. White lightning flashes and the scroll’s red color a reference to the Division’s famous “Lightning” Shoulder Sleeve Insignia. The Latin word AUDACITER is the unit motto and translates as “Boldly.”
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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Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 78th Division and organized at Camp Dix, New Jersey on 23 August, the 78th Training Division (Operations) is headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. During World War I, it fought in three campaigns (Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Lorraine), at one point holding a five-mile front along the Hindenburg Line that was manned by four German Division for an astonishing seventeen days.
During World War II, the Division—nicknamed “Lightning” because of the distinctive bolt on its Shoulder Sleeve Insignia—was deployed to the European theater and fought in three campaigns (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe). It was awarded four Distinguished Unit Citations for its combat actions, which included an active role in the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket. It was inactivated in Berlin on 16 June 1946.
Since 1959, the Division has served as a training and evaluation unit in the United States Army Reserve under a variety of designations—78th Division (Training), 78th Division (Exercise), 78th Division (Training Support), 78th Training Brigade, 78th Training Division, and currently 78th Training Division (Operations).