The 250th Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, better known as a unit crest or a DUI, was originally approved on 13 July 1964 and was amended on 10 September 1964 to alter the blazonry of the crest and shield.
In the center of the insignia is a shield divided into a chief with a black background with a lion, taken from the coats of arms of Normandy, that is charged with a pheon (arrow shape) to reflect not only the Arrowhead device the Battalion was awarded for it service there, but also to the French Croix de Guerre it received. Below the chief is the orange-and-white portion of the shield, two colors used for Signal Corps heraldry. A pair of fleur-de-lis recall the unit’s service in France in both World Wars, with the wavy bend referring to the Rhineland and Central Europe. “Sound Of Might” is the unit motto.
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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
A New Jersey Army National Guard unit that has been inactivated, redesignated, or disbanded, the 250th Signal Battalion was originally organized on21 February 1917 in the New Jersey National Guard as Newark HQ Company, 1st Infantry and was drafted into Federal service 5 August 1917.
It was reorganized and redesignated in October 1917 as HQ Company, 113th Infantry before being deployed to France as part of the 29th Division, where it fought in two campaigns, Meuse-Argonne and Alsace 1918, before demobilization in May 1919. At the start of World War II, the unit was still designated as HQ, 113th Infantry but had been reorganized as an element of the 44th Division, but was relieved from assignment to the Division in February 1942. The Battalion’s C Company fought in five campaigns during the war, earning the Arrowhead mentioned above as well as the French Croix de Guerre for service at Normandy alluded to in the insignia.
The unit was redesignated as the HQ and HQ Company, 250th Signal Battalion in March 1959 and assigned to the 50th Armored Division. It was relieved from that assignment and assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division in 1993 and its HQ relocated to Westfield, New Jersey in 1994, with Companies stationed in Woodbridge, Somerset, Flemington, and Woodbury. The Battalion is no longer active, with the last published reference to it as an active unit coming in December 2008.
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