The 381st Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a DUI or a unit crest, was originally approved for the 381st Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 29 July 1928. On 3 August 1970, it was amended to revise the design’s symbolism; it was then redesignated, with description and symbolism revised again, for the 381st Regiment on 28 October 1993.
A white shield and scroll is a reference to the Infantry branch because that was the Infantry color for two periods in the branch’s history. The small dots in the center are known as ermine or ermine spot and are an allusion to fur and the fur trade that prospered along the Columbia River and attracted settlers to Oregon and Washington. PARATUS ET VIGILANS, the unit motto, is Latin for “Ready And Alert.”
You can find guidance on wear of the DUI 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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Originally constituted in the National Army as the 381st Infantry and assigned to the 96th Division on 5 September 1918, the 381st Regiment was demobilized less than three months later but reconstituted on 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves with the same name and parent unit it previously had. It was ordered into active military service on 15 August 1942 and reorganized at Camp Adair, Oregon before being deployed to the Pacific Theater, where it fought in two campaigns and received an Arrowhead device for taking part in an assault landing. Its service was also recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation for action on Okinawa and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Following a brief inactivation, the Regiment was assigned to the Organized Reserves in 1947 (these became the Army Reserve in 1952) and was reorganized on 1 June 1959 as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) consisting of the 1st Battle Group, an element of the 96th Infantry Division. On 1 February 1963, 1st Battle Group was inactivated and concurrently relieved from its assignment to the 96th Infantry Division.
The 381st Infantry became the 381st Regiment when it was removed from CARS and reorganized to consist of the 1st Battalion, and element of 75th Division (Exercise) in October 1993 (1st Battalion was removed from the Army Reserved and allotted to the Regular Army in 1999). The Regiment’s 2nd and 3rd Battalions, added in 1995, would remain elements of the 75th Division until 2007 when they were relieved from that assignment. 3rd Battalion was ordered into active military service on 27 January 2003 and relieved from that assignment on 25 January 2005; other Regimental elements would be called to serve in the War on Terrorism over the next two years.
As of Autumn 2023, the 381st Regiment’s two Battalions are allotted to the Army Reserve, with the 2nd Battalion assigned to the 120th Multifunctional Training Brigade, 85th Support Command, First Army and the 3rd Battalion assigned to 1st Brigade, 91st Training Division, 84th Training Command.