The 109th Military Intelligence Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia—often called a “unit crest” by Soldiers, or DUI for short—was approved on 2 September 1981, a month before it was constituted and activated. Its checkerboard pattern uses the branch colors of Military Intelligence, silver gray and oriental blue, and the checkered pattern reflects the sundry electronic warfare (EW) and intelligence capabilities at its disposal. The sun and moon symbols on the black background and the two checkered hemispheres allude to the night-and-day, 24/7 operations that can result in global deployment at any time. A red flash signifies the unit’s offensive EW combat capabilities while also alluding to the long-range surveillance often performed by the Battalion.
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.
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Nicknamed “The Disrupters” in homage to its unit motto of “Seek And Disrupt,” the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion was constituted in the Regular under its current designation and assigned to the 9th Infantry Division on 1 October 1981. It’s two Companies, A and B, were concurrently activated after being reorganized and redesignated from the 335th Army Security Agency (ASA) Company and the 9th Military Intelligence Company, respectively.
The 335th ASA Company had been originally constituted on 27 March 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 112th Signal Radio Intelligence Company, while the 9th Military Intelligence Company had been originally created in July 1944 as the 9th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment, and both units brought their decorations and battle honors with them to the newly created Battalion.
For Company A, these included two World War II campaign streamers (one with an Arrowhead) and credit for eleven Vietnam War campaigns; its military decorations included five Meritorious Unit Citations from Vietnam service between 1967 and 1971, a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation from World War II, three Republic of Vietnam (ROV) Cross of Gallantry with Palm awards, and an ROV Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class. Company B had already earned fifteen campaign streamers—seven from World War II and eight from the Vietnam War—and had been the recipient of a Meritorious Unit Commendation for Vietnam service, a Belgian Fourragere 1940 (for two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army during WWII), a pair of ROV Cross of Gallantry with Palm awards, and an ROV Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class.
The Battalion as a whole has been awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations for service in the War on Terrorism, the first for its 2009-2010 tour in Iraq and the second for a 2012-2013 Afghanistan deployment.
The 109th Military Intelligence Battalion was part of the 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade under I Corps at the of its inactivation on 12 May 2021.