This is the Distinctive Unit Insignia (aka “unit crest” or DUI) of the 320th Military Police Battalion, an Army Reserve unit stationed at Ashley, Pennsylvania. The Battalion was first activated for active military service during the First Gulf War, also called the Persian Gulf War, and during and after Operation Desert Storm the unit was responsible for some 20,000 Iraqi prisoners.
In 2003, elements of the Battalion were activated to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and during its year-long deployment in Iraq the unit had guarded roughly 20,000 prisoners. It was called into service again in 2008, when it spent a year guarding military prisoners at Camp Bucca. The Battalion was most recently deployed to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 2017-2018, returning to its home station in Ashley, Pennsylvania on 9 September 2018.
As of Summer 2023, the Battalion is no longer listed as an active unit on the Army Reserve Web site. When activated, it was assigned to a Military Police Brigade under the command and control of the 200th Military Police Command.
There is no information on The Institute of Heraldry Web site about the origin of this insignia or the meaning of the symbols and images used in it. This Distinctive Unit Insignia is one of only a handful that does not display the motto of the organization for which it has been designated.
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The 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.