U.S. ARMY 796TH MILITARY POLICE BATTALION UNIT CREST (DUI)

The 796th Military Police Battalion was originally constituted as the 795th Military Police Battalion on 23 June 1942 in the Army of the United States and activated at Fort Sam Houston, Texas on 9 July 1942. It would serve in two European campaigns during World War II, Northern France and Rhineland, before the war’s end and its reorganization and redesignation under its current title on 5 August 1946.

Allotted to the Regular Army on 2 November 1951, the Battalion was inactivated in March 1953 in Austria, a period of inactivity that would lost more than half of a century. On 15 January 2007, in anticipation of the surge of Soldiers being called into active duty for service in Iraq, the Battalions headquarters were transferred to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and were activated, only to be inactivated shortly thereafter on 17 December 2008.

According to The Institute of Heraldry, the 796th Military Police Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, more often referred to as a DUI or a unit crest, was approved on 18 February 1943 and had its description amended on 5 April 1943. It was updated on 30 March 2007. Its broken green chevron represents the forward achievements of the Battalion during World War II, while the lion ramp embodies the characteristics of its personnel—a lively soldier “valiant of courage” with a strong body—a foe to fear. The scales in the upper left symbolize the impartial justice administered by the Battalion. JUSTI TERRAM INCOLANT, the unit motto, expresses the feelings of the personnel in performing their duties and is a Latin phrase that translates to "Let The Just Inhabit The Earth."

Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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.