The 479th Field Artillery Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, was approved on 4 January 1980, but was canceled effective 17 October 1999 when the Brigade was redesignated as the 4th Brigade, 75th Division. It was reapproved on 1 December 2006 when the Brigade was restored to active rolls and activated at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The saltire in the insignia (“X”) is a heraldic symbol of strength and support; here its X-shape indicates a target and alludes to the Field Artillery mission. The black pellet centered on the X symbolizes a direct hit; on a map of deployed forces, an X indicates a bridge and a dot (pellet) indicates Field Artillery. En toto, the design symbolizes the unit’s branch, mission, and echelon, as well as its goal of "Dependable Support."
Inactivated 25 June 2015, the 479th Field Artillery Brigade began its service career as the 656th Field Artillery Battalion, constituted in the Army of the United States on 11 March 1944 and activated the follow April 20th. Deployed to the European Theater at the end of World War II, the Battalion arrived in France in early March and took part in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns before returning to the U.S. and being inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 1 December 1945.
The unit was first given the 479th numerical designation when the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB), 656th Field Artillery Battalion was redesignated as the 479th Field Artillery Group, and the unit would undergo a couple more redesignations before it was finally designated as the HHB, 479th Field Artillery Brigade on 16 April 1980. Having been allotted to the Army Reserve since March 1948, the Brigade was allotted to the Regular Army in October 1997 and its Headquarters activated at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was inactivated two years later on 16 October 1999, and would not be activated again until 1 December 2006.
Related Items479th Field Artillery Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)