The 457th Transportation Battalion is a subordinate unit of the 644th Regional Support Group, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) in the United States Army Reserve. It was first constituted in the Reserve as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 457th Transportation Battalion on 24 November 1967 and activated on 31 January 1968. It was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters, 457th Transportation Battalion on 1 November 1968, a process that was repeated on 15 March 1972 restoring its designation back to HHD, 457th Transportation Battalion.
It was ordered into active military service at its home station of Fort Snelling, Minnesota on 5 October 2004 and released from service on 27 December 2005, a deployment for which the HHD would receive a Meritorious Unit Commendation. In early 2009, the Battalion was again deployed to Iraq, returning home and reverting back to Reserve status in November 2009. As of Autumn 2023, the 457th Transportation Battalion is still allotted to the U.S. Army Reserve and is still assigned to the 644th Regional Support Group. It is headquartered at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
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The 457th Transportation Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, most commonly referred to as a unit crest or a DUI, was originally approved on 23 April 1969. “Movement To Victory,” the unit motto , is inscribed in yellow script on a brick-red disc, thus incorporating the branch colors of the Transportation Corps. Green and yellow in the center of the insignia represents transportation “go” and controlled operations, respectively.
Three arrowheads emerging from a roundel simulate the design of a steering wheel, an allusion to the guidance responsibilities that are part of the unit’s mission; they also connote a military operation. A star at the top of the insignia serves the dual purpose of symbolizing leadership and the unit’s home state of Minnesota, known as “l’Etoile du Nor” (“the North Star”), with the wavy bands representing water and the Saint Paul region of the state.