169th Field Artillery Brigade

June 2015 June 2015 169th Field Artillery Brigade 169th Fires Brigade SSI.png 200 169th Field Artillery Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia 1955–present (as group and brigade) United States 25px United States Army National Guard Artillery Brigade 25px Colorado Army National Guard Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado Headquarters Liberators, Shamrock, Rocky Mountain Redlegs Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Inherent Resolve Croix de Guerre with Palm (headquarters and headquarters battery) COL William Diprofio 125px Distinctive Unit Insignia 200px 169th Field Artillery Brigade Flag The 169th Field Artillery Brigade (formerly the 169th Fires Brigade) is an artillery brigade in the US Army National Guard. It is part of the Colorado Army National Guard. History The brigade headquarters was organized on 19 June 1909 as Company M of the 1st Infantry, Colorado National Guard at Denver. The company was transferred to the 2nd Infantry on 19 November, retaining its letter, and on 15 August 1913 returned to the 1st Infantry as Company G. When the National Guard was called up for duty on the Mexican border in 1916, the company was mustered into Federal service on 19 June as Company B of the 1st Colorado Infantry Battalion. After the American entry into World War I, the unit was drafted into Federal service on 5 August 1917 and on 24 September became Company B of the 157th Infantry Regiment, part of the 40th Division. It was sent to France with the division but did not see combat as a unit, being used as a depot to provide replacements. The company returned to the United States after the end of the war and was demobilized at Fort D. A. Russell on 29 April 1919.McKenney 2010 184–186 When the Colorado National Guard was reestablished postwar, the Denver unit became Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry and was reorganized and Federally recognized on 26 November 1923. The regiment was assigned to the 45th Division, and on 1 April 1928 the company was reorganized and redesignated as Company B of the regiment. Except for its antitank platoon, the company was reorganized and redesignated as the regimental headquarters company on 1 November 1939. Inducted into Federal service on 16 September 1940, it fought in World War II with the 45th. After the end of the war, the company was inactivated at Camp Bowie on 3 December 1945.McKenney 2010 184–186 After the end of the war, the 157th was removed from the 45th on 10 May 1946. The Colorado Army National Guard was revived and on 8 January 1947 the regimental headquarters company was reorganized and Federally recognized. Initially at Buckley Field, it was relocated to Denver on 3 September of that year.McKenney 2010 184–186 Due to a reduction of National Guard regimental combat teams, the Colorado National Guard combat units converted to artillery on 1 August 1955, with the regimental headquarters company of the 157th becoming the headquarters and headquarters battery of the 169th Field Artillery Group.McKenney 2010 184–18616 June 1955 Guard Combat Team To Become Artillery Unit 20 Daily Sentinel AP https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53667726/157th-rct-to-artillery/ Newspapers.com The 1st Battalion of the 157th became the 144th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Howitzer, Towed), the HHC of the 2nd Battalion, and Companies E, K and L became HHB, Service Battery, and Batteries A and B of the 142nd Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Gun, Towed), respectively. Companies F and H became Batteries A and B, respectively, of the 137th Field Artillery Battalion (Observation), while the HHC of the 3rd Battalion, Company M, the Medical Company, and the Tank Company became Service Battery, HHB, and Batteries C and B of the 183rd Field Artillery Battalion (240mm Howitzer, Towed). Company I and Service Company became Service Battery and Battery B of the 169th Field Artillery Battalion (8-inch Howitzer, Self-Propelled), respectively, and the Heavy Mortar Company became Battery A of the 188th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons) (Self-Propelled).Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 169th Artillery Group Lineage and Honors Certificate http://conghp.org/location/vex8/926ECB76-FDF7-488B-9DA0-034450523390.htm Colorado National Guard History Project United States Army Center of Military History In addition to the 157th, the 199th Engineer Battalion and 193rd Tank Battalion also converted to artillery. The 169th consisted of six field artillery battalions (the 137th, 142nd, 144th, 168th (155mm Gun, Self-Propelled), 169th, and 183rd) and the 188th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion,https://archive.org/details/reportofadjutant1955colo/page/n1/mode/2up Report of the Adjutant General of Colorado, 1 January 1955 – 31 December 1956 66–69https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056738639 Year Book of the State of Colorado, 1956–1958 Colorado State Planning Division 1958 263House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee No. 1 https://books.google.com/books?id=Lc9EAQAAMAAJ Subcommittee Hearings on H.R. 7697 1957 U.S. Government Printing Office 2802 en under the command of former 157th Regimental Combat Team commander Colonel Milton Ehrlich. Group executive officer Lieutenant Colonel Felix L. Sparks succeeded Ehrlich in July 1959 when the latter advanced to command of the Colorado Army National Guard.https://books.google.com/books?id=934KSTBiZ6AC General Officers of the Army and Air National Guard 1966 Office of Public Affairs, National Guard Bureau 133 en1 August 1959 Colonel Ehrlich Heads State Guard 4 Daily Sentinel https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53642065/milton-ehrlich-colorado-assistant-ag/ Newspapers.com The group was redesignated as the 169th Artillery Group on 1 October 1959. The 110-strong group headquarters was ordered into active Federal service on 1 October 1961 as part of the American reaction to the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and sent to Fort Sill.2 October 1961 4 Colorado National Guard Report For Active Service 1 The Daily Sentinel https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63712164/co-ng-berlin-crisis-callup/ subscription At Fort Sill, the 169th became one of the two artillery group headquarters under the 34th Artillery Brigade in order to provide control for the increased number of artillery battalions at the post.Eggerman Don 21 January 1962 Sill's 34th Artillery Brigade Unique Outfit In U.S. Army 20 Lawton Constitution https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63712769/34th-artillery-brigade-description/ The brigade was tasked to "support with cannon artillery the requirements of the Artillery and Missile School; it included 10 howitzer battalions under the 41st and 169th Groups; the 2nd Battle Group, 30th Infantry; the 45th Transportation Battalion (itself made up of the 57th Aviation Company and the 159th Evac Hospital); the NCO Academy, three small CSS units, and several chapels. The group headquarters was released from duty in August 1962 after the end of the crisis. The group returned to its original artillery designation on 1 March 1972 and its headquarters simultaneously relocated to Aurora. The group was redesignated as the 169th Field Artillery Brigade on 1 May 1978.McKenney 2010 184–186 The brigade headquarters was activated in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.Holguin Lindsay 16 September 2006 169th Fires Brigade Taking Charge 138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment https://www.dvidshub.net/news/7808/169th-fires-brigade-taking-charge DVIDS The 101-strong brigade headquarters was mobilized in March 2006 for service in Iraq and returned in July 2007.Stone Spc. Jessi 169th Fires Brigade welcome home ceremony http://www.cong.army.mil/highground/news/Articles/2007/Aug/169Home/ceremony.asp 18 August 2009April 2025 medicmedic It was stationed at Camp Speicher and did not suffer casualties during the deployment.Pankratz Howard 17 July 2007 Guard unit brings it all home B5 Denver Post https://www.denverpost.com/2007/07/17/guard-unit-brings-it-all-home/ 18 June 2020 The brigade was officially redesignated as the 169th Fires Brigade on 1 September 2008, returning to its previous designation on 16 October 2014.169th Fires Brigade https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=6367&CategoryId=3606&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services&ps=24&p=0 17 June 2020 United States Army Institute of Heraldry The brigade was deployed for Operation Inherent Resolve between 13 December 2016 and 11 September 2017, controlling field artillery battalions of Central Command.Bailey Ronald 29 September 2017 Colo. National Guard field artillery Soldiers return from combat in Middle East Colorado National Guard https://www.dvidshub.net/news/250010/colo-national-guard-field-artillery-soldiers-return-combat-middle-east 17 June 2020 DVIDS The 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery Regiment of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard was placed under the operational control of the brigade headquarters in May 2018, remaining under the 55th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade for administrative purposes.Livermore Alicia 11 June 2018 Patching ceremony and change of association for 1-109th Field Artillery Regiment Pennsylvania National Guard https://www.dvidshub.net/news/280434/patching-ceremony-and-change-association-1-109th-field-artillery-regiment DVIDS Organization thumb|Headquarters Battery, 169th Field Artillery Brigade As of January 2026 the 169th Field Artillery Brigade consists of the following units:2024 Year in Review https://co.ng.mil/Portals/25/Documents/2024-CONG-YearInReview-web.pdf Colorado National Guard 27 January 2026 13COARNG Locations / Force Structure - 23 March 2023 https://co.ng.mil/Portals/25/Documents/COARNG_Map_FY24.pdf?ver=AgayJX42MiulEuszZBhVbw%3D%3D Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 25px 169th Field Artillery Brigade, at Buckley Space Force Base169th Field Artillery Brigade https://co.ng.mil/Army/Artillery-FA-Bde/ Colorado Army National Guard 27 January 2026 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 169th Field Artillery Brigade, at Buckley Space Force Base Detachment 1, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 169th Field Artillery Brigade, in Colorado Springs Company D (Military Intelligence), 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, in Denver (part of 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team) Detachment 1, Company D (Military Intelligence), 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, at Buckley Space Force Base (RQ-28A UAV) Detachment 3, Company E (Forward Support), 186th Brigade Support Battalion, in Denver 4th Infantry Division Main Command Post-Operational Detachment, at Fort Carson Cyber Protection Team 174, in CentennialCyber https://co.ng.mil/Army/Cyber/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery Regiment, in Lansing (MI) (M777A2) (Michigan Army National Guard) 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery Regiment, in Milwaukee (WI) (M142 HIMARS) (Wisconsin Army National Guard) 30px 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, in Colorado Springs (M142 HIMARS)3-157th Field Artillery Battalion https://co.ng.mil/Army/Artillery-FA-Bde/Artillery-HIMARS-Bn/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, in Colorado Springs Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, in Longmont Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, in Aurora 188th Forward Support Company, in Pueblo 30px 147th Brigade Support Battalion, in Fort Collins147th Brigade Support Battalion https://co.ng.mil/Army/Artillery-FA-Bde/Artillery-BSB/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 147th Brigade Support Battalion, in Fort Collins 140th Quartermaster Platoon (Field Feeding), at Fort Carson 540th Network Support Company, in Aurora540th Network Support Co https://co.ng.mil/Army/Network-Support-Co/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 928th Medical Company (Area Support), at Fort Carson928th Medical Company (Area Support) https://co.ng.mil/Army/Medical/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 3650th Ordnance Company (Support Maintenance), in Windsor3650th Support Maintenance Company https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555978496298 3650th Support Maintenance Company 28 January 20263650th Maintenance Co https://co.ng.mil/Army/Maintenance-Co/ Colorado Army National Guard 28 January 2026 Honors The 169th Brigade headquarters is entitled to the following campaign streamers and decorations for the 157th Infantry Regiment, which was awarded one campaign streamer in World War I and eight campaign streamers and one unit decoration in World War II.McKenney 2010 184–186 Unit decorations Ribbon Award Year Notes50px|alt=A red ribbon with four vertical dark green stripes in the center.French Croix de Guerre, World War II (With Palm)1943–1944Embroidered "Italy" Campaign streamers Conflict Streamer Year(s) World War I Streamer without inscription World War II Sicily (with Arrowhead) 1943 World War II Naples-Foggia (with Arrowhead) 1943 World War II Anzio (wirth Arrowhead) 1943 World War II Rome-Arno 1944 World War II Southern France (with Arrowhead) 1944 World War II Rhineland 1944—1945 World War II Ardennes-Alsace 1944—1945 World War II Central Europe 1945 References Citations Bibliography McKenney Janice E. http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-11_pt1/CMH_Pub_60-11_pt1.pdf Field Artillery: Regular Army and Army Reserve, Part 1 (Army Lineage Series) Center of Military History 2010 CMH Pub 60-11 Washington, D.C. 275151269 17 June 2020 20 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150920173939/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-11_pt1/CMH_Pub_60-11_pt1.pdf dead External links https://web.archive.org/web/20081021071115/http://www.coloradoguard.army.mil/169fires.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091014043915/http://www.ausa.org/programs/torchbearer/Documents/TB_Fires_2009LOWRES_300909.pdf FA 169 169