An arm in the striking position, its hand grasping a battle axe, adorns the shield of the 40th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia and signifies the organization’s readiness. The insignia was originally approved for the 40th Field Artillery Regiment on 9 March 1942, but it has been redesignated to match the unit’s changing designations over the decades: it was also designated for the 509th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (1950), the 40th Artillery Regiment (1958). “All For One,” the unit motto, highlights the organization’s spirit of internal cohesiveness and zeal in accomplishing its assigned missions.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. Full 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 40th Field Artillery Regiment was first constituted in the National Army as the 40th Field Artillery on 5 July 1918 and organized the next month at Camp Custer, Michigan. It saw no action in World War I and was demobilized in 1919; reconstituted in 1933, it would not be activated until 4 June 1941. Like several other Field Artillery regiments, it was broken up (March 1943) with its Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) becoming the HHB, 40th Field Artillery Group and its two battalions, the 1st and 2nd, respectively becoming the 974th and 975th Field Artillery Battalions. Between them, these units took part in five campaigns in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater.
In 1962, the Regiment was reformed with the consolidation of HHB, 40th Artillery Group and its two former battalions, now designated as the 509th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and the 510th Field Artillery Battalion, to become the 40th Artillery. The 40th participated in eleven Vietnam War campaigns, earning a Presidential Unit Citation (authorized by the Navy), a Valorous Unit Award, and a pair of Meritorious Unit Commendations.
The Regiment’s last combat action came in the Southwest Asia conflict, aka the First Gulf War, where it took part in all three campaigns and its HHB was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation. It was transferred to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in 1996, and today its sole active battalion is the 1st, assigned the 434th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Sill where it conducts Initial Entry Training.