The Combat Service ID Badge of the 166th Aviation Brigade uses the color version of the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia that was approved for the Brigade on 13 June 2007. The ultramarine blue used for the field and the golden-orange border and spear have been official Army Aviation colors since 1983 (they were used prior to that time by the Army Air Corps, however).
An upright spear denotes combat readiness, and the wings attached to it represent aerial strikes and thus the Brigade’s mission (this is re-iterated in the unit motto, “To Deter And Defend,” found on the unit crest). A globe between the wings is a symbol of the scope of the Brigade’s training as the units under its tutelage are deployed all around the world, but it is also an emblem of the Brigade’s military support in the Global War on Terrorism as “Wings of the West,” assisting active-duty Combat Aviation Brigades prepare for deployment and training Reserve Component units (Army National Guard and United States Army Reserve) that have received the call to mobilize.
Related Items
166th Aviation Brigade Patch (SSI)
166th Aviation Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)