The 133rd Signal Battalion is an inactive component of the Illinois Army National Guard. It was originally constituted as a company of Signal Corps troops in the Illinois National Guard on 11 June 1897. After being drafted into Federal service in World War I, the unit was expanded, reorganized, and redesignated as the 108th Field Signal Battalion on 24 September 1917. Assigned to the 33rd Division, the Battalion fought in three campaigns before returning stateside and eventual demobilization in June 1919. It was reorganized and Federally recognized as the 33rd Signal Company, an element of the 33rd Division (later 33rd Infantry Division), in June 1922; it was inducted into Federal service on 5 March 1941. Serving again with the 33rd Infantry Division, the unit fought in two Asiatic-Pacific campaigns and was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Nearly fifteen years would elapse following the end of World War II before the Company was reorganized and redesignated as the 133rd Signal Battalion in 1959, but in 1968 it was consolidated with the 109th Signal Company and the newly merged unit was designated the 433rd Signal Company and relieved from assignment to the 33rd Infantry Division. In 1980, the unit was redesignated as the HQ and HQ Detachment, 133rd Signal Battalion, and then five years later it underwent its last reorganization when it was transformed into HQ and HQ Company, 133rd Signal Battalion on 1 October 1985. It is not clear when the Battalion was inactivated after that point.
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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. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.Orange and white (silver) are used abundantly on the 133rd Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia because they are the branch colors of the Signal Corps. Two areas of the insignia’s shield joined by the wavy line denote the two overseas locations in World War I and II, to wit, France and the Pacific. Three fleurs-de-lis stand for three campaigns in World War I, and two crossed spears denote two South Sea Island campaigns. The roundel is scarlet as an allusion to the Meritorious Unit Commendation the unit was awarded for the Pacific Theater. "Distance No Bar" is the unit motto.
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.