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.
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The 18th Regiment was first constituted on 22 July 1985 in the California National Guard as the 7th Infantry and was expanded and reorganized as the 7th Infantry Regiment in 1888. Following the United States entry into World War I, the unit had been consolidated with several others to form the 160th Infantry and was assigned to the 80th Infantry Brigade, 40th Division. The 40th was made a replacement division (6th Depot Division) after it arrived in France and it was broken up, with units serving as reinforcements for combat divisions; this is why the Regiment’s World War I Victory streamer is not inscribed with specific campaigns or battles.
Following much reorganization, the unit was called into Federal service during World War II while it was designated as 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 185th Infantry and again assigned to the 40th Division (now 40th Infantry Division. It earned battle honors for three campaigns, two augmented with Arrowhead devices because it took part in assault landings (Luzon and Southern Philippine campaigns), as well as a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. Reorganized as the 2nd Battalion, 185th Infantry, the unit fought in four Korean War campaigns, earning a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.
After numerous redesignations, it received the equivalent of its current designation in 1974 as the 18th Cavalry in 1974 under the Combat Arms Regimental System; it was withdrawn from that system in 1988 and given the designation 18th Cavalry Regiment. Currently a part of the California Army National Guard, its sole active Squadron, the 1st, was called into Federal service to support Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service in 2014. The unit motto, VELOX ET MORTIFER, translates in English as “Quick And Deadly.”