Stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia since 1986, the 551st Signal Battalion provides Advanced Individual Training that transforms Soldiers into “Signal Warriors.” It was originally constituted on 10 December 1941 in the Army of the United States as the 551st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, Separate and subsequently redesignated as the 551st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion on 12 December 1942.
The Battalion served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II, taking part in the Northern Solomons, Leyte, and Southern Philippines campaigns and earning a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. Inactivated in the Philippine Islands on 1 February 1946, the Battalion was dormant for more than forty years until September 1986 when it was given its current designation, allotted to the Regular Army, its Headquarters transferred to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and it was activated at Fort Gordon (redesignated as Fort Eisenhower on 27 October 2023).
VIDEO ET MONEO, the unit motto seen on the 551st Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, is Latin for “I Watch And Warn.” The orange and white (silver) insignia features a wedge-shaped pile (V-Shaped device) that symbolizes the driving force of the organization, with a bell in its center that represents contact. The pile is also symbolic of “V for Victory,” and the interlacing on the left and right of the pile represents the organization’s plotting functions.
This Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved for the 551st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion on 20 December 1942 and was redesignated for the 551st Signal Battalion with an effective date of 16 September 1986.
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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.
More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.