Often called a unit crest or a DUI, the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 190th Field Artillery Regiment was originally designed and approved for the 639th Field Artillery Battalion on 13 January 1955. It was redesignated for the 190th Artillery Regiment on 7 April 1961. It was then redesignated for the 190th Field Artillery Regiment with an effective date of 1 October 1995. It consists of a gold scroll inscribed with the Regimental motto “Mission With Honor” in red text attached to the base of a rectangular shield containing a yellow pale (vertical stripe) containing a fleur-de-lis and a palm tree, both rendered in blue, bookended by stylized yellow mountains charged with blue horizontal stripes.
The colors red and yellow are denote Artillery, while the pale alludes the Flathead Valley in Montana, location of the town of Kalispell where the original Battalion’s Headquarters were located. The mountains stand for the Kootenai Mountains to the west of the valley and the Swan Mountains to the east. These peaks also simulate two Arrowheads which, along with the top blue stripes on each peak, represent the organization’s participation in two assault landings in World War Two; the bottom blue stripes indicate two other battle honors. All stripes are Infantry blue for Infantry service in both World Wa
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. More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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The unit that eventually became the 190th Field Artillery Regiment was organized between 1884 and 1887 in the Montana National Guard as the 1st Regiment of Infantry—and more than one hundred years would elapse before it was finally designated as a Field Artillery organization. All of its battle honors and military decorations—two campaigns in the Philippine Insurrection, an uninscribed WWI Victory streamer, and four Asiatic-Pacific campaigns in World War, completed with a Presidential Unit Citation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation—were earned while it was designated as an Infantry unit.
It wasn’t until 1995 that it was redesignated from the 163rd Infantry to form both the 163rd Infantry and the 190th Field Artillery, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System consisting of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 163rd Armored Brigade.
As of 2023, the 1st Battalion, 190th Field Artillery Regiment does not appear to be an active unit.