The 18th Field Artillery Brigade Distinctive Unit Insignia incorporates the branch colors for Artillery units with scarlet wings and yellow (gold) scroll and trim. Its basic mission as a Field Artillery unit is epitomized with an upright cannon, while its capability for airborne deployment is indicated by the wings. A black fleur-delis is commemorates service in France during World War II. “Sweat Saves Blood” is the Brigade motto.
The 18th Field Artillery Brigade has been either a component of or assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps since it was originally constituted on 1 October 1943 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB), XVIII Corps Artillery. Activated eight days later, the Brigade fought in three campaigns in the European Theater during World War II (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe) before being inactivated on 15 October 1945.
Reorganized and redesignated in 1 May 1951 as the HQ and HQ Battery, XVIII Airborne Corps and allotted to the Regular Army, the unit was activated twenty days later at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It would receive its current designation as HHB, 18th Field Artillery Brigade on 16 September 1978, and during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991 it was deployed and fought in two of that conflict’s three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation and Defense of Kuwait. According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the Brigade was also tapped for a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service in Iraq in 2005-2006, a year before it would be given a new designation: HHB, 18th Fires Brigade.
But changes in Army led to the Brigade being redesignated back to its previous identity as HHB, 18th Field Artillery Brigade on 16 October 2014. Deployed under its old/new designation, the Brigade’s HHB was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period 06 January 2019 to 26 September 2019, during which tie the Brigade supported Operations Freedom’s Sentinel, Spartan Shield, and Inherent Resolve.
As of Summer 2023, the Brigade is headquartered at Fort Liberty (née Bragg) in North Carolina and is tasked with the support of the XVIII Airborne Corps (including subordinate Divisions) and Special Operation Forces as needed.
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