The Field Artillery branch was founded on 17 November 1775 by the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

, which unanimously elected Henry Knox

Henry Knox

Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....

 "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery". The regiment formally entered service on 1 January 1776. Although Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery

Air Defense Artillery

The Air Defense Artillery branch descended from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery into a separate branch on 20 June 1968...

 are separate branches, both inherit the traditions of the Artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 branch.
The mission of the Field Artillery is to integrate and deliver lethal and non-lethal fires to enable joint and maneuver commanders to dominate their operational environment across the spectrum of operations.

The mission of the Firing Battery is to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy by cannon, rocket, and missile fires and to help integrate all fire support assets into combined arms operations.