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 (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.
Enlisted personnel wear the insignia centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
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.
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There is agonizingly little information available on either the 137th Supply and Transportation Battalion unit crest—it is not listed anywhere on The Institute of Heraldry Web site—or even the unit itself, except that it is no longer active and has not been for a very long time. When it was active during the 1960s, it was a unit in the Ohio Army National Guard, with its A Company stationed in Columbus, Ohio. Its B Company was created through the reorganization and redesignation of Company A, 537th Transportation Battalion on 1 April 1963, but in February 1968 it was consolidated with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 137th Armor to create Supply and Direct Support Platoons, Headquarters and Company A, 737th Maintenance Battalion.
A couple of points can be gleaned from the design of the insignia. Fleurs-de-lis on unit crests invariably represent military service in France, but there is no way to determine whether those battle honors are for World War I or World War II. They are attached to a Philippine Sun in the center of the insignia, which usually indicates service in the Philippines and/or being awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. Lastly, the motto “There When Needed” is also the motto of the 53rd Support Group and its immediate predecessor unit, the 53rd General Support Group, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the 137th S&T is in the lineage of either unit since distinct units can share the same motto.