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.
The 30th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia consists of two components: a gold scroll with the unit motto “Striving To The Highest” in scarlet letters, and a scarlet shield with two wavy horizontal lines and a five-pointed star in the upper half and a dragon rampant in the lower half. Scarlet is used throughout to indicate the unit’s status as Field Artillery. On the shield, the horizontal lines, called “barrulets wavy” in heraldic terms, symbolize the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the star above them is the North Star and denotes service in the Aleutian Islands, and the lindwurm (German dragon) stands for service in Europe. Mottos are almost always included on Distinctive Unit Insignia, but it is not mandatory.
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Constituted originally as the 30th Field Artillery in the National Guard on 5 July 1918 and assigned to the 10th Division, the 30th Field Artillery was organized at Camp Funston on 10 August 1918 but did not see combat during World War I. In May 1944, the Regiment was broken up, with its Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 9HHB) being redesignated as HHB, 30th Field Artillery Group, which in 1959 was consolidated with another unit to create the parent regiment 30th Artillery under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). This lineage was recognized with three campaigns in World War II (Aleutian Islands, Rhineland, and Central Europe).
The 30th Artillery would go on to serve in thirteen Vietnam War campaigns and receive a Valorous Unit Award and three Meritorious Unit Commendations before it was redesignated as the 30th Field Artillery in September 1971. It was withdrawn from CARS in 1988 reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System before transferred to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Today, the sole active battalion of the 30th Field Artillery Regiment is its 1st Battalion. It is assigned to the 428th Field Artillery Brigade of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where it leads courses for Field Officers and Warrant Officers.