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. 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. 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. 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. In addition to the 157th, the 199th Engineer Battalion and 193rd Tank Battalion also converted to artillery. The 169th consisted of six field artillery and one antiaircraft battalions, 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. The group was redesignated as the 169th Artillery Group on 1 October 1959. It was ordered into active Federal service on 1 October 1961 as part of the American reaction to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and released from duty in August 1962. 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. The brigade headquarters was activated in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The 101-strong brigade headquarters was mobilized in March 2006 for service in Iraq and returned in July 2007. It was stationed at Camp Speicher and did not suffer casualties during the deployment. The brigade was officially redesignated as the 169th Fires Brigade on 1 September 2008, returning to its previous designation on 16 October 2014. The brigade was deployed for Operation Inherent Resolve between 13 December 2016 and 11 September 2017, controlling field artillery battalions of Central Command. 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.
Current Structure
The 169th Field Artillery Brigade is headquartered at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado, with units under the Colorado Army National Guard and additional battalions aligned under 169th FAB from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan:
* 147th Brigade Support Battalion, Colorado Army National Guard
* Mission Command Post - Operational Detachment to 1st Infantry Division , Colorado Army National Guard
* D Military Intelligence Company, 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, Colorado Army National Guard
* 174th Cyber Protection Team, Colorado Army National Guard
* 540th Network Support Company, Colorado Army National Guard
* 928th Area Support Medical Company, Colorado Army National Guard
Honors
The 169th 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.
