The U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School Distinctive Unit Insignia, also referred to as a unit crest or DUI, was originally approved on 20 November 1940 while the institution was designated as the U.S. Ordnance School. It was amended on 19 June 1981, extending the authorization to wear the unit crest to include personnel assigned to the U.S. Army Ordnance Center.
The shield is divided in half by a diagonal line with gold and red, the heraldic tinctures closes to the Ordnance Corps’ official branch colors of yellow and crimson, used as the background for the two hales. A grenade in the upper half symbolizes the student body of the institution while the “lamp of knowledge” symbolizes the knowledge imparted to students by the school.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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."♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Like it did for many aspects of the modern Army, the pressing needs of World War I fueled the development and growth of the Army’s Ordnance Department, with the number of Ordnance Soldiers in the organization growing four-fold over the course of the conflict. To train the burgeoning number of new personnel, the Department established schools at a variety of locations—universities, armories, private-sector factories, arsenals, and field depots. By the end of the war, more than 55,000 Soldiers and Officers had received training at one of these facilities, which included six Ordnance Schools erected in France.
In the Interwar period, the Ordnance school and training system was streamlined and eventually consolidated into The Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, establishing a single location for all Ordnance education. In 1962, the Ordnance School was redesignated as the Ordnance Center and School and placed under the control of Continental Army Command. This changed in 1985 when the responsibility for decisions concerning personnel, force structure, doctrine, and training was returned to the Chief of Ordnance.
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Ordnance Center and School Patch (SSI)