The 30th Finance Battalion was a unit in the Tennessee Army National Guard. It was a component of the State Area Command (STARC), an organization comprising over 50 units that supported Army National Guard (ARNG) units and, if necessary, deploy with them. For example, when units of the Tennessee ARNG were deployed to Germany for Operation Joint Endeavor in December 1996, the 30th Finance Battalion was also sent there, along with other STARC units in specialties such as Public Affairs, Air Traffic Control and Meteorology.
The 30th Finance Battalion is no longer an active unit, but its current status is not made clear on the Tennessee Army National Guard Web site.
“First To Volunteer,” the unit motto of the 30th Finance Battalion,” is both a proclamation of the unit’s enthusiasm for service and an allusion to the home state of Tennessee, known as the “Volunteer State.” The diamond-shaped device in the center is called a lozenge in heraldry and is adapted from the branch insignia of the Finance Corps; the three stars in is center are adapted from the Tennessee state flag. The sixteen buff rectangles on the perimeter of the silver shield denote Tennessee’s status as the 16th state admitted to the Union.
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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.