2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)

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2nd Battalion 3rd Field Artillery Regiment
Defense.gov News Photo 100508-A-7780B-318 - U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jeremy Lewis platoon leader 3rd Platoon Bravo Battery 2nd Battalion 3rd Field Artillery Regiment 1st Heavy Brigade Combat.jpg
A soldier from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment with Iraqi children in 2010
Active11 January 1812–1934
1939–1946
1950–1957
1957–Present
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
BranchFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army
Type USA - Army Field Artillery Insignia.svg Field artillery
Role ABCT Heavy Battalion
Size Battalion
Part ofDivision Artillery, 1st Armored Division
Garrison/HQ Fort Bliss, Texas
Equipment M109A7 Paladin
Engagements War of 1812
Seminole Wars
Mexican–American War
American Civil War
Spanish–American War
Philippine–American War
World War I
World War II
Gulf War
Operation Joint Endeavor
Kosovo Peacekeeping
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan

The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment is an artillery unit of the United States Army. The battalion traces its lineage to 1812, and it is currently assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. [1] The battalion has served in the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Contents

History

The history of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment dates back to January 11, 1812, when the first GUNNERS assembled near Salisbury, North Carolina, as Capt. Donoho's Company, the 2nd Regiment of Artillery. Units of the regiment were involved in their first combat during the War of 1812 in the Canadian Campaign. The battalion has since earned numerous battle streamers including one for fighting against the Seminoles during the Indian Wars in Florida. Units of the regiment were awarded 13 battle streamers for service during the Mexican War. This included battles fought at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. Less than 15 years later, the battalion earned 14 battle streamers participating in the American Civil War including campaigns at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Petersburg. In 1898, the battalion participated in the Santiago Campaign of the Spanish–American War. In July 1918, the unit deployed to Europe with the 6th Division for action in WWI.

In August 1944, the battalion returned to action in Europe as part of the 9th Armored Division, spending time in Britain and France. The battalion soon engaged the Germans along the Siegfried Line on Germany's western border. During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945, the battalion helped relieve the garrison at Bastogne, and they later supported the drive into Germany across the Rhine River at Remagen. It smashed its way through central Germany near Wetzlar before driving northward toward Berlin and then south into Czechoslovakia before taking up occupation duty near Nurnberg. During that time in action, about eight months, the battalion earned its laurels as the unit that saw the most time in combat of any unit in the 9th Armored Division. Firing 56,426 rounds from its M7 "Priest" self-propelled 105-mm howitzers, the battalion earned the most individual decorations of any unit in the division artillery. The battalion even earned the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions taken at the onset of the "Battle of the Bulge." 2-3 Pic 2

On February 24, 1991, the battalion moved across the Iraqi border in support of Operation Desert Storm and fired their first round at the enemy since 1945. In 2004, the battalion deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team (Ready First), 1 Armored Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to Baghdad and again in 2006 to Tal Afar and Ramadi. The battalion deactivated in 2007 in Giessen, Germany, and reactivated in 2008 as part of the Ready First Combat Team at Fort Bliss. 2-3 FA deployed as part of operation Iraqi Freedom from 2009-2010 in Kirkuk, Iraq. Following this deployment multiple changes were made to the Battalion and later deployed to Shah Wali Kot District, Kandahar, Afghanistan, from December 2012 to September 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. [2]

Lineage and honors

Lineage

(3d Field Artillery assigned 17 November 1917 to the 6th Division; relieved 24 March 1923 from assignment to the 6th Division and assigned to the 5th Division; relieved 1 January 1930 from assignment to the 5th Division and assigned to the 6th Division)
(3d Field Artillery relieved 25 September 1939 from assignment to the 6th Division and assigned to the 2d Cavalry Division)
(3d Armored Field Artillery Battalion relieved 6 July 1945 from assignment to the 9th Armored Division)
(3d Armored Field Artillery Battalion assigned 20 October 1950 to the 2d Armored Division)
(Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Howitzer Battalion, 3d Artillery, consolidated 1 January 1960 with Battery C, 3d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion [organized in 1812], and consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Howitzer Battalion, 3d Artillery)
ANNEX

Campaign participation credit

  • Iraq: *Transition of Iraq;*Iraqi Governance; *National Resolution; *Iraqi Surge; *Iraqi Sovereignty [3]
  • Afghanistan:

Decorations

Heraldry

Distinctive unit insignia

3rd Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia

Coat of arms

3rd Field Artillery Regiment Coat of Arms

See also

References

The above text was taken from

  1. "1AD DIVARTY". 1st Armored Division Artillery. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. "Bliss Army". Archived from the original on 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Lineage and Honors Information: 2d Battalion, 3d Field Artillery Regiment." U.S. Army Center for Military History. 15 June 2016. Web. Accessed 11 December 2017. <>. PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .