The Institute Of Heraldry does not have a listing for the 418th Quartermaster Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest or DUI), but it does confirm that “Poised And Ready” is the unit motto. Thirteen black droplets indicate that the Battalion’s mission at the time that the insignia’s design was approved involved petroleum (as does its current Army Reserve designation as a Petroleum Support or Supply organization), and news reports from 2014 and 2015 indicate that the Battalion took part in the Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise, or QLLEX. (QLLEX is a joint forces exercise that pits 64 units at eight locations across the continental United States in a competition involving the delivery of more than 3.25 million gallons of petroleum and the production of 479,000 gallons of water, all with the goal of honing the military-decision-making skills of Battalion staff.)
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 (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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The 418th Quartermaster Battalion was originally constituted in the Army of the United States and with a different numerical designation and as a differently sized organization, namely the 545th Quartermaster Group. Activated on 29 July 1944 in England and inactivated the following 25 June in France, the unit was redesignated as HQ and HQ Detachment, 418th Quartermaster Battalion and allotted to the Organized Reserves, where it remains allotted in 2022, and was activated on 30 December 1947 in Dallas.
Inactivated on Halloween Day, 1950 in Dallas Texas, the Battalion was dormant until its inactivation on 1 September 1997 at Tucson, Arizona. It was still based in Tucson when it was ordered into active military service in February 2003 until 22 May 2004. A decade later, the Battalion’s location was changed Red Rock, Arizona; as of Spring 2022, it is listed as Marana, Arizona.
When not called to active military service, the 418th Quartermaster Battalion is assigned to the 653rd Regional Support Group, 311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 79th Theater Sustainment Command, United States Army Reserve. Its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, as well as as its two subordinate units (a Company and a Detachment), are based in Marana, Arizona.