While the U.S. Army Center of Military History states that the 14th Ordnance Battalion, constituted on 24 March 1942 in the Army of the United States, was the earliest ancestral unit of today’s 216th Engineer Battalion, the Ohio Army National Guard Web site reveals that the HQ and HQ Company, 216th Engineer Battalion was organized in Manchester, Ohio as Company G, 7th Separate Infantry Battalion on 22 November 1900.
The descendant units of this earlier iteration were used to form the organic elements of the 216th Engineer Battalion created through the conversion and redesignation of the 14th Ordnance Battalion in September 1959, and as a result the Battalion’s HQ Company is credited with three campaigns apiece from World War I and World War II that the Battalion as a whole is not; similarly, the Battalion’s Supply Company is individually credited with the Lorraine 1918 (WWI), New Guinea (WWII), and Global War on Terrorism campaigns.
On the other hand, the Battalion as a whole earned credit for participation in five World War II campaigns, garnering a Meritorious Unit Commendation for it service during that period. It also fought in two campaigns in the Iraq theater of the War on Terrorism, earning a Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in Southwest Asia in 2004. Today, the 216th Engineer Battalion is a unit in the Ohio Army National Guard’s 16th Engineer Brigade with its HQ located in Woodlawn, Ohio.
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Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the 216th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 2 March 1960, with a shield divided into three sections that reflect the Battalions missions of construction (the castle wall and embattlements at the bottom), maintenance (the girder in the center), and demolition (the lighting flashes at the top). The five lighting flashes also stand for the five campaigns the Battalion fought in during World War II; its service as a combat engineer units is reflected in the unit motto, “Fight And Build.”
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.More 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