Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 311th Regiment was originally approved for the 311th Infantry Regiment on 12 April 1929. It was redesignated for the 311th Regiment on 8 July 1960.
The 311th Regiment was originally constituted as the 311th Infantry in the National Army of the United States on 5 August 1917, assigned to the 78th Division, and organized at Camp Dix in New Jersey on 15 September 1917. It would mark the start of a 90-year relationship between the two organizations, with the Regiment serving in the Division in both World Wars, earning battle honors for three campaigns in France in WWI (St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine 1918) and in Europe during World War II (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe). For its extraordinary heroism in action against the Siegfried Line, the 2nd Battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.
With its reorganization and redesignation as the 311th Regiment in 1959, the unit became an element of the 78th Division and assumed a new mission of providing Training for new units in a variety of occupational specialties. It would be reorganized numerous times over the next four decades, either to reflect a change in the 78th Division’s designation or to change the number of Battalion allotted to the Regiment.
In April 2006, the Regiment was reorganized to comprise the 1st and 2nd Battalions, both of which were relieved from assignment to the 78th Division the following year. Since that time, each Battalion was chosen for the Army Superior Unit Award for outstanding service under difficult conditions for the period 2008-2011.
As of Autumn 2023, the 1st Battalion, 311th Regiment is assigned to a Combat Sustainment Support mission as part of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 85th Support Command, while the 2nd Battalion is once again serving with the 2nd Brigade of the 78th Division, 84th Training Command.