The 159th Military Police Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia pays tribute to the unit’s activation in India with a pair of Indian elephants that also serves to recall the unit’s World War II service along India-Burma border: name notwithstanding, Indian elephants are also found in Myanmar (Burma). A partially obscured red chevron is a symbol of support and an ancient Indian “Wheel of Law” between the two elephants is a reference to law and law enforcement, the organization’s basic mission. This insignia was originally approved on 18 February 1977 and was amended (with affective date of 16 September 2011) to update the description. "Bastion Of Liberty," the unit motto, reaffirms the principle that the fruits of liberty can be fully gleaned only through the just enforcement of principled laws.
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. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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A unit in the Army Reserve located at Terre Haute, Indiana, the 159th Military Police Battalion was originally constituted as HQ and HQ Detachment, 159th Military Police Service Battalion in the Army of the United States on 20 August 1944; it was activated on 5 September 1944. The Battalion was inactivated in October 1945, starting a fifteen-year hiatus from service that would not end until 25 May 1959, three weeks after it had been redesignated as HQ and HQ Company, 159th Military Police Battalion, allotted to the Army Reserve, and assigned to the First United States Army.
Its assignment to First United States Army ended with its inactivation in March 1963. It was activated at Kansas City, Missouri concurrently with its redesignation as HQ and HQ Detachment, 159th Military Police Battalion on 15 April 1976, at which time it was also assigned to the Fifth United States Army. Its location changed to Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in Missouri in 1981, but the base’s closure led the Battalion to relocate to Terre Haute. As of Summer 2023, the Battalion is assigned to the 11th Military Police Brigade, 200th Military Police Command, United States Army Reserve.