The 2nd Field Artillery Regiment was originally con-stituted as the 2nd Field Artillery in January 1907, but its 2nd Battalion—the only one still active since the 1st Battalion was inactivated in 1984—traces its roots back to 13 February 1901 and the establishment of the 18th Battery, Field Artillery in the Artillery Corps. It became a part of the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment on 6 June 1907 when it was reorganized and redesignated as Battery B, 2nd Field Artillery.
In 1961, the 2nd Artillery (a regiment) was formed by consolidating several anti-aircraft batteries with the HQ and HQ Battery, 2nd Artillery Group and the then-inactivated 2nd Rocket Field Artillery Battalion. Ten years later, in 1971, 2nd Artillery (minus the anti-aircraft batteries and its HHB) was reorganized and redesignated as the 2nd Field Artillery under CARS (Combat Arms Regimental System), only to be withdrawn from CARS in 1986 and reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System. Five years later (1991), it was assigned U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and in 2005 was designated as the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, with the 2nd Battalion carrying out training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
As of Autumn 2023, the mission of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery Regiment is to "[deliver] fires and [conduct] logistics operations in support of the United States Army Field Artillery School and the Fires Center of Excellence to enhance fires force readiness throughout the operational U.S. Army and USMC" and to "[execute] ceremonial requirements in support of the Fires Center of Excellence."
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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. The 2nd Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, is taken from the crest of its coat of arms, replacing that insignia’s gold artillery piece with a black cannon and adding the unit motto of “The Second First” on a scroll at the bottom. A gold mule is an allusion to the original mission of the organization as mountain or pack artillery.
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.