The 141st Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, commonly called a unit crest or DUI, was originally approved on 13 December 1938 for the 141st Separate Field Artillery Battalion, Louisiana National Guard (LNG). It has been redesignated several times to match the unit’s changing designations, including for the 141st Field Artillery Battalion, LNG (October 1943), 141st Artillery Regiment, LNG (September 1960), and for the 141st Field Artillery Regiment, Louisiana Army National Guard on 14 July 1972. Its red shield denotes the Regiment’s status as an Artillery organization, while the tiger’s face is taken from the standard the Regiment’s ancestral unit carried in the Mexican War. The motto, “Try Us,” embodies the enthusiasm of the Regiment’s members for national service.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
“Washington Artillery,” official special designation of the 141st Field Artillery Regiment, is derived from the title held by the oldest unit in the organization’s linage: the Washington Artillery Company was organized in the Louisiana Militia on 7 September 1838 and was mustered into Federal service for the Mexican War. It would become the Washington Artillery Battalion on 17 January 1861, and its four companies would end taking part in two dozen campaigns while serving in the Confederacy’s Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee.
World War I saw the expansion, reorganization, and redesignation of the unit from the 1st Louisiana Field Artillery to the 141st Field Artillery. Assigned to the 39th Division, the Regiment would be awarded an uninscribed World War I streamer to reflect its role as source of replacement troops for units on the front lines. The regiment was broken up during World War II, with its HQ and HQ Battery (HHB) becoming the HHB, 141st Field Artillery Group and its two battalion redesignated as the 934th and 935th Field Artillery Battalions; on 30 July 1943, the 934th became the 141st Field Artillery Battalion.
Units in the Regiment’s lineage earned their parent organization a total of eight campaigns and a Presidential Unit Citation, with the 1st Battalion’s HQ Battery individually credited with participation in four more campaigns (Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily with arrowhead, and Po Valley) and its B Battery two more (Normandy and Northern France). The 1st Battalion’s HQ, A, B, and C batteries were also awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. The Regiment was “reformed” in 1959 when the141st and 935th Field Artillery Battalions were combined with several other units to form the 141st Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System.
By the time the War on Terrorism began, the Regiment has been redesignated as the 141st Field Artillery Regiment and reorganized to be composed of the 1st Battalion, 256th Infantry Brigade. Its outstanding service in Iraq with the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn has been recognized by the unit being tapped for two Meritorious Unit Commendations, the most recent for its service between 27 March and 12 December 2010.
As of Autumn 2023, the 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment remains assigned to the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. It is headquartered at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans and comprises its HHB and two batteries (A and B).