Headquartered in Yonkers, New York, the 101st Signal Battalion is an Echelon Above Corps unit in the New York Army National Guard that reports to the 53rd Troop Command. Its lineage goes back before the start of the 20th Century with the organization of the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the Provisional Signal Corps in the New York National Guard on 6 December 1886 and 29 December 1894, respectively.
Called in to Federal service on 18 June 1916 for duty along the Mexican border, the Battalion was redesignated as the 102nd Field Signal Battalion and assigned to the 27th Division on 1 October 1917. The 27th Division finished arriving in France on 7 July 1918; the Battalion was back at Camp Upton for demobilization on 31 March 1919. The 102nd Field Signal Battalion was then consolidated with the 1st Signal Battalion in the New York National Guard as 1st Battalion, Signal Corps, with headquarters in New York and Federal recognition on 3 May 1921. The next month, it was redesignated under its current title, the 101st Signal Battalion; it would briefly hold its old designation of 1st Battalion from October 1947 to March 1950. It would be inactivated for ten years, from 1994 to 2004, before it was reconstituted and allotted to the New York Army National Guard.
From the start of World War II until the launch of the War on Terrorism, the 101st Signal Battalion had been awarded three military decorations: a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation from World War II and a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for service in the Korean War. In 2014, it received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service between September 2012 and June 2013, “ensuring that the Combined Joint Operations Area in Afghanistan was able to communicate through both voice and data networks” while assigned to the 160th Signal Brigade.
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Distinctive Unit Insignias 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 101st Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia—also called a “unit crest” or DUI—was first approved for the 101st Signal Battalion on 12 March 1925. Its imagery celebrates service in the World War I Ypres-Lys campaign (with a rampant Belgian lion), the World War I Somme Offensive (gold fleur-de-lis), and along the Mexican Border (a lone star signifying Texas). The motto is Latin (PRO PATRIA ET UNITATE) and translates as "For Country and Unity."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.