Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the 96th Aviation Support Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved on 22 October 1942 while the unit was still designated as the 96th Quartermaster Battalion. It was redesignated for the 96th Supply and Service Battalion (27 September 1966), the 96th Support Battalion (28 July 2005), and of course the 96th Aviation Support Battalion.
Buff, the official branch color of the Quartermaster Corps, is used in this insignia to reflect the organization’s beginnings as the 96th Quartermaster Battalion (Bakery). A sheaf of wheat is used to denote the making of flour, the principal ingredient of bread, and the fire interspersed with it alludes to the baking of bread and the fiery enthusiasm of the unit’s personnel. The fleur-de-lis superimposed on the wheat indicates the organization’s predecessor’s service in France during World War I. “Provision Made,” the unit motto, is an assurance that all necessary duties of the Battalion are provided when needed.
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. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
A half-dozen years elapsed between the constitution of the 96th QM Battalion (Bakery) and its activation at Camp Crowder, Missouri on 20 April 1942; the following July it was redesignated as the 96th Quartermaster Bakery Battalion. Before it was deployed to France, however, it was redesignated again as HQ and HQ Detachment (HHD), 96th Quartermaster Battalion; it was under this designation that it would take part in five campaigns. The Battalion remained in Germany following the war’s conclusion and was inactivated there on 15 March 1947.
Over the next few decades, the Battalion would be redesignated several times, including as HHD 96th Quartermaster Service Battalion (May 1949); HQ, 96th Quartermaster Service Battalion (December 1949); 96th Quartermaster Battalion (December 1950); HQ and HQ Company, 96th Supply and Services Battalion (July 1966); 96th Support Battalion (September 2004); and finally 96th Aviation Support Battalion. Its battle honors include eight Korean War campaign streamers and two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations, six Vietnam War campaigns and a Meritorious Unit Commendation Vietnam 1966-1967, and three Meritorious Unit Commendations and a Valorous Unit Award earned in the War on Terrorism while assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade.