The 106th Transportation Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 29 August 1966. Its brick red and yellow coloration denotes the unit’s status as part of the Transportation Corps, with the wings and wheel in the center symbolizing rapid delivery of men and materiel on the ground and through the air. PRIMUS INTER PARES, the unit motto, is Latin for “First Among Equals,” a reference to the hauling records attributed to the Battalion during World War II. Five fleurs-de-lis also recall World War II service, specifically the five campaigns in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater in which the Battalion took part. The black background behind the trio of fleurs-de-lis signify the three campaigns which took place in some part or in all on German territory.
Distinctive Unit Insignias 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.
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Currently assigned to the 101st Sustainment Brigade and based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 106th Transportation Battalion was constituted in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 2nd Battalion, 522nd Quartermaster Truck Regiment. Activated at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 15 April 1943, the unit was reorganized and redesignated in November 1943 as HHD, 106th Quartermaster Battalion, Mobile. It would go on to take part in five campaigns before the war’s end, remaining in Germany until inactivated in February 1946.
The unit was moved from the Quartermaster to the Transportation Corps in August 1946 when it was reorganized and redesignated as HHD, 106th Transportation Corps Truck Battalion; the HHD would become a Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) through a February 1955 redesignation to 106th Transportation Battalion that was concurrent with allotment to the Regular Army. Activated 18 March 1955 in France, the unit’s HHC was redesignated an HHD on 19 June 1959 while retaining the rest of its designation.
From 1959 to 1963, the Battalion was based in France, then relocated to Northern Germany for five years in Bremerhaven (1964-1969) and then spent nearly a quarter-century at Azbill Barracks, Rüsselsheim, Germany before being inactivated. Five years elapsed before the Battalion was reactivated on 17 October 1998 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 2007, the Battalion was one of the units deployed as part of the Iraqi Surge, with its superior performance during this period recognized with the award of a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
On 15 September 2011, the 106th Transportation Battalion at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, along with the 24th Transportation Battalion (Fort Eustis, Virginia) and the 57th Transportation Battalion (Fort Lewis, Washington) was inactivated and its companies of the 106th Battalion were transferred to the 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.