According to the reference book U.S. Army Patches, Flashes and Ovals authored by by insignia expert Barry Jason Stein, both the beret flash and background trimming approved for the 426th Signal Battalion were worn beginning in June 1992—just ten months before the Battalion was inactivated on 15 April 1993.
Authorized wearers for both the flash (also called an organizational flash) and oval (officially dubbed background trimming) are listed in
paragraph 21-32(a)(4) and (b)(4)) of AR 670-1.
The beret flash, also called an organizational flash, is worn centered on the stiffener of the maroon beret authorized for Airborne units, while the oval is worn beneath either a Parachutist or Air Assault badge on the coats of the AGSU and ASU, Service Uniform shirts, and the green or blue Army Maternity Tunic. Officers center their non-subdued insignia of grade on the flash, while Enlisted personnel wear either their Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) or their Regimental Distinctive Unit Insignia if their unit lacks a DUI. Exceptions to this rule are found in
paragraph 4-10(e of DA PAM 670-1
The oval and badge are considered one item when determining the maximum number of badges or devices worn on a uniform, and its outermost edges—whether or not it’s the badge or the oval—are used for measurement purposes. Complete wear guidance for both these insignia is found in
paragraph 21-32 of DA PAM 670-1.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The 426th Signal Battalion was originally constituted in the Army of the United States on 28 June 1942. It was redesignated as the 426th Signal Construction Battalion, Aviation on 19 January 1943, follow by a July 1944 reorganization and redesignation as the 426th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion. It took part in two Campaigns in the European Theater, Rome-Arno and North Apennines, before the war’s end and its subsequentinactivation in Italy on 8 November 1945.
It was redesignated as on 2 March 1967 as the 426th Signal Battalion, allotted to the Regular Army, and activated 25 April 1967 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It would go on to take part in two campaigns in the First Gulf War in 1990-1991, Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation and Defense of Kuwait, and earn a Meritorious Unit Commendation that was awarded in early 1994, several months after its inactivation on 15 April 1993.