Built for the Unit:
Collaborations By Praesidus
How Praesidus Unit Commission Watches Carry the Legacy of Service
Every military unit has its own language.
A patch.
A motto.
A call sign.
A mission.
A symbol that might look simple from the outside, but means everything to the people who served under it.
That is what the Praesidus Unit Commission Program is built around.
At its simplest, the program gives military units a way to create custom watches around their own history and identity. But the point is not just to put a crest on a dial or engrave a name on the caseback.
The point is to build something the members of that unit can look at and recognize as theirs.
Because for a lot of service members, a unit is not just where you were assigned. It is where you are tested. Where you learned the standard. Where you trusted other people through long days, hard conditions, and real responsibility.
It becomes part of you.
That is where a unit watch becomes meaningful.
A watch is practical. It keeps time. It can be worn every day. But when it is designed with the right details, it can also become a reminder of who you served with, what you were part of, and the kind of person that experience asked you to become.
More Than a Custom Watch
The Praesidus Unit Commission Program allows military units to work directly with the brand to create a watch that reflects their specific community.
Depending on the project, that can include custom dial artwork, unit crests, meaningful colors, specialized indexes, caseback engravings, custom straps, or design details tied to the unit’s history and culture.
But before any of that happens, the conversation starts with the story.
What does the unit stand for?
What symbols matter?
What should this watch still mean five, ten, or twenty years from now?
Those questions matter because the goal is not to make something that simply looks military-inspired. The goal is to make something that feels true to the people it represents.
Some units are defined by heritage. Others by aircraft, mission, technical skill, deployment history, or shared inside references that only members really understand.
The best commission watches find a way to carry those details without making the design feel forced.
How a Unit Commission Works
A Unit Commission Project begins with one designated representative initiating the collaboration on behalf of the unit.
From there, Praesidus works directly with that representative to develop the design, refine the idea behind the watch, and make sure the final piece reflects the unit with care.
Praesidus then manages the project from start to finish, including production, final assembly, quality control, and direct shipment to each participating unit member.
It is a structured process, but the result is personal: a watch designed for one specific unit, ordered by the people connected to it, and delivered directly to them.
A Look at Past Unit Commissions
Each design starts with a unit’s visual language. From there, those details are translated into a watch that can be worn every day while still holding deeper meaning for the people who recognize them.
PSYWAR MK.1
The PSYWAR MK.1, designed for U.S. Army PsyOp Groups, features a heritage dial with a unit crest, calling back to the World War II roots of psychological warfare. The design connects the modern mission to the early history that helped shape the field.
Rec Spec CMNTR
The Rec Spec CMNTR, designed for C5ISR officers, starts with the rugged Rec Spec base and adds details tied to communications and intelligence. A custom lightning bolt index and caseback speak to signal, speed, and the technical precision behind modern operations.
Project Olive Harvest
The Project Olive Harvest watch, designed for a U-2 squadron, leans into aviation heritage with a U-2 plane outline, black plating, and custom indexes. It is sleek, mission-driven, and tied directly to the aircraft community it represents.
A-11 Chinook CH-47
The A-11 Chinook CH-47, designed for a CH-47 squadron, uses a white dial with a custom Chinook print and custom indexes. The watch carries the unmistakable shape of the aircraft and honors the crews and missions connected to one of the Army’s most recognizable workhorses.
Each of these watches tells its own story.
Some are rooted in history. Others are built around aircraft, technical missions, call signs, or the kind of inside details only a unit would fully understand.
That is what makes them work.
They are not designed to speak to everyone in the same way. They are designed to mean the most to the people who were there — the ones who know the patch, the mission, the nickname, the aircraft, the callsign, and the weight behind it.
That same approach continues through Praesidus’ more recent unit collaborations.
Recent Unit Collaborations
Each Unit Commission Project begins with the same foundation: a unit, squadron, or community with a story worth carrying forward. From airborne artillery to cyber operations and remotely piloted aircraft missions, each design is shaped around the people, heritage, and operational identity behind it.
U.S. Army Cyber Command
Designed for the U.S. Army Cyber Command community, this limited edition commission is built on Praesidus’ upgraded A-11 platform. Inspired by ARCYBER’s mission to operate, defend, and conduct cyberspace operations in support of the United States and its allies, the design reflects the modern battlefield — where information dominance, cyber defense, and digital warfare have become mission critical.
Each piece will feature its own serial number on the caseback, assigned by order number. The earlier the order, the lower the number. This commission is limited strictly to members and affiliates connected to U.S. Army Cyber Command and will not be sold publicly by Praesidus Watch Co.
A-11 A BTRY, 3-319th AFAR
The A-11 A BTRY, 3-319th AFAR was created to honor the paratroopers and artillerymen of Alpha Battery, 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment — one of the most storied airborne artillery units in the United States Army.
Assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 3-319th AFAR traces its lineage back to World War I and has participated in major campaigns spanning more than a century of military history. From the airborne operations of World War II to modern deployments around the globe, the battalion has earned a reputation for delivering accurate and timely fires in support of America’s airborne forces. Known as the “Gun Devils,” the battalion remains an integral part of the 82nd Airborne Division’s rapid deployment capability.
Developed in close collaboration with members of Alpha Battery, the design reflects the identity, heritage, and esprit de corps of the unit. The custom dial features the APEX callsign, carried by Alpha Battery within the 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. For the soldiers of the battery, APEX represents readiness, fighting spirit, and the proud airborne artillery tradition of the 82nd Airborne Division.
105th Attack Squadron
Developed in collaboration with the 105th Attack Squadron, this A-11-inspired edition reflects the precision, discipline, and operational intensity that define one of the U.S. Air Force’s key remotely piloted aircraft units.
The 105th plays a critical role in modern warfare, conducting intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike operations through advanced UAV platforms such as the MQ-9 Reaper. Every element of this watch was designed to echo that mission profile — focused, purposeful, and built for reliability under pressure.
A Modern Program With Historic Roots
Praesidus was born from the story of the original A-11 military watch, a timepiece created for service members during World War II and remembered as one of the most iconic American military watches.
The A-11 was not built to be decorative.
It was built to be clear.
Reliable.
Useful.
Ready for imperfect conditions.
That philosophy still guides the brand today.
The Unit Commission Program takes that history and gives modern service members a way to connect their own chapter of service to the same idea: a watch built with purpose, tied to identity, and made to be worn.
The watch does not replace the stories.
It gives people a way to keep them close.
A Watch for Those Who Were There
One of the most meaningful parts of a unit commission watch is that it is made for a specific community.
It is not a general military-style watch made for anyone who likes the look. It belongs to the men and women connected to that unit. It carries the details that matter because of lived experience.
For active service members, it can be a symbol of pride in the unit they serve with now.
For veterans, it can become a bridge back to the people and places that shaped them.
For families, it can offer a tangible way to understand and honor a part of their loved one’s service.
And for the unit itself, it becomes a piece of continuity. Something that can be worn during service, carried into retirement, gifted at milestones, worn at reunions, or passed down as a reminder of a shared mission.
That is the power of objects when they are made with intention.
Carrying the Story Forward
At Pass the Torch, we often come back to the idea that legacy is not only something we inherit. It is something we choose to preserve.
The Praesidus Unit Commission Program is built around that belief.
It gives units a way to turn identity into something tangible. Something members can wear, share, and keep long after a mission ends, a uniform is put away, or a chapter of life changes.
Because service does not disappear when the orders end.
The lessons remain.
The standards remain.
The people remain.
And sometimes, a small object on the wrist can bring all of that back.
Where you served.
Who you stood beside.
What you were part of.
And what it still means to move forward with it.
That is what these watches are built to do.
Not just tell time. But carry a legacy.
