157th Field Artillery Regiment

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157th Field Artillery Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	1917-present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Field Artillery (Parent Regiment under United States Army Regimental System)
Part of	169th Field Artillery Brigade
Home station	Colorado Springs
Nickname(s)	First Colorado (special designation)
Motto(s)	"Eager for duty"
March	Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
Equipment	M142 HIMARS
Decorations	Meritorious Unit Commendation
Commanders
Notable commanders	John H. Church
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 157th Field Artillery Regiment (First Colorado) is a United States Army Regimental System field artillery parent regiment of the United States Army National Guard, represented in the Colorado Army National Guard by the 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 169th Field Artillery Brigade at Colorado Springs.

The unit was first constituted in 1879 as the 1st Infantry Battalion.^[1] In 1917 during World War I the unit was mustered into federal service as the 157th Infantry Regiment, as part of the 40th Division.

After World War I, the unit was moved under the 45th Division where it stayed until after World War II. In 1950 it was relieved from assignment from the 45th Division and after the Korean War, reorganized as an artillery regiment. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the regiment operated the M110 howitzer. The retirement of the M110 system left many National Guard units without a mission. In 2002, the battalions transitioned to the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, and later in 2009 to the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

The 1st and 2nd Battalions (MLRS), 157th Field Artillery Regiment were disbanded in 2006 during the U.S. Army's restructuring from divisional organizations to the modular Brigade Combat Team model. Members of the two battalions were reorganized to form the 3rd Battalion (HIMARS), 157th Field Artillery (3-157 FA), part of the 169th Field Artillery Brigade of the Colorado Army National Guard.

The 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment (Mountain) is also a unit of the Colorado Army National Guard, assigned to the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), a separate IBCT. However, this unit is not lineally related to the former 157th Infantry or the current 157th Field Artillery, being newly constituted in 2007.