Called a unit crest or DUI by many Soldiers, 413th Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 20 June 1927 and was subsequently redesignated for the 413th Regiment on 2 August 1960. Its blue color is in homage to the organization’s origins in the Infantry Branch. “FORTIOR EX ASPERIS,” the unit motto, translates as “Stronger After Difficulties.”
A sea gull in the center of the shield portion of the insignia commemorates the allocation of the 413th Infantry Regiment to the Great Salt Lake region with its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. Legends recount the arrival of settlers in the Valley and how their first crops had been planted only to see the arrival of millions of grasshoppers. Knowing there was nothing in their power to stop the destruction their entire crop, the settlers prayed that something would be done to rid their land of the grasshoppers—and their pleas were answered by the arrival of sea gulls in the thousands who devoured the grasshoppers and saved the crops.
Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a 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. More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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The 413th Regiment was originally designated at the 413th Infantry Regiment when it was originally constituted on 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves (which later became the Organized Reserve Corps before finally being designated as today’s Army Reserve). Assigned to the 104th Division, the Regiment was ordered into active military service in September 1942 and fought in three World War II campaigns in Europe as part of the 104th Infantry Division, earning a Presidential Unit Citation for the extraordinary courage it displayed in action near the German town of Duren.
Inactivated between December 1945 and March 1947, the Regiment was activated in the Organized Reserves, still under assignment to the 104th Infantry Division. But in June 1959, the Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 413th Regiment, and along with the name change came a new assignment: Training new Soldiers as an element of the 104th Division (Training).
The Regiment has been reorganized at least a half-dozen times since, usually to reflect either a change in how many Battalion it has been allotted or a change in the designation of the 104th Division’s assignment and name; until April 2009, all of the Regiment’s Battalions were designated as elements of the 104th Division. In December 2016, the 1st Battalion cased its colors during an inactivation ceremony in Vancouver, Washington.
As of Autumn 2023, the Regiment’s 2nd Battalion is assigned to Headquarters, 2nd Brigade, 95th Training Division, 108th Training Command, United States Army Reserve, and the 4th Battalion is responsible for Senior ROTC training as a subordinate unit of HQ, 1st Brigade, 104th Training Division, also a part of the Army Reserve’s 108th Training Command.