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 (Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. Enlisted personnel wear the insignia centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
Full 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.
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The 56th Personnel Services Battalion is an inactivated unit in the New York Army National Guard. Formed in 1986, it provided administrative support, casualty assistance, and postal support for deployed Soldiers, and when necessary provided command and control to National Guard companies and detachments serving in the United States. Some of the units it commanded (all of which have also served in Iraq or Afghanistan, as has the Battalion’s Headquarters Company) include the 466th Area Medical Company, 4th Personnel Services Detachment, 138th Public Affairs Detachment, 4th Finance Detachment, and the 29th Personnel Services Detachment.
First organized as the 42nd Adjutant General Company, 42nd Infantry Division in 1986, the unit was reorganized as the 56th Personnel Services Battalion in 1993 and assigned to the 53rd Troop Command. It was officially inactivated on 1 August 2009 during a ceremony held at the Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters in Latham, New York. "Support, Strength, Victory," the motto of the Battalion, points to the vital importance of Soldier support in achieving not only victory in battle, but also success in helping Soldiers achieve their personal goals and fulfill their potential.