It is unclear when or under what designation the 1st Civil Affairs Battalion was constituted and organized: its lineage is not listed at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Some sources speculate that it might have been organized from the 1st Civil Affairs Company (Airborne), an active-duty unit manned by expatriates from Warsaw Pact nations that was stationed at Fort Bragg and associated with the 10th Special Forces Group. Another theory is that the 97th Civil Affairs Group (Airborne), which was stationed on Okinawa and inactivated in 1969, was redesignated as the 1st Civil Affairs Battalion.
The latter theory is bolstered by the fact that the 1st Civil Affairs Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 13 January 1970. According to the book U.S. Army Heraldic Crests: A Complete Illustrated History of Authorized Unit Insignia by Barry Jason Stein and edited by P.J. Capelotti, the torii in the insignia represents the Battalion’s “service in Okinawa,” and the winged beam atop the torii indicates Airborne capabilities. A sword and scroll are taken from the Civil Affairs branch insignia, but unlike that insignia the scroll has been unfurled, indicating active performance of civil affairs functions.
While the 1st Civil Affairs Battalion’s history is decidedly murky, we do know when the Battalion ceased to operate. According to a Department of the Army Historical Summary, the Army inactivated its two forward-deployed Civil Affairs units, the 1st CAB and the 3rd Civil Affairs Group, with the 1st being inactivated at the end of the reporting period for Fiscal Year 1974.
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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" and 21–3(d) and (e),
"Beret" and
"Garrison Cap," respectively.