The Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division was originally constituted and activated in the Army of the United States on 6 November 1944 at Camp Swift, Texas. Serving with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy, the Battalion took part in the North Apennines and Po Valley campaigns before the war drew to a close and the unit was inactivated in November 1945. In 1948, it was converted to the 10th Replacement Company and assigned to the 10th Infantry Division.
Redesignated as the 10th Administrative Company in 1957, it began a 46-year period of inactivation in 1958 that drew to a close with its reactivation at Fort Drum in September 2004; it was simultaneously redesignated as Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division. As the Special Troops Battalion, the unit consisted of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a Combat Engineer Company, a Signal Company, a Military Intelligence Company, and a Military Police Platoon. All these were mountain-warfare qualified.
At some point after 2013, the Special Troops Battalion was either inactivated or demobilized and its personnel shifted to become the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, and the old 10th Mountain Division Special Troops Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia was not redesignated for the new entity; it instead wears the 10th Mountain Division DUI.
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Commonly called a unit crest or a DUI for short, the Distinctive Unit Insignia for the Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division features a shield place on a red disc; inside the shield are a mountain range, two crossed swords, and a gauntleted fist. The mountains refer to the unit’s designation in the 10th Mountain Division as well as to the unit motto, “PERVINCO ACROCERAUNIA,” which is Latin for “Conquer The Mountain.” Crossed swords create the Roman numeral “X” for the unit’s numerical designation, and the gauntleted hand reflects the unit’s conquering and victorious spirit.
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 (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.
Full 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.