Approved on 4 November 1966, the 14th Military Intelligence Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, uses dichotomy to reflect the dual nature of the Battalion’s mission in collecting intelligence while also performing counterintelligence measures. A dove-tailed partition separates two whelk (sea snail) shells, each colored in the shade of the field opposite it (countercharging); the shells represent the reception and transmission of sounds and vibrations and thus stand for the collection and distribution of information. The two fields are integrated through jigsaw-like dove-tailed partition, a visual reference to the interpretation and collation of distinct pieces of information in order to form a holistic picture. Counterintelligence is denoted through the countercharged colors of the shells. “Support By Intelligence,” the Battalion motto, is also found on the unit’s coat of arms.
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. 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.
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The 14th Military Intelligence Battalion was activated in 1965. Relocated to Fort Lewis from Fort Bragg following a sixteen-year inactivation, the Battalion served as I Corps’ Tactical Exploitation Battalion (TEB) while stationed in Washington, and in 1997 provided a monograph to the Federation of American Scientists on the tactics, techniques, and procedures of Tactical Human Intelligence (HUMINT). As a TEB, it was organized with personnel specializing in Counterintelligence, Long-Range Surveillance, and Interrogation Prisoner of War procedures.
Inactivated the same year the monograph was produced (1997), the Battalion was activated back at Fort Bragg in 2008 for deployment to Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. In October 2011, the 14th Military Intelligence Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, garnering a Meritorious Unit Commendation that was issued following its inactivation in June 2013. In the months leading up to inactivation, the Battalion, self-nicknamed “Vipers,” used its remaining time to train other MI units in Human Intelligence methods and techniques.