The 82nd Signal Battalion was originally constituted in the Enlisted Reserve Corps as a Signal Corps battalion on 1 July 1916 and organized 19 September 1917 at Camp Gordon, Georgia as the 13th Reserve Field Signal Battalion. It was ordered into active military service on 5 October 1917 and concurrently redesignated as the 307th Field Signal Battalion and assigned to the 82nd Division (later to become the 82nd Airborne Division). It took part in three World War I campaigns and was demobilized on 22 May 1919.
It was reconstituted in the Organized Reserves on 24 June 1921 as the 82nd Signal Company, assigned to the 82nd Division, and organized in February 1922 at Macon Georgia. Ordered into service in March 1942 and reorganized in Louisiana, the Company was redesignated in August as the 82nd Airborne Signal Company. During World War II, the Company fought in six campaigns, earning Arrowhead devices for six of them for being a part of an assault landing. It was also honored with a Presidential Unit Citation, two French Croix de Guerre with palm, a French Fourragere 1940, a Belgian Fourragere 1940 (for two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army), the Military Order of William (Netherlands), and a Netherlands Orange Lanyard.
The unit was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve Corps and allotted to the Regular Army in November 1948. It was reorganized and redesignated as the HHD, 82nd Signal Battalion on 19 July 1957 and activated the following September. It would not see action in Vietnam, but did take part in several Armed Forces Expeditions (Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama), as well as in two of three campaigns in the First Gulf War, where it earned a Meritorious Unit commendation. It was inactivated in 2006.
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Also known as a unit crest or DUI, the 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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."The 82nd Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia features a wavy vertical partition line; it represents the Rhine River flowing north and is a key waterway in the Rhineland where the unit served in World War II. A fleur-de-lis stands for combat service in France in both World Wars (represented by the counterchanging colors).
Two diamonds in the fluer-de-lis denote Belgium and the Netherlands, two top nations in the diamond-cutting industry. The winged chevron suggests the unit’s Airborne mission, with the color black taken from the field of the Belgian coat of Arms. Finally, chevron marks are the international Morse code for “82” and thus suggest the unit’s numerical designation. The motto, “The Commander’s Voice,” reminds us of the critical role Signals play in the Command and Control function.