The 304th Military Police Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, was first approved for the 742nd Military Police Battalion on 11 January 1943. On 26 August 1957, it was redesignated for the 304th Military Police Battalion, but less than two months later was amended to change the description of the shield on 3 October 1957. The insignia was approved for the 304th Military Police Battalion with an effective wear date of 16 December 1991 and also amended to revise the description and symbolism.
Green and yellow (gold) are the colors long associated with the Military Police Corps. In the center of the shield is an alert scout or frontiersman placed atop a dodecafoil (dodeca is a prefix meaning twelve), crafted to resemble the sunflower, the state flower of Kansas and site of the unit’s activation. Armed with a rifle and wearing a cartridge belt, the alert scout’s ready posture and equipment symbolize the functions of the Battalion. COMIS SED FORTITER is Latin for “Courteous Yet Resolute," the characteristics displayed by the Battalion’s personnel in the execution of their duties.
The 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. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, the 304th Military Police Battalion is an Army Reserve unit that was originally constituted in the Army of the United States as the 742nd Military Police Battalion on 10 January 1952. Activated on 1 March 1942, the Battalion served the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and is credited with taking part in the New Guinea campaign before being inactivated on 10 April 1946.
Two-and-a-half years later, the Battalion was given its current designation and allotted to the Organized Reserve Corps (now the Army Reserve) before being activated on 29 November 1948 with its HQ in Memphis, Tennessee. It was subsequently inactivated from May 1959 until December 1991, when it was reactivated in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Battalion was ordered into active military service on 10 February 2003 and released from active service on 11 June 2004, reverting back to Reserve status. It was again called into service in 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, with the superior performance of a Detachment from its HQ and HQ Detachment subsequently recognized with a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period 20 December 2012 and 15 August 2013.
Today, the Battalion’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company are based in Nashville. It commands two subordinate units, the 450th Military Police Battalion and the 346th Military Police Detachment, and is assigned to the 290th Military Police Brigade.