The 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest or a DUI, was originally approved for the 168th Medical Battalion and 20 January 1968, with the insignia being amended to revise the description and symbolism on 14 September 1993. It is not clear when the insignia was approved for the 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, but it is displayed on the Battalion’s official Facebook page.
A column with a serpent entwined around it is adapted from the staff of Asclepius and is a longtime symbol of medical support and assistance. A half-dozen stars, three on either of the column, stand for the provision of command administration; the octagon is a reference to the different aspects of medical planning. The one column (1), six stars, and eight octagon sides (8) reveal the numerical designation of the unit. The motto “Medical Aid And Support” encapsulates the message of embodied in the symbolism and colors of the unit crest.Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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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Constituted 14 August 1943 as HQ and HQ Detachment, 168th Medical Battalion in the Army of the United States and activated 10 September 1943, today’s 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion is credited with the four campaigns—Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe—its oldest forebear took part in during World War II. Following the war, the Battalion was inactivated more than thirteen years starting on 30 October 1945 and ending with an allotment to the Regular Army and activation in Korea on 25 December 1958. Nearly another thirteen years would elapse before the unit was inactivated again on 21 June 1971; it would remain inactive until October 1993 when it was again activated in Korea.
October 2007 saw the inactivation of the 168th Medical Battalion (Area Support) and the activation of the 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion at the Yongsan Army Garrison. Today, the 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion is part of the 8th Army and is stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Daegu.