The 306th Military Intelligence Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), also called a unit crest, was originally approved for the 306th Army Security Agency Battalion on 30 April 1959 and was redesignated for the 306th Military Intelligence Battalion on 24 May 1990. Teal blue and white were the colors associated with Army Security Agency Battalions, the unit’s former designation. A volcano is an emblem recalling the area of the Pacific where the unit served, while the black sphere with white mullets (stars) is an allusion to the coat of arms of Captain Cook, discoverer of New Caledonia where the unit was activated in World War II. A lighting flash recalls the unit’s mission as a Signals organization (orange is the official branch color of the Signal Corps). NEMO VIGILANTIOR, the unit motto, is Latin for “No One More Watchful.”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 306th Military Intelligence Battalion was first constituted in the Army of the United States on 16 December 1944 as the 3910th Signal Service Company. Activated on 1 February 1945 on New Caledonia, the organization’s outstanding contributions during the war’s remaining months were recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation embroidered PACIFIC THEATER.
Inactivated in April 1946 while on Tinian, the unit was redesignated as the 303rd Signal Service Company, Army, and allotted to the Organized Reserves on 13 January 1948 and activated on 23 January 1948. The Company was reorganized and redesignated as the 303rd Signal Radio Intelligence Company on 5 September 1950, and on 3 January 1951 saw even more extensive changes as it was converted and redesignated as HQ and HQ Detachment, 306th Communication Reconnaissance Battalion. It was ordered into active military service at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for just over four years (1 May 1951 to 16 May 1955) before being inactivated on 29 July 1955.
The unit would be reorganized once and redesignated twice, the second time as the 306th Army Security Agency Battalion, before it was assigned to the Military Intelligence branch when it was designated as 306th Military Intelligence Battalion on 1 February 1990 and was concurrently withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army. On 18 May 1990, the Battalion’s headquarters were transferred to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and activated at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. For the next sixteen years, the Battalion’s mission was as a Training organization, with its service in that area recognized with an Army Superior Unit Award for the years 1999-2000.
Called into service in the War on Terrorism as an Aerial Exploitation unit, the Battalion’s HQ and HQ Service Company (HHSC) and subordinate Companies were deployed in support of both Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
In September 2012, detachments from the Battalion’s HHSC and Companies A, B, and D, serving as part of Task Force Odin-Afghanistan, were awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) for their outstanding service between June 2011 and May 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. May 2014 saw the Battalion’s HHSC and A and B Companies again tapped for a MUC, this time for service between April 2013 and March 2014 providing Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition Intelligence to combatant commanders throughout the Combined Joint Operations Area-Afghanistan.
The Battalion’s HHSC was individually awarded a third MUC for service between August 2012 and April 2013. This award was announced in October 2014—just under two years before the Battalion would be inactivated at a ceremony held 29 September 2016 at Robert Gray Army Airfield on West Fort Hood.