2nd Battalion - 4th Field Artillery Regiment
The Fourth Field Artillery is one of the oldest of the Army's Field Artillery Regiments, having been organized on 25 June 1907 at Vancouver Barracks, WA. The batteries of the U.S. Field Artillery which were drawn upon to form the regiment had been in existence before the turn of the century, and had participated in the Indian Wars, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine Insurrection. The 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery began as 28th Battery, Field Artillery, Artillery Corps, constituted on 2 February 1901 in the Regular Army. It was activated on 11 October 1901 at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and subsequently reorganized and redesignated as Battery B, 4th Field Artillery (Mountain) on 13 June 1907.
It was from actions in the Philippine Insurrection that the Fourth derived its Distinctive Unit Insignia. Battery B fought all day long during the Battle of Jolo Jolo under the blazing sun while in a sea of blood. This is represented by the red field with its yellow surrounding. The Moro tribesmen being fought by the battery carried distinctive shields and wavy-bladed knives called the Kris, while the U.S. troops carried the new bolo machete. Both the shields and knives are represented in the insignia.
On 18 March 1916, Battery B, along with batteries A and C, crossed the Mexican border under General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing as part of the Mexican Punitive Expedition. Af ter numerous operations, the Fourth returned to the United States on 2 February 1917, having accomplished all missions.
Battery B did not deploy to Europe for participation in World War I. Instead, it was held in reserve stateside with the remainder of the regiment, where it underwent intensive training in Mississippi and Texas. During this period, Colonel Snow, later to become Chief of the Field Artillery and founder of the Field Artillery Association, commanded the Fourth. The period between World Wars saw the Battery B going through a series of activations and inactivations.
The battery was again activated on 1 June 1940 at Fort Bragg, NC. After participating in the extensive Carolina Maneuvers of 1941, Battery B returned to Fort Bragg, only four days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Deployment to the Pacific Theater of Operations ensued, with the Fourth serving primarily as security forces. The extensive pack experience of the regiment's personnel was drawn upon many times during the war; the Fourth provided cadre for the training of all 14 pack artillery battalion created during the war. The regiment was inactivated in the Philippines on 10 December 1946.
Reactivated at Camp (later Fort) Carson on 30 June 1947, the Fourth again was supplied with its pack howitzers. These days were numbered, however, as the unit was inactivated 11 years later on 25 June 1958, at Fort Sill. The Fourth Field Artillery was the last unit in the Army to have mules on its Table of Organization and Equipment.
On 26 June 1958, Battery B was consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 4th Field Artillery (Active)(organized in 1847), and the consolidated unit was designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 4th Field Artillery, an element of the 9th Infantry Division. The battalion was later inactivated on 31 January 1962 at Fort Carson, CO.
With the build-up for Vietnam, the Fourth Field Artillery was reactivated, forming four battalions. The 2nd Battalion was reactivated on 1 February 1966, and served with distinction in Vietnam as a 105mm towed unit from 1966 until 1970; its soldiers earned the Valorous Unit Award, four Republic of Vietnam Crosses of Gallantry with Palm, two Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medals, First Class, and a Medal of Honor received by SGT (then PFC) Sammy Davis. The battalion was inactivated at Fort Lewis, WA, on 13 October 1970.
The battalion was redesignated as the 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery on 1 September 1971 and was reactivated on 21 October 1972 at Fort Lewis. On 2 October 1986 it was inactivated at Fort Lewis and relieved from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division. It was reactivated at Fort Sill, OK, on 16 June 1996 as the 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery (MLRS).
During 2000, "Deep Attack" 2-4 FA deployed its 0&1 to the NTC in support of the 3d BCT, 1st Armored Division, Fort Riley. In August, 2-4 FA deployed A Battery and a force FA headquarters to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Spring.
