The 440th Signal Battalion was activated for nearly the entirety of its sixty-five years of existence, with the only time it saw inactivation coming between May 1956 and October 1961. It was originally constituted on 18 March 1942 in the Army of the United States under the same designation it carried when inactivated on 22 May 2007. During that time, however, it had been reorganized and redesignated four times: as the 440th Signal Construction Battalion (December 1942), 440th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion (July 1944), 440th Signal Aviation Heavy Construction Battalion (April 1949), and 440th Signal Aviation Construction Battalion (May 1956).
Its battle honors included three campaigns in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II (New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon) and four during the Korea War, with it’s A Company also credited with two additional campaigns in Korea (UN Defense and UN Offensive). Its service in all three Pacific War campaigns was honored with a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (Company A was individually awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for actions on Papua, New Guinea). The Battalion was awarded four military decorations for Korean War service: an Army Presidential Unit Citation, an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and two Republic of Korea (ROK) Presidential Unit Citations.
Assigned to the 22nd Signal Brigade when deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Battalion was specifically named as a recipient (along with four other Signal Battalions) of a Meritorious Unit Commendation that was awarded to HHC, 22nd Signal Brigade for service between 19 March 2003 and 1 February 2004. The Battalion’s MUC was awarded on 1 October 2009, more than two years after it had been inactivated along with its parent organization the 22nd Signal Brigade.
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The 440th Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, more widely known as a “unit crest” or referred to as simply “DUI” for short, was originally approved on 7 January 1943 for the 449th Signal Construction Battalion. It was redesignated for the 440th Signal Battalion on 19 March 1962. A telephone pole in the shield is symbolic of the communication functions of the Battalion, with four circuits (pairs of lines) representing the organization’s four components (HQ Company, two Construction Companies, and a Medical Detachment) at the time the insignia was first approved. “Maintaining Contact” is the unit motto and summarized its mission.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.