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.
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The 46th Engineer Battalion was constituted in the National Army as the 46th Engineers on 7 December 1917 and organized in March and April 1918. Converted and redesignated in September 1918 as 46th Regiment, Transportation Corps, the Regiment did receive a World War I streamer, but without an inscription for a particular campaign or battle. The Regiment was broken up the day after the Armistice was signed.
Reconstituted by the time the U.S. entered World War II, the 46th Engineers was redesignated as the 46th Engineer General Service Regiment on 18 March 1943, then was reorganized and redesignated in April 1944 as the 46th Engineer Construction Battalion. Nicknamed the “Steel Spike,” the Battalion took part in five campaigns in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater (one with an Arrowhead for taking part in the assault landing at Leyte) and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation, two Meritorious Unit Commendations, and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation during World War II.
Following World War II, the Battalion would undergo a couple of redesignations before receiving its current tile, 46th Engineer Battalion, in 1953. It was under this designation that the Battalion fought in fourteen Vietnam War campaigns and earned two Meritorious Unit Commendations and a Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class. The Battalion wouldn’t see combat again until the First Gulf War, where it took part in two of three campaigns and its service was honored with Meritorious Unit Commendation.
The Battalion earned the first of two Army Superior Unit Awards for it service in 1995-1996 (the second was for October 2011 to September 2013). During the War on Terrorism, the Battalion has earned credit for two campaigns (and might eventually be credited with more) and has been awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Navy Unit Commendation. As of Summer 2023, the Battalion is stationed at Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk) in Louisiana. It is under the command of the 20th Engineer Brigade which is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.