The 766th Transportation Battalion was originally constituted in the Army of the United States on 28 August 1944 as the 766th Railway Shop Battalion and activated on 4 September 1944 at Camp Plaucher. After earning a European-African-Middle Eastern Theater without inscription, the unit was inactivated in Februaruy 1946. It was gien its current designation on 16 April 1959 and allotted to the Army Reserve, with its HQ and HQ Detachment activated on 1 May 1959 at Gary, Indiana. It underwent a four-year-plus period of inactivation from 1968 to 1972.
It would be called into active military service in 1990 and take part in all three Southwest Asia campaigns. It followed this service by earning an Army Superior Unit Award for its performance in 1993 and 1994. It was again ordered into active military on 7 December 2003, and reverted to Reserve status upon its release from service on 3 June 2005; its campaign participation is yet to be determined. As of Autumn 2023, the 766th Transportation Battalion remains allotted to the U.S. Army Reserve. It is assigned to the 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377th Theater Sustainment Command and is headquartered in South Bend, Indiana.
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The 766th Transportation Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, as approved on 24 July 1972. A line of railroad track and a fleur-de-lis in the center of the insignia recall the unit's service in the European Theater as a Railway Shop Battalion. Four truck wheels together with the straight bars connecting them (roadways) represent the motor transport mission of the Battalion. The unit's home station at the time, Evansville, Indiana, is denoted by the crossed bars symbolizing the state motto of “The Crossroads Of America;” combined with the wavy stripe symbolizing the Ohio River they allude to Evansville's renowned river-rail-highway terminal facility.
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.