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. Current regulations do not permit the DUI to be 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. The 761st Military Police Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved for wear on 20 July 1992. Its green scroll and gold (yellow) disc signify the organization’s status as Military Police unit. A fleur-de-lis I in the center stands for service in France during World War II, with the flower’s three sections alluding to the three campaigns in which the unit took part (Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland).
A black tower in U.S. military heraldry almost always refers to service in either the Rhineland or Central Europe campaigns of World War II; here it references the Rhineland campaign and is also an allusion to the security function of the Battalion.
The red annulet encircling the golden disc symbolizes the Battalion’s continuity of service in both peace and war, and when it combined with the green scroll it recalls the French Croix-de-Guerre the Battalion was awarded. Red is courage; gold is for excellence; black denotes strength and resolve.
SALUS ET HUMANITAS is the Battalion motto. It is a Latin phrase that translates into English as “Security And Humanity.”
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Originally constituted in the Army of the United States on 12 November 1942 and activated sixteen days later at Fort Custer, Michigan, the 783rd Military Police Battalion has been allotted to the Army Reserve since 1948 and the Reserve was designated as the Organized Reserves (it would later be known as the Organized Reserve Corps before becoming the Army Reserve in 1952).
Redesignated as the 301st Military Police Battalion on 2 March 1948 when it was allotted to the Reserve as an inactivated unit, the Battalion was activated from 26 March 1948 until 31 May 1952 and given its current designation on 24 June 1953 while still inactive. Indeed, it would remain inactivated for nearly thirty-eight more years before it was activated at Inkster, Michigan on 16 December 1991. It was ordered into active military service from 23 April 2004 to 22 April 2005 when it reverted to Reserve status. It was called to service again in 2008 – 2009, and its service between August 2008 and June 2009 was later recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation first announced in 2009 and officially confirmed in General Order 2013-22 in 2013.
As of Spring 2022, the Battalion is not listed as being active on the official U.S. Army Reserve Web site. When last active, the Battalion was headquartered at Inkster, Michigan and was assigned to the 300th Military Police Brigade.