The 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment (4-320th FAR) is an inactive

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

battalion of the United States Army. The battalion has been assigned to the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

11th Airborne Division The 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angels") is a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. Consisting of one parachute and two glider infantry regiments, with supporting troops, the div ...

and

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 ...

. The battalion has participated in

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 ...

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 opposin ...

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, and

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. The battalion inactivated in 2014 as part of ongoing force reductions

History

World War I

The 4-320th FAR's beginnings can be traced back to America's entry into the

. As part of the nation's mobilization, 4-320th was constituted, organized and activated in August 1917 as Battery D, 320th Field Artillery (D/320th FA). As part of the original 82nd Division, D/320th FA played a key role at

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse Argonne region in France. Following the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, the 320th FA demobilized, only to be reconstituted in June 1921 as part of the United States Organized Reserves.

World War II

In August 1942, when the 82nd Infantry Division was converted to an

airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

division, the 320th FA was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (GFAB). Because the GFAB had only three firing batteries, the lineage of D/320th was consolidated with A/320th. As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 320th GFAB fought in a number of hot spots. First, the 320th GFAB was part of the campaign in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, acting in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. The unit first saw action at the

Volturno River The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southea ...

on the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mainland. The crucial

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 ...

invasion was the next stop for the 320th GFAB. Under difficult conditions, the unit helped make the invasion a success. As a result of the 320th's actions during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The 320th GFAB next fought in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and then the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

when the Germans attempted their last-ditch offensive. The 320th GFAB then fought and played a role in the final push through the

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 ...

to defeat Germany. Upon the war's end the unit completed its duties in Europe as part of the post-war occupation in Berlin.

Early Cold War

After the war, the 320th GFAB went through a number of transitions. It was inactivated on 15 December 1948 and relieved from assignment to the 82nd Airborne Division on 14 December 1950. On 1 August 1951 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion (AFAB), and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia.
During the 1950s, the 320th FA served as the field artillery battalion of the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. When the Army eliminated infantry regiments and battalions from division and organized under the

Pentomic Pentomic (cf. ''Greek pent(e)-'' +''-tome'' "of five parts") was a structure for infantry and airborne divisions adopted by the US Army between 1957 and 1963, in response to the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, on future battlefields. ...

structure, the 320th Field Artillery was reorganized as a parent regiment under the

Combat Arms Regimental System The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. A ...

. D/320th was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until 1964, but inactivated when the Army restructured to the

Reorganization Objective Army Division The history of the United States Army began in 1775. From its formation, the United States Army has been the primary land based part of the United States Armed Forces. The Army's main responsibility has been in fighting land battles and military ...

in 1964.

Late Cold War

As part of the transition to the

U.S. Army Regimental System The United States Army Regimental System (USARS) is an organizational and classification system used by the United States Army. It was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) to provide each soldier with continu ...

in 1986, D/320th was activated in the 193rd Infantry Brigade in the Panama Canal Zone. The battery participated in

before being inactivated again in 1994.

Global War on Terror

As part the Army's reorganization to modular brigade combat teams, D/320th was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery. The battalion activated on 16 September 2004 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. With the 4th BCT, 4-320th FAR deployed to Iraq in support of

from 2005–2006, and to Afghanistan in support of

from 2008–2009, 2010–2011, and in 2013.

Lineage and honors

Lineage

*Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as Battery D, 320th Field Artillery, an element of the 82d Division *Organized 29 August 1917 at Camp Gordon, Georgia *Demobilized 12 May 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey *Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Battery D, 320th Field Artillery, an element of the 82d Division (later redesignated as the 82d Airborne Division) *Organized in December 1921 at Columbia, South Carolina *Absorbed 13 February 1942 by Battery A, 320th Field Artillery Battalion :(Battery A, 320th Field Artillery, reorganized and redesignated 13 February 1942 as Battery A, 320th Field Artillery Battalion; ordered into active military service 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; reorganized and redesignated 15 August 1942 as Battery A, 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion; rganized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps withdrawn 15 November 1948 from the Organized Reserve Corps and allotted to the Regular Army; inactivated 15 December 1948 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; 20th Glider Field Artillery Battalion relieved 14 December 1950 from assignment to the 82d Airborne Division redesignated 1 August 1951 as Battery A, 320th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion, and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia) *Former Battery D, 320th Field Artillery, reconstituted 22 March 1957 in the Regular Army and redesignated as Battery D, 320th Artillery *Assigned 1 September 1957 to the 82d Airborne Division and activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina *Inactivated 25 May 1964 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and relieved from assignment to the 82d Airborne Division *Redesignated 1 September 1971 as Battery D, 320th Field Artillery *Assigned 2 October 1986 to the 193d Infantry Brigade and activated in the Canal Zone *Inactivated 15 October 1994 in Panama and relieved from assignment to the 193d Infantry Brigade *Redesignated 17 March 2004 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery (organic elements concurrently constituted) *Battalion assigned 16 September 2004 to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky *Redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment"Lineage and Honors Information: 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment." U.S. Army Center for Military History. 10 May 2007. Web. Accessed 11 November 2015. .

Campaign Participation Credit

*World War I: *St. Mihiel; *Meuse-Argonne; *Lorraine 1918 *World War II: *Sicily; *Naples-Foggia; *Normandy (with arrowhead); *Rhineland (with arrowhead); *Ardennes-Alsace; *Central Europe *Armed Forces Expeditions: *Panama *War on Terrorism: **Afghanistan: Consolidation II, Consolidation III, Transition I **Iraq: Iraqi Governance, National Resolution The official lineage published by the Center for Military History lists "Iraq" as the sole campaign in the War on Terrorism. Comparison of the battalion's deployments with Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns estimates that the battalion will be credited with participation in the listed campaigns.

Decorations

Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for STE. MERE EGLISE *

Meritorious Unit Commendation for IRAQ 2005–2006 *

Meritorious Unit Commendation for AFGHANISTAN 2008–2009 *

Meritorious Unit Commendation for AFGHANISTAN 2013Headquarters, Department of the Army. "General Orders 2014–47." 10 July 2014. Web. Accessed 11 November 2015. . * Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon

French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for STE. MERE EGLISE * Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon

French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for COTENTIN * Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon

French Croix de Guerre, World War II, Fourragere * NLD Military Order of William - Knight BAR

Military Order of William (Degree of the Knight of the Fourth Class) for NIJMEGEN 1944 * Netherlands Orange Lanyard * BEL Croix de Guerre 1944 ribbon

Belgian Fourragere 1940 **Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes **Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in Belgium and Germany Note: Separately cited awards are not posted to the official lineage.

Heraldry

Distinctive unit insignia

320th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia

Coat of arms

320th Field Artillery Regiment Coat of Arms

References

External links

320th FAR Regimental Association
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116210355/http://320thfieldartilleryassociation.org/ , date=16 November 2015 320 4 Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 2014