Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a 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.
Maroon and white found throughout the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 28th Combat Support Hospital are the branch colors of the Army Medical Department. The cross in the center is a direct reference to the Hospital and its mission of medical assistance, while the Chinese dragon superimposed upon it symbolizes the unit’s service in the China Defensive campaign during World War II (it also spawned the unit’s nickname “China Dragons”). "Service Through Mobility," the unit motto, is a reference to the unit's capabilities in the field, particularly as a Portable Surgical Hospital (see below). The insignia was originally approved on 5 March 1970 when the unit was still designated as the 28th Surgical Hospital; it was redesignated for the 28th Combat Support Hospital on 2 January 1973.
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.
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The 28th Combat Support Hospital was originally constituted on 25 May 1943 as the 28th Portable Surgical Hospital in the Army of the United States. After serving in two campaigns in the China Burma India Theater (China Defensive and China Offensive), the unit was inactivated in December 1945 in India. Redesignated as the 28th Surgical Hospital in April 1967 and allotted to the Regular Army, it was activated on 25 July 1967 and then reorganized and redesignated as the 28th Combat Support Hospital on 21 December 1972.
Deployed to Southwest Asia during the First Gulf War, the unit was the first Hospital set up during Operation Desert Shield and remained in theater for a month following the end of combat operations in order to treat civilians and POWs. It was awarded participation for two of the three Southwest Asia campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation of Kuwait, and a Meritorious Unit Commendation. It deployed very early during invasion of Iraq, earning the first of four Meritorious Unit Commendations during the War on Terrorism for service between March and December 2003.
The 28th Combat Support Hospital was reorganized and redesignated as the 16th Hospital Center and 528th Field Hospital in April 2020.