The Desert Combat Uniform (DCU) and beret belonged to SFC Shawn McElravy, who was NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) in charge of the 1290th Psychological detachment. The detachment was made up of men from 361st Psychological Company. The 361st is part of the US. Army reserve unit, 12th Psychology Operations Battalion. The unit was activated in 2003 then deployed to Mosul, Iraq in 2004-05 to support the 25th Infantry Division’s Stryker brigade. The detachment provided valuable support: Information war. The detachment would utilize press equipment such as large printers and heavy duty industrial paper cutting machine, with capabilities of printing flyers, airdrop leaflets, and posters. They also utilized various tools including but not limited to, broadcast equipment and loudspeakers. They used any tools that would enable them to deliver the information to local populations. More information, details, and images can be found here: http://www.psywarrior.com/361stPsyopIraq.html

The DCU has United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC) Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, the command 361st PSYOP company falls under, and a combat patch of 25th Infantry Division to reflect that he was deployed and attached with them. US flag patch is made of 3M type reflective material, mounted on Velcro. The Infrared reflective (IR) flag patch was adopted by Stryker Brigades at the time to assist soldiers with recognizing friendly/foe while wearing night vision goggles (NVG). DCU has air assault wing and Combat Action Badge (CAB). The CAB only awarded to non-infantry soldiers who saw combat, which indicated that SFC McElravy had his share of combat during the deployment.