The Brigade plans, synchronizes and employs long range precision strike fires and counterfires in support of the XVIII Airborne Corps, its subordinate divisions, and to Special Operations forces as required.

1st Battalion (Airborne), 321st Field Artillery Regiment served as the United States Army's primary 155mm howitzer response in the Global War on Terrorism.

[8] During 2008 while serving as the General Support Artillery unit in Operation Enduring Freedom 8–9, 3d Section, Battery C, 3d Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment became the first United States Army unit to fire the GPS Guided XM982 Excalibur Munition in support of combat operations while serving in the volatile Kunar Province while supporting the 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

From August 2009 through October 2014, the 18th Fires Brigade wore the "All American" patch of the 82nd Airborne Division.

The article added that the brigade's 3d Battalion "will undergo a different transformation as that unit shifts from howitzers to the HIMARS weapons system.