The 36th Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, often called a unit crest referred to by the initials DUI, features the unit motto of “For The Commander” as the foundation for a shield divided horizontally into halves. The lion in the upper portion is from the arms of Normandy, the area where the Battalion saw its first action. Below it is a heraldic design called a vair, which is similar in appearance to a series of blue-and-white bells and is a reference to signaling.
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.
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The 36th Signal Battalion was first constituted on 11 May 1942 as the 36th Signal Construction Battalion, but was not activated until over a year later on 25 May 1943. It was redesignated on 1 March 1944 as the 36th Signal Heave Construction Battalion, and it was under this designation that it earned five battle honors for campaigns in the European Theater during World War II.
Inactivated in 1945, it was redesignated on 1 March 1963 as the 36th Signal Battalion and allotted to the Regular Army and activated the following March 26th. It was deployed to Vietnam where it earned credit for participation in twelve of the war’s seventeen campaigns, and it also received two Meritorious Unit Commendations before its Headquarters and Headquarters Company was redesignated as HQ and HQ Detachment on 1 March 1970, the date that its organic elements were inactivated. The HQ and HQ Detachment were soon to follow—they were inactivated on 26 August 1971 at Fort Lewis, Washington, but they were reactivated three years later in Korea on 1 July 1974.
As of Summer 2023, the 36th Signal Battalion is a part of the 1st Signal Brigade and is based at Camp Walker, Korea.