4th Infantry Division Artillery

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The 4th Infantry Division Artillery is the fire support brigade for the 4th Infantry Division of the US army, and are also known as the "Iron Gunners". They are based out of Fort Hood, Texas and their assets include the Paladin Artillery System and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

[edit] Mission

To plan, coordinate, and execute lethal and non-lethal fire support of the designated division or joint armed forces command.

[edit] History

The Fires Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division artillery is made up of the 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery, the 2nd Battalion 20th Field Artillery and the 589th Support Battalion. The 21st Field Artillery was constituted in the Regular Army on 1 July 1916 and organized at Camp Wilson, Texas on 1 June 1917. It was assigned to the 5th Division in 1917 and saw combat in France during World War I, participating in the St. Mihiel and Lorraine (1918) Campaigns. Following World War I, the 21st Field Artillery was retired until 6 October 1939 when it was reactivated as part of the 5th Division. As part of the 5th Division, the 21st saw action in the World War II campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.

The tradition begun in World War II continued in Vietnam as the newly formed 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery began its association with the 1st Cavalry Division. During the Vietnam conflict, the 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery participated in 15 different campaigns including the Tet Counteroffensive and Counteroffensives I-VII. During the Vietnam conflict, the battalion earned the Presidential Unit Citation for action in Pleiku Province, the Valorous Unit Award for the Fish Hook Campaign, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for operations in Vietnam (1967). Additionally, Alpha and Bravo Batteries were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for action in Binh Thaun Province.

The Deep Strike Battalion (2-20 FA) was first constituted 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as Battery B, 20th Field Artillery and was activated in June of 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an element of the 4th Division, later re-designated as the 4th Infantry Division. In 1957 the battalion was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and activated in Korea. In 1960 the Battalion was re-designated the 2nd Rocket Howitzer Battalion, 20th Field Artillery until taking its present moniker of 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery in a 1971 redesignation. In 1972, the battalion was relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, and activated at Fort Carson, Colorado. In 1976 the battalion was attached to 8th Infantry Division in Wiesbaden, Germany, where it would remain until it was deactivated in 1984, subsequently reactivated in 1987 and again deactivated in 1992. In September of 1998, 9-1 Field Artillery was reflagged as the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Battalion. In 2001 the battalion supported the Army’s testing and fielding of the M270A1 launcher and became the first M270A1 MLRS unit in the Army. In March of 2003 the battalion deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom where they performed not only their traditional field artillery tasks, to include firing the division’s first deep missile fires in combat, but performed armed reconnaissance missions, joint security patrols, cordon and searches, raids, and a wide variety of civil military operations. The battalion redeployed in March of 2003.

The Divarty took command of FOB Gunner in April of 2003 and held the base until February of 2004 when they were relieved by elements of the 1st Cavalry Division. The brigade routinely maintained a strong defense through offence by active patrols and show of strength. That brigade had the honor of being the location for the storage and consolidation of enemy arms and equipment to be redistributed to the Iraqi Police and Iraqi Civil Defense Force (ICDF) later the New Iraqi Army (NIA), although the mission was executed by the 751st Quartermaster Company (Army Reserve) out of Mesa, Arizona. This was the only location in Iraq to perform this type of mission. The FOB supported units including the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Airborne, the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR), and the British. During Iraq the brigade was commanded by Col. Kevin Stramara and was stationed at Taji, Iraq.