Now obsolete due to the deactivation of the 250th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, this Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a DUI or unit crest) was originally approved wear by personnel in the 250th Coast Artillery Regiment on 24 March 1925. It was subsequently redesignated twice—for the 728th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 9 January 1952 and for the 250th Artillery Regiment on 17 March 1961—before it was finally designated as the 250th Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia on 6 July 1972.
A red or scarlet shield denotes the organization’s origins as an Artillery or Coast Artillery unit. The vertical white bar, called a pale in heraldry, contains a palm tree to recall service in the Philippine Insurrection (the Regiment’s roots go back to the organization of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1861, inspiration for the official special desgination “First California”), while the Spanish castle on the left also recalls service in the Philippines, but during the Spanish War rather than the Insurrection which followed it. On the right, a wreathed fleur-de-lis is service in France during World War I.
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. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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A unit in the California Army National guard, the 250th Air Defense Artillery Regiment was first assigned to the ADA site at Lake Chabot/Castro Valley in June 1963 when Battery B, 1st Battalion was given operational control. Though garrisoned by a National Guard unit, the site was an active Army installation organized as a sub-installation under the command of the Presidio of San Francisco. The Battery was armed with Nike-Hercules missiles, and eventually the Garrison was renamed Battery B, 1st Battalion (Nike-Hercules) 250th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.
The site was deactivated in 1972 and Battery B inactivated in 1974.