41st Fires Brigade
41st Field Artillery Brigade
"Railgunners"

The 41st Fires Brigade, "Railgunners," was first constituted on 26 August 1918 in the Regular Army as the 41st Artillery (Coast Artillery Corps). It was organized on 1 October 1918 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The unit was demobilized on 22 December 1918 at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

On 15 January 1921, the colors were transferred to the Pacific Theater, where the 41st Artillery was reconstituted as the Hawaiian Railway Battalion. The unit was organized on 22 December 1921 at Fort Kamehameha, Territory of Hawaii. The unit was redesignated on 1 June 1922 as the 41st Artillery Battalion (Railway) (Coast Artillery Corps).

On 1 July 1924, the unit was redesignated as the 41st Coast Artillery and remained in Hawaii until its inactivation on 30 June 1931 at at Fort Kamehameha, Territory of Hawaii.

On 21 April 1942, the 41st Coast Artillery was again activated, this time at Fort Hase, Territory of Hawaii, where it served until being disbanded on 25 May 1944. It was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Streamer without inscription for its role in World War II. At that time, it was retired from the roles of the regular Army and incorporated into the Hawaiian Department.

On 28 June 1950, the unit was reconstituted on the inactive roles of the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 41st Field Artillery Group. The group was activated on 18 January 1952 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

In April 1967, the 41st Field Artillery Group was deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. There it participated in 9 campaigns: Counteroffensive Phase II, Counteroffensive Phase III, Tet Counteroffensive, Counteroffensive Phase IV, Counteroffensive Phase V, Counteroffensive Phase VI, Tet 69/Counteroffensive, Summer-Fall 1969, Winter-Spring 1970. On 15 November 1969, the 41st Field Artillery Group was inactivated in the Republic of Vietnam and its colors were returned to the United States.

On 15 March 1972, the unit was redesignated on 15 March 1972 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 41st Field Artillery Group, and activated in Babenhausen, Germany. The unit was redesignated as the 41st Field Artillery Brigade on 16 June 1982, and was assigned to V Corps Artillery. On 1 September 1986, the 41st Field Artillery was authorized the distinctive unit designation "Railgunners" in honor of its origin in the Railway Coast Artillery.

Although the 41st Field Artillery Brigade headquarters did not deploy to southwest Asia for Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm, 2 battalions of the Brigade, 1-27th Field Artillery (MLRS) and 3-20th Field Arillery (155mm), proudly served under the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade.

V Corps' 41st Field Artillery Brigade from Babenhausen, Germany launched its main weapon, the Multiple Launch Rocket System on 16 March 2000 in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The exercise, named Railgunner XV, allowed the 41st Field Artillery Brigade to test the MLRS in the most real-life way since the system's beginning in 1984. The 41st Field Artillery Brigade's primary unit, 1-27th Field Artillery, fired its MLRS 2 or 3 times a year, but in previous training, it had always been from a fixed position. Fixed firing allowed the weapon system to be tested, but did not make the soldier think like he would on the battlefield. For the first time, the 41st Field Artillery Brigade had approximately 500 meters to maneuver the MLRS. Soldiers had to think and react as if they were in war, and they took advantage of the opportunity.

In 2003, the Brigade deployed with V Corps to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following their service in Iraq, the unit was inactivated in Germany on 15 July 2005. On 28 March 2006, the unit was redsignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 41st Fires Brigade and was reactivated at Fort Hood, Texas on 16 April 2007. The 41st Fires Brigade included the Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1-21st Field Artillery, 2-20th Field Artillery, A/26th Field Artillery (Target Acquisition), 589th Brigade Support Battalion, and the 324th Signal Company (Network Support). Assigned to III Corps, the 41st Fires Brigade established a relationship supporting the 1st Cavalry Division, also based at Fort Hood, Texas.

Slightly more than one year later, the 41st Fires Brigade was called upon again to provide its battlefield expertise to the Wasit Province of Iraq. The Brigade established itself on the battlefield and began the process of providing security and stabilization to the people of Iraq. After 14 months, the Brigade fulfilled its mission by setting a trademark of excellence.