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 (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.
Enlisted personnel wear the insignia centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
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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Maroon and white, branch colors of the Army Medical Department, are used extensively in the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 6252nd U.S. Army Hospital, with white counterchanged against scarlet on a cross to suggest the Spanish heritage of Ventura, site of the Hospital when not deployed overseas. The cross is also first and foremost a sign of aid and medical assistance, the primary function of the organization.
A wavy blue bar at base suggests Ventura’s location on the coast, and the organization’s home locale is also emphasized with the radiant sun denoting California, the “Golden State.” "Service, Solace, Strength" is the unit motto.
The 6252nd U.S. Army Hospital Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 23 April 1971.
In 2010, a detachment of the 6252nd U.S. Army Hospital was selected for an Army Superior Unit Award in 2010 for service in Kosovo in 2006 in support of Operation Joint Guardian, where it displayed “outstanding devotion and superior performance while executing varied peacekeeping missions in Kosovo.”
The 6252nd U.S. Army Hospital was inactivated in 2014.