41st Field Artillery Brigade (United States)

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41st Field Artillery Brigade
41st FA BDE Shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1918-1969 1972-2005
Country	United States
Branch	U.S. Army
Garrison/HQ	Babenhausen Caserne
Nickname	Railgunners
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

The 41st Field Artillery Brigade (41st FA Bde) —nicknamed the Railgunners— was an artillery brigade in the United States Army. Its last active-duty station was Babenhausen Caserne in Babenhausen, Germany. It deactivated on July 11, 2005. The 41st FA Bde was a V Corps asset under the command of the V Corps Artillery; it provided artillery support to the 1st Armored Division and the 1st Infantry Division and deployed with V Corps in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Before deactivation, the 41st FA Bde saw most of its units inactivated or transferred to the United States as a part of the transformation of the United States Army and a reduction of forces in Europe. The last battalion commanded by the 41st FA Bde was 1st Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment; the battalion inactivated after 41st FA Bde on April 26, 2006.

[edit] History

The 41st FA Bde was first organized in 1918 as part of the Hawaiian Department of the coastal artillery. The unit's artillery guns were mounted on rail cars, thus, the unit nickname "Railgunners". The unit was deactivated in 1969 in Vietnam and reactivated in 1972. Two battalions from the 41st Field Artillery Brigade participated in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. 1st Battalion, 27th Field Artillery and 3rd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery were both attached to the 42nd Field Artillery, part of VII Corp Artillery during this short conflict. Combat veterans of these two units still wear the combat patch of the 41st Field Artillery Brigade to this day.