This Organizational Flash was authorized for Soldiers serving in an Airborne-qualified Light Recon Detachment drawn from the HQ and HQ Company of the Alaska Army National Guard’s 207th Infantry Group. Although The Institute of Heraldry has yet to post a synopsis of the flash’s origins or symbolism, it is safe to assume that the star in the upper left corner symbolizes the North Star, a constant sight in the nighttime skies of the unit’s home state.
At various times throughout its service life, the 207th Infantry Group was organized with Infantry Battalions from the 297th Infantry Regiment. It was reorganized and redesignated in 2008 with its subordinate units being used to form the 297th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade and 38th Troop Command, along with some smaller units. (Note: the 297th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade was inactivated in August 2016 and the 297th Regional Support Group was activated.)
Prior to 2001, Organizational Flashes—“flash” for short—were worn only by personnel serving Special Forces, Airborne, or Ranger units; these were easily identifiable thanks to their uniquely colored berets, which at that time were green, maroon, and black, respectively.
But the decision by Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki to mandate black berets for wear with Service and Dress Uniforms by all Soldiers brought the flash front and center, literally: it is worn centered on the beret stiffener, with either a Distinctive Unit Insignia or Regimental Distinctive Insignia worn centered on the flash. Shinseki’s move also required the Rangers to give up their treasured black berets; they were assigned brown berets instead, with Soldiers wearing the black berets being assigned a single, Army-wide flash.
Today, there are four organizations represented with non-black berets and authorized to wear distinctive unit flashes: Airborne (maroon berets), Ranger (tan), Special Forces (green), and the Special Force Assistance Command (brown).