The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (unit patch) of the 256th Infantry Combat Brigade was originally approved on 23 July 1968, a year after the unit was designated the 256th Infantry Brigade; it was redesignated reflecting the unit’s new title in August 2007.
In early 2006, the United States Army announced that it was considering disbanding the 256th Infantry Brigade. At that time the unit was being converted from a Heavy Brigade Combat Team to a Brigade Combat Team, so the announcement came as something of a shock to members of the Brigade and to those associated with it. What made the announcement even more confusing was that the Brigade had performed admirably during its deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, with its 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment HQ and HQ Battery and two of its subordinate units (Battery B and Service Battery) receiving Meritorious Unit Commendations in September, 2009.
Following the decision to proceed with the Brigade’s conversion, the unit was again called up for deployment to Iraq in 2010, and once again units from the Brigade were recognized with Meritorious Unit Citations (MUC). The HQ and HQ Company of the 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment and five of its companies garnered the award on December 22, 2010, and six days later two companies from the 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment and one from the 199th Support Battalion were awarded a MUC. That same day, three companies from 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment were also recognized with a MUC (along with battalion’s HQ and HQ Company).
The brigade’s HQ was honored with an MUC in January, 2011, and a month later the Special Troops Battalion HQ and three of its companies were named MUC recipients.
Related Items
256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)
256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Unit Crest (DUI)