Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Nicknamed the “Fighting Fifteenth,” the 15th Field Artillery Regiment began living up to its yet-to-be-determined motto of “Allons!”—French for “Let’s Go!”—almost from the moment it was organized in 1917. Assigned to the 2nd Division during World War I, the Regiment took part in extremely heavy combat, and the 15th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (unit crest) was designed to commemorate this trial by fire.
Five wavy bars on the insignia represent the rivers Aisne, Marne, Meuse, Moselle, and finally the Rhine, all of which the Regiment crossed. The canton in the upper left of the insignia is taken from the coat of arms of the 4th Field Artillery to denote the fact that Soldiers were transferred from it in order to create the 15th Field Artillery. The unit’s outstanding performance was recognized with credit for participation in an astonishing six WWI campaigns—Aisne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine 1918, and Ile de France 1918—and two French Croix de Guerre with Palm, as well as a French World War I Fourragere.
In World War II, the Regiment fought in five campaigns in the European Theater, and during the Korean War it doubled that number to ten and was the recipient of a Presidential Unit Citation and two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. The Fighting Fifteenth’s combat record did not flag during the Vietnam War, as it took part in 14 of that conflict’s 17 named campaigns and garnered a Meritorious Unit Commendation. And in the Global War on Terror, the Regiment’s service was recognized with Valorous Unit Award (embroidered MAHMUDIYAH, IRAQ) and a Meritorious Unit Commendation (2004 – 2005).
The 1st Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment was inactivated in 2015 concurrent with the inactivation of its parent organization, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. As of Summer 2023, the only Regiment's only active unit is the 2nd Battalion, which is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.