Worn today by members of the 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, this embroidered oval—technically named Airborne background trimming because it serves as a backing for two Airborne-related Skill badges—was originally approved on 29 February 1988 for the 426th Supply and Transportation Battalion. It was subsequently redesignated for the 426th Forward Support Battalion on 29 June 2002.
Ovals are worn beneath Parachutist and Air Assault badges, which are centered on the embroidered insignia before being worn on the AGSU and ASU coat (including the ASU Dress variation), Class B AGSU shirt, and the blue or green Army Maternity Tunic (female Soldiers only). General wear guidance for ovals is found in
DA PAM 670-1, Chapter 21-32 (b), while detailed instructions on oval and badge positioning is outlined in
Chapter 22-16 (b) of the same manual.
The 426th Brigade Support Battalion was originally constituted 23 July 1918 as the 326th Supply Train in the National Army, but in 30 January 1942 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 426th Quartermaster Battalion, a part of the 101st Division. It was quickly disbanded and concurrently reconstituted on 15 August 1942, consolidated with the 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company, and the newly merged unit designated as the 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company, 101st Airborne Division.
It was reorganized and redesignated in April 1957 as the 426th Supply and Transportation Company, an element of the 101st Airborne Division; the reorg/redesignation process was repeated in February 1964 when it became HQ and HQ Company, 426th Supply and Transportation Company and still an element of the 101st Airborne Division—only to be inactivated fifteen months later at what is now its current home of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
It was redesignated 1 July 1968 as the 426th Supply and Services Battalion and activated in Vietnam, and for its service between 1968 and 1971Two Meritorious Unit Commendations, three Republic of Vietnam (ROV) Cross of Gallantry with Palm awards, and an ROV Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class.
Redesignated as the 426th Supply and Transportation Battalion in 1986 (the unit for which the oval was first approved), it would be redesignated as the 426th Support and 426th Forward Support Battalion before being designated as the 426th Brigade Support Battalion in 2004 to reflect the modular force structure adopted by the U.S. Army in the 2000s assigned to the 101st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. As part of the 101st Airborne and then the 1st BCT, 101st Airborne, the Battalion has been deployed on numerous occasions in support of the War on Terrorism, and its outstanding service has been recognized both at the Battalion level as well as for its component Companies.
The Battalion as a whole has been tapped for a Meritorious Unit Commendation three times, and its courage and heroism facing an armed enemy between June and September 2010 was acknowledge with a Valorous Unit Award. Its D, E, F, and G Companies are the recipients of no fewer than nine Meritorious Unit Commendations, with Company D chosen for three and the remainder two apiece, and in 2011 the Battalion and all its Companies were honored with the Army Superior Unit Award for providing “unparalleled support” to 1st BCT, 101st Airborne through its “intensive training cycle and preparation for deployment.”