The 631st Field Artillery Brigade was a unit in the Mississippi Army National Guard with the distinction of being headquartered at the small town of Grenada, Mississippi for the entire duration of its service life. It was originally organized at Grenada in April 1917 as the 1st Field Artillery and was drafted into Federal service on 5 August 1917. Redesignated in September 1917 as Headquarters Battery, 140th Field Artillery, which was a part of the 39th Division. The 39th became the 5th Depot Division and trained replacement troops for the front, earning its components an uninscribed World War I campaign streamer.
During World War II, the unit was designated as Headquarters Battery, 114th Field Artillery Battalion, an element of the 39th Infantry Division, an Army National Guard unit with Soldiers from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Deployed to the Pacific Theater, the 114th FA Battalion took part in two campaigns at New Guinea and the Southern Phillipines and was awarded a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Although it was ordered into active Federal service on a couple of occasion after the war—1951 in response to the Korean War, 1962 because of the Berlin crisis—it would not see action again before its deactivation on 30 September 2008, three decades after it finally was given the designation of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 631st Field Artillery Brigade.
The 631st Field Artillery Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, features a scarlet background and golden yellow border with a yellow dragon superimposed over a trident. The trident recalls the Roman god Neptune and alludes to the Indian word “Mississippi,” which means “Father of the Waters.” The dragon’s head evokes images of a fire-breathing beast, which symbolizes the smoke and flame of Field Artillery. Finally, the numerical designation can be seen in the insignia’s six sides, the three prongs on he trident, and the single dragonhead.
Related Items
631st Field Artillery Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)