Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, approved on 9 March 2006, incorporates imagery reflective of the various branches from which organizations are drawn to form the multifunctional unit. Its Engineer component is represented by the scarlet color, castle tower, and firebomb, with the four flames pointing in the four primary geographical directions to denote the unit’s capability to deploy worldwide. A lightning flash and key are crossed behind the bomb and stand for the Signal Corps and Military Intelligence branch, respectively.
In the canton is a saltire that stands for the Battalion’s forebear that served in the Confederate forces for eleven campaigns, while a fleur-de-lis is for service in Northern Europe and France during both World Wars. “Troops Forward” is the self-explanatory unit motto.
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.
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The 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion can point to the Virginia Militia at Fredericksburg as the organization from which its ancestors, the Washington Guards and Fredericksburg Grays, were first raised up in 1858 and 1859. The two volunteer companies were assigned to 2nd Battalion, Virginia Volunteers in April 1860; the following year they were mustered into the 30th Virginia Infantry and would go on to serve in eleven Civil War campaigns as Confederates.
Over the coming decades, the unit would be designated to serve in a variety of roles—Infantry, Field Artillery, Antitank Infantry, Cavalry, and Engineers. During the First World War, for example, the unit fought in two campaigns while designated as part of Company K, 116th Infantry, an element of the 29th Division. In World War II, while still an element of the 29th Infantry Division, it served in four campaigns in the European Theater as a battery in a Field Artillery Battalion, earning an Arrowhead device for the Normandy landings on D-Day.
Prior to becoming the Special Troops Battalion for the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the unit was designated as the 229th Engineer Battalion and—you guessed it—assigned to the 29th Infantry Division. On 1 September 2005, the unit was redesignated as the Special Troops Battalion, 116th Brigade Combat Team, 29th Infantry Division. In January 2012, it was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation while assigned as Task Force Dragon in support of Operation New Dawn.
The 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion was demobilized in August 2019 at Fort Story, Virginia.