The 168th Engineer Battalion was originally designated an Engineer Combat Battalion when it was constituted on 25 February 1943 and activated at Camp Carson on 5 May 1943. As part of 3rd Army commanded by General George Patton, the Battalion landed in Normandy in mid-July 1944 and, before the war ended, also served with the 1st and 9th Armies. While attached to the 7th Armored Division, 1st Army, it fought in the Battle of St. Vith, repulsing numerous attacks over a nearly weeklong period and consequently disrupting the timetable of the German Ardennes Offensive. In all, the Battalion earned credit for participation in five campaigns in the European Theater, in addition to the Presidential Unit Commendation it was awarded for the fighting at St. Vith.
The unit was redesignated the 168th Engineer Battalion in 1954 and activated the next year. During the Vietnam War, it would take part in ten campaigns and find itself the recipient of three Meritorious Unit Commendations, a Valorous Unit Award (Iron Triangle—Zones C, D), and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal First Class. Upon its return to the U.S., the Battalion was inactivated in 1970 and would not be activated for twenty-five years, and then only from 1995 to 2000, when it cased its colors for the last time on September 15th.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
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.
Approved on 2 March 1956, the 168th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia features a shield divided by a zig-zag line representing the Siegfried Line, a dominant feature of the area in which the Battalion fought in the Rhineland and Ardennes-Alsace campaigns. Five shell bursts are symbolic of the five World War II campaigns in which the unit fought and provided “Assistance To All.”
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.