The Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest or DUI) that is worn by Army personnel assigned to the Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM), Department of Defense was approved on 15 March 1985. It features a pentagon inside an encircling blue scroll with red backing inscribed with the Command’s complete designation, including its parent organization the Department of Defense.
Five sides of the pentagon denote the five services from which the Command draws its staffing and that the Command supports. Its three basic functions of administrative processing, mental evaluation, and medical assessment of enlistees are represented respectively by the black-and-white checkered regions, the blue region, and the red area. An upright gold sword recalls the military nature of the command while invoking the Command’s imperative to select new service members who possess high ideals.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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 MEPCOM mission is naturally associated with its sixty-five Military Entrance Processing Stations found throughout the United States (but not in every single state) and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery tests it administers at those locations, as well as at nearly 180 Mobile Examining Team Sites.
Equally important to its mission, however, is the Command’s administration of hundreds of thousands of ASVAB tests at high schools across the nation, where it serves as a counseling tool for those assisting students in making academic and vocational decisions while also helping our country’s Armed Forces identify a large pool of qualified potential enlistees.
Related ItemsUSAE Military Entrance Process Command, DOD Patch (SSI)