76th Field Artillery Regiment

76th Field Artillery Regiment

Coat of arms
Active 1916
Country  United States
Type Field Artillery
Part of Formally: 4th Brigade Combat Team (inactivated), 3rd Infantry Division
Home station Fort Stewart, GA
Nickname(s) Patriots
Patron Saint Barbara
Motto(s) DUTY, THE SPIRIT OF ’76
105mm towed howitzer M119A2
Engagements World War II
Iraq War
OIF I
OIF III
OIF V
Commanders
Battalion Commander N/A
Battalion Command Sergeant Major N/A
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
U.S. Field Artillery Regiments
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75th Field Artillery 77th Field Artillery

The 76th Field Artillery Regiment was a field artillery regiment of the United States Army first constituted 1916 in the Regular Army.

History

The following history section is taken directly from the 3ID[1] website.

1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, Duty, The Spirit of 1776, was constituted in the Regular Army on 1 July 1916 with horse-drawn French 75mm pack guns. Initially organized at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont on 13 June 1917, it served with distinction in France with the 3d Division during World War I in the Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Champagne 1918 campaigns. The 76th Field Artillery Regiment was presented the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star by the Tenth French Army.

On 16 October 1939, the 76th Field Artillery was relieved of assignment to the 3d Division and reassigned to the 7th Division Artillery. Landing on Utah Beach, 11 August 1944, the 76th was attached to First Army and served during four campaigns throughout Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. In April 1945, the battalion was attached to the 1st Infantry Division for its advance into Czechoslovakia, providing continuous fires on the enemy for 189 consecutive days. On 20 November 1945, it was cited for the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes with the 30th Infantry Division. Upon return to the United States, the battalion was deactivated on 27 November 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

Beginning 1 August 1946, the 76th Field Artillery went through a series of activations and re-designations, and on 8 October 1954, as 1st Howitzer Battalion, 76th Artillery, it was assigned to the 2d Infantry Brigade, Fort Devens, Massachusetts. The Battalion participated in numerous field exercises and tests in support of the Brigade Group, ROTC, and National Guard units. On 13 September 1971, it was re-designated the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, assigned to the 3d Infantry Division, and activated in Germany. The battalion served as an integral part of NATO forces during the Cold War. The battalion was later deactivated on 16 February 1987 in Schweinfurt, Germany.

1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment was reactivated and assigned to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on 24 June 2004. Within seven months, the "Patriots" Battalion deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III. During the year-long mission in support of the US Embassy, the "Patriots" conducted an average of 18 daily combat missions throughout the Multi National Forces-Iraq area of responsibility. The battalion totaled 3,849 combat patrols while under intense insurgent and terrorist pressure, traveled 530,138 miles on dangerous roads and delivered without loss or injury 61,183 diplomats, contractors, and senior military officers to their destinations across central Iraq.

The "Patriot" Battalion recently returned from a deployment in support of OIF V, where they partnered with Iraqi Army and Police forces throughout three Iraqi provinces. Their mentorship led the Iraqi government to reach total control of that province.

In 2015 the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment reflagged as the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment. They then deployed to the Joint Readiness Training Center, where they reclaimed the throne of the King of Battle by shooting counter fire missions so quickly that OPFOR was unable to use artillery or mortars for three days, a first for JRTC.[2]

Patriot Song

The Patriot Song[3] was comissoined by the command staff during the units deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III. The battalion song was written by HHC Medic Josiah "Doc" O'Neil.

Patriot Song
Through the sands and storm
Crusaders lend an arm
We’re ready night and day
For evil came our way
The Heat of the rising sun
The Knights have just begun
The Dogs came out to hunt
And evil ran away
The spirit of Seventy Six is marching
Forever on our thunder - in battle shakes the earth
Give me liberty or give me death
We’re Patriots until the end
We’re changing the history of war

Lineage

Constituted 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 18th Cavalry

Organized 13 June 1917 at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont

Converted and redesignated 1 November 1917 as the 76th Field Artillery

Assigned 12 November 1917 to the 3d Division

Relieved 16 October 1939 from assignment to the 3d Division

Assigned 1 July 1940 to the 7th Division

Reorganized and redesignated 22 January 1941 as the 76th Field Artillery Battalion

Relieved 1 June 1941 from assignment to the 7th Division

Inactivated 27 November 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey

Redesignated 1 August 1946 as the 76th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky

Inactivated (less Battery A) 24 August 1948 at Fort Knox, Kentucky

(Battery A reorganized and redesignated 28 August 1953 as the 576th Armored Field Artillery Battery; inactivated 4 October 1954 at Fort Knox, Kentucky)

Redesignated 8 October 1954 as the 76th Field Artillery Battalion and activated at Fort Devens, Massachusetts (576th Armored Field Artillery Battery concurrently redesignated as Battery A, 76th Field Artillery Battalion)

Inactivated (less Battery B) 15 February 1958 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts (Battery B concurrently inactivated in Iceland)

Reorganized and redesignated 31 July 1959 as the 76th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System

Redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 76th Field Artillery

Withdrawn 16 February 1987 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

Redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 76th Field Artillery Regiment

Reflagged from 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment to 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment 18 May 2015 at Fort Stewart, GA

Distinctive unit insignia

A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure, three bendlets sinister Argent, a round shot Proper. On a canton Tenné, the headdress of the dragoons of 1836 Proper (for the 2nd Cavalry). Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Red scroll inscribed “DUTY THE SPIRIT OF ‘76” in Gold letters.

The regiment was organized in 1917 from the 2nd Cavalry as the 18th Cavalry, changed to the 76th Field Artillery in the same year and served in France in the 3rd Division, the insignia of which forms the basis of the 2nd Cavalry shield, and the charges thereon is the crest of that regiment. The round shot symbolizes the motto.

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 76th Field Artillery Regiment on 19 February 1924. It was redesignated for the 76th Field Artillery Battalion on 3 December 1942. It was redesignated for the 76th Armored Field Artillery Battalion on 10 July 1947. The insignia was redesignated for the 76th Field Artillery Battalion on 13 October 1954. It was redesignated for the 76th Artillery Regiment on 10 June 1958. Effective 1 September 1971, it was redesignated for the 76th Field Artillery Regiment.

Coat of arms

Current configuration

Campaign participation credit

Decorations

Valorous Unit Award

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Institute of Heraldry document "76th Field Artillery Regiment".

  1. ↑ 3rd Infantry Division
  2. ↑ http://www.stewart.army.mil/units/home.asp?id=157
  3. ↑ 3ID
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