The 138th Field Artillery Brigade is a field artillery brigade of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. It is a component of the

Kentucky Army National Guard The Kentucky Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one t ...

. It is headquartered in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

History

The brigade was originally organized on 21 January 1839 as the Louisville Legion, it was mustered into federal service on 17 May 1846, as the 1st Regiment of Foot, Kentucky Volunteers. It was redesignated and mustered into federal service on 9 September 1861 as the 5th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and fought at Shiloh, Murfeesborough, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. The unit was recalled up into federal service on 18 June 1916, and sent to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where it helped build Camp Shelby, that was named for the first Governor of Kentucky. Converted and redesignated as the 138th Field Artillery Regiment, 38th Infantry Division on 9 October 1917, and demobilized on 8 January 1919 at Camp Taylor, Kentucky. The regiment was again inducted into federal service on 17 January 1941 at Louisville and sent to Camp Shelby, MS. The regiment was broken up on 1 March 1941 and HHB was disbanded. The 1st Battalion was designated as the 138th Field Artillery Battalion. The 2d BN was designated as the 198th Field Artillery Battalion. The HHB 138th Field Artillery Regiment as reconstituted on 25 August 1945, and on 13 May 1946 was redesignated as the HHB 138th Field Artillery Group. On 1 Oct 1959 the 138th Field Artillery Group was moved from Louisville to Lexington, and was redesignated on 1 July 1978 as the HHB, 138th Field Artillery Brigade. NARA photo 111-CCV-552-CC53842

On 19 April 1968, the 2nd Battalion of the 138th was deployed to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

to provide fire support to the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

in northern

. On 19 June 1969, their firebase, Firebase Tomahawk, was attacked by the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...

4th Regiment. The attack was repulsed, with the 138th suffering 9 casualties, and the North Vietnamese suffering 23. On 2 September 2006 the 138th Field Artillery Brigade was redesignated as the 138th Fires Brigade. On 7 July 2007, Soldiers of the 138th Fires Brigade were mobilized to Fort Sill, OK and deployed in Baghdad (during the

War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

), until 27 June 2008. On 1 September 2012, Soldiers from the brigade mobilized and deployed to Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti. Their task was to provide force protection and emergency response forces for the

Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...

(CJTF-HOA).

Current Structure

* 138th Field Artillery Brigade (138th FAB),

** Headquarters Battery, Kentucky Army National Guard ** 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment (3-116th FAR) (

HIMARS The M142 HIMARS (M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army and mounted on a standard United States Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truc ...

) High Mobility Artillery Rocket System,

Florida Army National Guard The Florida Army National Guard is Florida's component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. In the United States, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the federal army's available combat forces ...

** 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery Regiment (2-138th FAR) ( M109 A6), Kentucky Army National Guard ** 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery Regiment (2-150th FAR) ( M777 A2),

Indiana Army National Guard The Indiana National Guard (INNG) is a component of the United States Armed Forces, the United States National Guard and the Military Department of Indiana (MDI). It consists of the Indiana Army National Guard, the Indiana Air National Guard, a ...

** 1st Battalion,

623rd Field Artillery Regiment The 623rd Field Artillery Regiment (Morgan's Men) is a single-battalion unit of the Kentucky Army National Guard. The unit draws its lineage from cavalry and infantry units of the Kentucky Militia formed in 1846 for service in the Mexican–Amer ...

(1-623rd FAR) High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Kentucky Army National Guard ** 103rd Brigade Support Battalion (103rd BSB), Kentucky Army National Guard ** 138th Signal Company, Kentucky Army National Guard

References

{{Reflist

External links

Lineage and Honors - 138th Field Artillery Brigade
Field artillery brigades of the United States Army Military units and formations established in 1839 Military units and formations in Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky United States Army National Guard 1839 establishments in Kentucky