Originally approved on 16 May 1928, the 161st Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia features a shield divided into red and blue halves to denote the unit’s history as both an Infantry organization and an Artillery Battalion. In the upper, blue portion, the two charges—a large cactus plant and a fleur-de-lis—represent Mexican border duty and wartime service in France; their gold color signifies these jobs were performed while serving as Infantry. The unit motto of Faire Sans Dire is French for “To Do Without Saying.”
In addition to the 161st Field Artillery Regiment, this insignia has previously been pproved for wear by the 161st Field Artillery Battalion, the 161st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, and 161st Artillery Regiment. It was was givne its current designation in July 1972.Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a 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.
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The 161st Field Artillery Regiment was originally organized in 1880 from existing units as the 2nd Infantry Regiment in the Kansas Volunteer Militia (redesignated as the Kansas National Guard on 7 March 1885). After being drafted into Federal Service on 5 August 1917, it was consolidated with the 1st Infantry Regiment to create the 137th Infantry. It was assigned to the 37th Division and fought in three campaigns before World War I came to an end in November 2011.
Demobilized in 1911, the Regiment was converted and redesignated as the 161st Field Artillery and assigned to the 35th Division in November 1921. After the 161st Field Artillery was inducted into Federal service in December 1940, it was reorganized and redesignated as the 161st Field Artillery Battalion, an element of the 35th Infantry Division (the rest of the regiment began separate lineages at this point). Arriving in Normandy in mid-July, the 35th Infantry Division and the 161st Field Artillery fought in five campaigns—Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe—and performed occupation duties in the months between the German surrender and its return to the U.S. in September 1945.
Briefly inactivated between November 1945 and June 1946, the Battalion was redesignated as the 161st Armored Field Artillery Battalion from 1946 May 1959, when it was reorganized and redesignated as the 161st Artillery, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimentals System, or CARS. It would undergo several small reorganizations over the next three decades and was redesignated as the 161st Field Artillery.
It was withdrawn from CARS on 1 June 1998 and reorganized as the 161st Field Artillery Regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System to consisting of just a single battalion, the 1st, and some separate companies from that time forward. Since the launch of the War on Terrorism, the Battalion and/or its component units have deployed to Iraq and Djibouti on several occasions, with the Battalion being selected for a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service between 6 January to 15 September 2008.
As of Summer 2023, the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery Regiment is assigned to the 130th Field Artillery Brigade. It consists of three firing Batteries (A, B, and C) and is currently headquartered at Hutchinson, Kansas.