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.
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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The 212th Combat Support Hospital was first organized as Evacuation Hospital Number 12 on 28 December 1917 and took part in the St. Mihiel campaign in France before being demobilized in 1919. In November 1936, it was reconstituted in the Organized Reserves and simultaneously consolidated with the 12th Evacuation Hospital, retaining the latter unit’s designation. It was ordered into active service in 1942 and took part in four campaigns in the European Theater during World War II, its exceptional service throughout the fighting recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Inactivated in 1946, it was redesignated as the 12th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile in January 1952 and removed from the Reserves and allotted to the Regular Army.
From 1953 until 1970, the activated unit was redesignated as the 12th Evacuation Hospital and was deployed to Vietnam. Over the course of eleven campaigns in Vietnam, the unit earned four Meritorious Unit Commendations between 1966 and 1970, two Republic of Vietnam (ROV) Cross of Gallantry medals with palm, and an ROV Civil Action Honor Medal First Class. While still under that designation, it took part in all three campaigns of the Gulf War before being redesignated as the 212th Surgical Hospital in 1992. Called into frontline service in 2003, it was redesignated as a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) and awarded another Meritorious Unit Commendation (not announced until 2014). In 2006, it became the 212th Combat Support Hospital, a designation it retained for almost fifteen years.
On 29 September 2020, a Transformation Ceremony was held at Rhine Ordnance Barracks in Kaiserslautern, Germany as the 212th Combat Support Hospital was reorganized and redesignated as the 519th Hospital Center and 512th Field Hospital, with the Field Hospital inheriting the 212th Combat Support Hospital DUI.