The 1200th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) is a unit in the Alabama Army National Guard, but there is a dearth of official information regarding the specifics of its lineage or its organizational status. In 2010, it was created from the 1200th Quartermaster Battalion, but its unit motto of “Save Fighting Strength” is attributed by The Institute of Heraldry to the 127th Medical Group, which was deployed during the First Gulf War. While the Alabama National Guard Web site states the 1200th CSSB is part of the 111th Ordnance Group, other sources claim that it falls under the command of the 135th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).
As a CSSB, the unit was called to active duty in 2015 to serve in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), the U.N. peacekeeping force that monitors the Egptian-Israeli border. Some 50 Soldiers were deployed to serve in three of the Zones overseen by the MFO.
The unit’s Southern heritage is on display in its Unit Crest, or Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI). A maroon Greek Cross in the insignia’s center would seem to indicate the Battalion did have some link to the Medical Corps at some point in its lineage; the cross is charged with a cotton plant sprig containing a white boll and surmounts a crimson saltire. According to The Institute of Heraldry, the four blue devices surrounding the Maroon cross are fleams, a tool used for bloodletting, primarily during veterinary procedures but almost certainly in some cases with humans, which combined with the cross would again suggest that the unit was at some point involved in the delivery of medical care.
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he 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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."