The 17th Field Artillery Brigade, "America's Premier HIMARS Brigade,” is an artillery brigade in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. It is currently based in

Joint Base Lewis McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

Washington as Force Fires Headquarters for

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

History

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade began as the 17th Field Artillery Brigade part of the 17th Division at Camp Bowie, Texas on 31 July 1918. It demobilized in February 1919 after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The 17th Field Artillery Brigade activated again at Fort Sill January 1943. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the 17th Field Artillery Brigade participated in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. *Staged at

Camp Myles Standish Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...

from 20 February 1944. *Departed Boston, Massachusetts Port of Embarkation on 28 February 1944. *Arrived in England on 8 March 1944. *Landed in France on 12 June 1944 and entered the

campaign. *Normandy Campaign concluded on 24 July 1944. *Northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

campaign started July 1944. *Crossed into

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 5 September 1944. *Northern France campaign concluded on 14 September 1944. *Entered Germany on 15 September 1944 and started

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

campaign. *Returned to

on 1 October 1944. *Reentered Germany on 1 November 1944. *Returned to

on 23 December 1944 to participate in the

Ardennes-Alsace The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

campaign. *Reentered Germany on 4 February 1945, and resumed

campaign. *Rhineland Campaign concluded on 21 March 1945. *Central Europe campaign starts 22 March 1945. *Central Europe campaign concluded 11 May 1945, and unit prepares to be withdrawn from ETO, and deployment to PTO. *Unit withdrawn from Germany, and arrived

Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation was the Army command structure and distributed port infrastructure in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia supporting movement of personnel and cargo overseas. It had been activated as the Newport News Port of Emb ...

to prepare for invasion of Japan on 9 July 1945 *Unit moved to

Camp San Luis Obispo Camp San Luis Obispo is the original home of the California Army National Guard. It served as an Infantry Division Camp and Cantonment Area for the United States Army during World War II. History Camp San Luis Obispo, formerly called Camp Merri ...

, California on 15 July 1945 to train and re-equip for Pacific Theater. *Unit at

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

. *Unit moved to

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, California for demobilization on 20 September 1945. *Inactivated 15 November 1945 at

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade activated at

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Divi ...

, Kentucky 22 January 1951. The unit was redesigned 21 March 1978 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Field Artillery Group. The 17th Field Artillery deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

from Fort Sill, OK in 2003 and again in 2005. In 2007 the 17th Field Artillery Brigade moved to Fort Lewis,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

a renamed 17th Fires Brigade. The 17th Fires Brigade deployed to the

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

Province in the summer of 2009. The unit was designated as a subordinate unit to 7th Infantry Division, 1 October 2012 The 1st Battalion, 377th Field Artillery Regiment was officially inactivated February 2014. For the purpose of standardizing, the 17th Fires Brigade was officially renamed 17th Field Artillery Brigade on 19 February 2014.

Lineage & Honors

Lineage

*Constituted 31 July 1918 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, and assigned to the 17th Division *Organized 19 August 1918 at Camp Bowie, Texas *Demobilized 8 February 1919 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma *Reconstituted 12 October 1936 in the Regular Army; concurrently consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Field Artillery Brigade (constituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army), and consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Field Artillery Brigade *Activated 19 January 1943 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma *Reorganized, redesignated, and joined 13 March 1944 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, VII Corps Artillery *Inactivated 15 November 1945 at Fort Ord, California *Activated 22 January 1951 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky *Inactivated 21 June 1975 in Germany *Redesignated 21 March 1978 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Field Artillery Brigade *Activated 21 September 1978 in Augsburg, Germany *Reorganized and redesignated 17 July 2007 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Fires Brigade"Lineage and Honors Information: Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th FIres Brigade." U.S. Army Center for Military History. 13 September 2007. Web. Accessed 8 November 2015. .

Campaign Participation Credit

*World War II: Normandy Campaign (with arrowhead); Northern France Campaign; Rhineland Campaign; Ardennes-Alsace Campaign; Central Europe Campaign *War on Terrorism: Campaigns to be determined

Decorations

Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered IRAQ 2005–2006

Assigned and Attached Units

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade is currently composed of the following units: * Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) * 3_FA_Rgt_DUI

1st Battalion ( HIMARS) High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (1–3rd FAR) * 94 FA Rgt DUI

1st Battalion ( HIMARS) High Mobility Artillery Rocket System,

94th Field Artillery Regiment The 94th Field Artillery was constituted in the Regular Army on 1 October 1933. It was redesignated as Battery A, 94th Armored Field Artillery Battalion on 1 January 1942. Five days later it was assigned to the 4th Armored Division at Pine Camp, ...

(1–94th FAR) * 308 Spt Bn DUI

308th Brigade Support Battalion The 308th Brigade Support Battalion is a U.S. Army battalion was formed 23 February as the 308th Quartermaster Sterilization Battalion at Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the ...

(308th BSB) * 256th Signal Company

References

External links

{{ACMH, url =http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/fa/0017firebrig.htm, title = Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 17th Fires Brigades Lineage and Honors
"17th Fires Brigade", United States Army

017, Field Artillery 017 017, Field Artillery 017 Military units and formations established in 1918