Commonly called a unit crest or DUI for short, the 78th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 20 April 1928, with a design that pays tribute to its founding and subsequent service in France during World War. The gold billets are from the arms of Franche-Comté, a region in eastern France. Personnel from the 13th Cavalry Regiment were used to form the 20th Cavalry, the 78th Field Artillery's original designation, a fact commemorated by the inclusion of the 13th Cavalry's badge in the canton of this insignia. The crest (six-pointed star at the top) is the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 6th Infantry Division—the unit that the 78th Field Artillery Regiment was assigned to in World War—charged with the Regiment's numerical designation of 78. SEMEL ET SIMUL is a Latin phrase that translates in English as “At Once And Together.”
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.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The 76th Field Artillery Regiment began its existence as the 20th Cavalry Regiment, constituted 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army and organized the following June at Fort Riley, Kansas. It was converted and redesignated as the 78th Field Artillery and assigned to the 6th Division in November 1917. As part of the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, the 78th Field Artillery was awarded an uninscribed World War I Victory medal. Prior to the Second World War, the unit was redesignated as the 78th Field Artillery Battalion on 15 July 1940 and then as the 78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
It would go on to fight in Seven World War II campaigns in the European-African-Middle Eastern, two of which are complemented by Arrowhead devices denoting participation in an assault landing. It was also awarded a Presidential Unit Citation, a French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star, and a Belgian Fourragere 1940 for two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.
World War II would mark the last conflict in which the 78th Field Artillery Regiment would see action. After being converted to the 78th Artillery, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System, the Regiment would be redesignated as the 78th Field Artillery in 1971 and then withdrawn from CARS in 1986, when it was reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System and transferred to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
The Regiment’s 1st Battalion (1-78 FAR) is the only remaining active unit and is assigned to the 428th Field Artillery Brigade. According its mission statement, its primary mission is the training and education of Soldiers in "Fire Support core competencies to provide competent and confident artillery men and women to the operational force." It is based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.