With its deactivation in 2004., the 123rd Signal Battalion closed the book on nearly 90 years of outstanding service, much of it spent with the first unit to which it was assigned following its organization on 26 June 1917 as the 5th Field Battalion, Signal Corps: the 3rd Division. Assigned to the 3rd on 12 November 1917, the Battalion would take part in a half-dozen World War I campaigns and be awarded a French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star for its courage and high level of performance.
Reorganized and redesignated as the 3rd Signal Company on 14 February 1921, the unit was inactivated four years later at Camp Lewis, Washington; more than ten years would elapse before its reactivation in July 1935. Still serving with the 3rd Division, the Company took part in an impressive ten campaigns, all in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater, and was presented with Arrowhead devices for taking part in assault landings in four of them (Algeria, Sicily, Anzio, and Southern France). The company was also the recipient of a Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, a French Croix de Guerre with Palm, and French Fourragere for its World War II service.
During the Korean War, the 3rd Signal Company would wind up participating in eight of that conflict’s ten campaigns, garnering two more Meritorious Unit Commendations, a pair of Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations, and the Chryssoun Aristion Andrias (Cross of Valor). In 1957, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as HQ and HQ Company, 123rd Signal Battalion on 1 July 1957 before being relocated to Germany, where it would spend nearly the next forty years before returning to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Battalion would earn more medal—a Presidential Unit Citation—prior to its deactivation the following year.
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Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia 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.PRIMA VOX AUDIAT—Latin for “The First Voice Heard”—is a focal point on the 123rd Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, originally approved on 21 January 1958. The crowing cock in the center is from the arms of one of the Marne Provinces and represents Signal Service in the Marne sector during World War I. The triangle on which the cock is standing a graphical representation of Korea’s Iron Triangle where the unit fought for life and death, while the mace is from the arms of Colmar and recalls the stand the unit made there during World War II.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.