Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division Division Artillery case their unit’s colors Wednesday at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany.
Posted on 02/17/2006 11:35:37 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
BAMBERG, Germany — The 1st Infantry Division’s Artillery (Divarty) inactivated Wednesday as part of a transformation that will see its three battalions join brigade combat teams in Germany, Italy and the U.S.
The Divarty’s inactivation marked a period of great change for artillery units everywhere, commander Col. Walter L. Gilliam told some of his unit’s 2,000 soldiers who assembled at Warner Barracks in Bamberg.
“Artillerymen across the Army will find themselves in ever-expanding roles — from delivering lethal fire to support maneuver units … to being a motorized infantry task force,” he said.
The change will see 10 field artillery battalions created as part of new Army brigade combat teams, he said. The 1st ID Divarty’s three battalions are headed for new missions, he said.
The 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment — with its Paladin Howitzers — has joined 1st ID’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team and is preparing to go to Iraq.
The 1st Battalion, 33rd Field Artillery Regiment will trade its Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems for 105 mm artillery pieces and join the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy. Elements of that unit also are preparing for deployment — to Afghanistan, Gilliam said.
1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, which was also armed with Paladins, has cased its colors for now but will reactivate in the U.S. within a few years as part of 1st ID’s yet-to-be-formed 3rd Brigade Combat Team, a division spokesman said.
Gilliam called for a moment of silence in memory of 18 Divarty soldiers killed in action during the unit’s deployment to Iraq from January 2004 to March 2005. More than 200 of the unit’s soldiers received bronze stars, 20 for valor, during the deployment, he said.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, 1st ID commander Maj. Gen. Kenneth W. Hunzeker, a former Divarty commander, recalled almost a century of proud service by the unit, which was formed in France in 1917 and supported the division through seven campaigns in World War I. Divarty also participated in World War II, including the D-Day landings, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, he said.
The unit moved to Bamberg in 1996 and has had units deploy to the Balkans several times. A Divarty gun fired the first hostile round in the Balkans, Hunzeker said. “The Big Red One is changing its structure to meet new challenges. These (Divarty) soldiers will be restationed to other units and will continue their careers with the experience of serving in this great unit,” he said.
Staff Sgt. William Schmidt, 36, of Lafayette, La., said the Iraq deployment was the highlight of his time with the unit. Schmidt, a 1-33rd platoon sergeant, who is moving to the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Grafenwöhr, said Bamberg is one of the best places to serve in Europe. “Grafenwöhr is a small town and it is a little isolated, but I’m looking forward to it. At least I get to continue serving in Germany,” he said.
Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division Division Artillery case their unit’s colors Wednesday at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany.
Hey, its okay to replace pilots with drones, but us artillery men, we used to be somebody.
That's a tradition that goes back to the "greatest generation" that fought in the Army in World War II, in which all the officers and infantrymen were awarded a Bronze Star for serving honorably without a major error in the various theaters of combat. That tradition still continues in the Army Officer Corps in combat zones, IIRC. A Bronze Star for valor, i.e. with a "V" device, recognizes acting with valor in a specific engagement with hostile forces.
I liked the item about the "SHEEPDOG". Another old artilleyman.
Thanks, its important to serve.
I must confess, right off the bat, that I'm ignorant of military alignments/re-alignments. Is this the beginning of re-establishing the Big Red One to where they belong, Fort Riley?
What the, Artillery as Infantry?
I didn't join artillery to go toe to toe with the enemy without blowing them up repeatedly and mercilessly first.
There's just something not quite right about going toe to toe with the enemy without them having been blown up a couple hundred times before they get to you.
Or maybe I'm still thinking like a complete and utter 13B?
Why is that any worse than dismounting entire Armor Brigades and putting them in Up Armored Humvees to go out and pretend to be motorized infantry in Iraq?
LOL!
Not any worse at all.
But from my point of view it is quite unimaginable.
It is hard for me to wrap my mind around it.
When Gen Custer left Ft Riley to chase Sitting Bull he said "Don't change a thing till I get back." They haven't.
Cavalry used to dismount, too.
Know what you mean, though. If had wanted to be a grunt, I would have been one.
The line grunts tend to go toe to toe with the other guys without softening them up any.
That's pretty bad in my mind.
I'd prefer to have blasted the living daylights out of the other guys at least first.
But that's my personal bias in favor of lots of explosions, which sometimes is contrary to infantry operational doctrine.
You Industrial Age, kinetic dinosaur, you!
LOL, darn straight!
;-)
We still are SOMEBODY, and sometime in the future, the Nobodies will realize that they need SOMEBODY to bail their sorry asses out...again!
Thankfully.
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