The 56th Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, also referred to as a unit crest or DUI, was approved on 12 March 1929. A red shield denotes the unit’s affiliation in the Artillery branch, and white searchlight beams and a winged artillery shell above them superimposed on it reflect the nature of the 506 Coast Artillery, the unit’s designation when the insignia was approved. The black background on which the shell is superimposed is an allusion to the unit motto, “Night Hides Not,” indicating that the Regiment’s fire will find its mark even in darkness.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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It wasn’t until 1 September that the 56th Air Defense Artillery Regiment was given its designation, largely due to the fact that Air Defense Artillery did not become a branch separate from Field Artillery or Artillery until 1968—but units descended from those branches that became Air Defense Artillery units kept their lineage and history.
The Regiment was originally constituted in the Organized Reserves (now designated as the Army Reserve) on 29 July 1921as the 506th Artillery (Antiaircraft), and was redesignated on 20 February 1924 as the 506th Coast Artillery. Inactivated and withdrawn from the Organized Reserves and allotted to the Regular Army in 1933, the Regiment was redesignated as the 56th Coast Artillery on 16 December 1940, but was broken up between 22 January and 11 February 1944 and its component units given various assignments
The Regiment’s HQ and HQ Battery (HHB) would be reconstituted on 28 June 1950 and redesignated as HHB, 56th Field Artillery Group (56th Artillery Group from 1958 to 1970). Many of the Regiments former units (the 56th, 45th, and 48th Field Artillery Battalions) were consolidated with the 56th Artillery Group, reorganized, and redesignated on 18 September 1970 as the 56th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System. A year later, it would become the Air Defense Artillery.
Among the World War II battle honors earned by 56th Air Defense Artillery Regiment are ten II campaign streamers, two of which (Aleutian Islands and Ryukyus) are complemented with Arrowhead devices, and a Presidential Unit Citation (56th Field Artillery Battalion cited). The Regiment would be credited with participation in all ten Korean War campaigns and earn another Presidential Unit Citation (for Inchon). It would go on to log an equal number of campaigns in the Vietnam War and be awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for service between 1965-1966.