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.The 577th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved for the 377th Engineer Battalion on 14 October 1942. It was redesignated for the 377th Engineer General Service Regiment on 15 September 1943, and on 8 March 1955 it was redesignated for the final time for the 577th Engineer Battalion (Construction). Scarlet and White (silver) are the colors of the Corps of Engineers, and the 577th Engineer Battalion DUI counterchanges the colors using a scarlet gear on a white background and a white shovel on a scarlet background. The gear symbolizes machinery and the shovel represents hand-held implements, both of which are needed by Engineers to perform their missions. AGENDO GNAVITER, the unit motto, is Latin for “By Doing Diligently.”
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.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The 577th Engineer Battalion was originally activated as the 377th Engineer Battalion on 15 July 1942 but was reorganized and redesignated as the 377th General Service Regiment. Deployed to Europe during World War II, the Regiment took part in the Northern France and Rhineland campaigns before returning to the United States and being inactivated in January 1946. The 577th Engineer Battalion (Construction) was created following the breakup of the Regiment on 25 February 1954.
Sent to Vietnam in 1966, the 577th Engineer Battalion as whole was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations for its service between August 1966 and December 1968, with its C Company earning an individua MUC (May 1966 – April 1967) and its Headquarters and Headquarters Company being tapped for a Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class. After being inactivated in July 1972, the unit was dormant for over fourteen years until it was reactivated on 30 September 1986 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where it would go on to serve as an Engineer training organization for the nearly twenty-seven years.
The 577th Engineer Battalion’s service life came to an end on 20 June 2008 when it was amalgamated with the 554th Engineer Battalion, which as of Autumn 2023 is still serving as a training unit at the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood.