Birthed in the aftermath of the failed Operation Eagle Claw that was intended to rescue Americans during the Teheran hostage crisis in 1980, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)—commonly referred to by the acronym "SOAR"—was originally constituted on 1 April 1982 in the Regular Army as the 160th Aviation Battalion, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After it was relieved from assignment to the 101st Airborne Division on 16 October 1986, the Battalion was subsequently reorganized and redesignated as the 160th Aviation, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), on 16 January 1988. In 1990, the Regiment was consolidated with HHC, 160th Aviation and the newly formed unit designated as the 160th Aviation, a title it would retain until October 2005 redesignation changed it to the 160th Aviation Regiment.
Carrying the official Special Designation of “Night Stalkers” to reflect its missions of inserting and extracting Special Operations forces such as Navy SEALS and Army Delta Forces under cover of darkness, the 160th’s first combat came during Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion of Grenada; it would learn greatly from this campaign for which it earned a combat streamer, and perform much more professionally during its next test, the invasion of Panama in 1989.
Other deployments include the Gulf War in 1990-1991 Somalia in 1993 and of course numerous tours of both Afghanistan and Iraq. Its military decorations include three Valorous Unit Awards (Somalia, Kuwait, Iraq), two Presidential Unit Citations (Afghanistan), three Meritorious Unit Citations (Central and Southwest Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan), and an Air Force Meritorious Unit Award (2006-2008). It was also the recipient of three Army Superior Unit Awards between 1995 and 1998 for meritorious performance while carrying out a difficult and challenging mission during peacetime.
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Also known as a unit crest or DUI, the 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.
The 160th Aviation Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, colloquially known as a “unit crest” or a DUI for short, features a sword-wielding centaur (a winged half-man, half horse) on an ultramarine blue background with a golden-orange crescent moon in the upper right corner. The centaur’s combination of man and horse is analogous to that of man and machine embodied in an armed helicopter. A crescent moon is a reminder of the unit’s propensity to carry out its mission either at night or at dusk or twilight.
This insignia was originally approved on 5 March 1982 while the unit was still designated as a battalion. It was redesignated for the 160th Aviation Regiment with an effective date of 16 January 1988; its description was amended and metric measurements added to the blazon on 22 September 1992.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."