The 153rd Field Artillery Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, was approved for wear on 23 April 1979, a little less than two-and-a-half years after the date the Brigade was created through the redesignation of the 153rd Field Artillery Group. The 153rd FA Group had itself been created through conversion and redesignation of the 157th Military Police Battalion on 1 April 1976.
Following the redesignation of the 153rd Field Artillery Brigade in 2006, this insignia was assigned to the 158th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, but the background color of scarlet, long associated with Field Artillery, was switched to blue to emphasize the Infantry aspect of the MEB.
Both this unit patch and the modified version worn by the 158th MEB feature a Bushmaster pit viper—one of the longest vipers in the world and a constant threat to the Soldiers who served in the Canal Zone in Cannon Company, 158th Infantry, the Brigade’s seminal ancestral unit—wrapped around a machete.
Related Items153rd Field Artillery Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)
153rd Field Artillery Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)