4th Battalion - 42nd Field Artillery Regiment
In December of 2004 the 4th Battalion 42nd Field Artllery Regiment transitioned from the 4th Infantry Division's Division Artillery (DIVARTY) and became an exclusive part of the 1st Brigade 4th Infantry Division. This transition was made as part of the Army's move towards self sustaining modular divisions.
As of January 2006, the 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment was operating in Camp Taji, an Army base approximately 10 miles northwest of Baghdad, fulfilling their second rotation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They will be there until December of 2006. In March 2003, this unit deployed to Iraq to take part in the intial stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom and participated in Operation Red Dawn, a mission consiting of 600 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division troops, along with special operations forces, responsible for locating and capturing Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president.
The direct-support (DS) field artillery (FA) battalion, 4th Battalion, 42d FA Regiment, was equipped with the M109A6 Paladin howitzer, FA Ammunition Supply Vehicle and Advanced FA Tactical Data System (AFATDS). It converted to a 3x6 (three batteries of six howitzers apiece) configuration. This 675-man battalion has experimented with numerous initiatives. The battalion also had one of the first FA fire support warrant officers, who served as the targeting officer in the brigade fire support element.
The 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, was originally constituted on 5 July, 1918, in the National Army as Battery D, 42d Field Artillery, an element of the 14th Division. It organized on 10 August, 1918, at Camp Custer, MI, where it was demobilized on 7 February, 1919.
The unit was reconstituted on 1 October, 1933, in the Regular Army as Battery D, 42d Field Artillery. It was absorbed on 1 October, 1940, by Battery A, 42d Field Artillery Battalion (Battery A, 42d Field Artillery, was redesignated on 1 October, 1940, as Battery A, 42d Field Artillery Battalion, and activated at Fort Benning, GA, as an element of the 4th Division [later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division]; it inactivated on 16 February, 1946, at Camp Butner, NC; and reactivated on 15 July, 194, at Fort Ord, CA, before being consolidated on 28 June, 1950, with Battery A, 42d Coast Artillery Battalion [organized in 1907], with the consolidated unit designated as Battery A, 42d Field Artillery Battalion).
Former Battery D, 42d Field Artillery, was reconstituted on 1 April, 1957, in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 42d Artillery. It was redesignated on 23 April, 1959, as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Howitzer Battalion, 42d Artillery, and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division (organic elements concurrently constituted).
The battalion activated on 6 May, 1959, at Fort Lewis, WA. It was redesignated on 1 October, 1963, as the 4th Battalion, 42d Artillery. It inactivated 15 December, 1970, at Fort Carson, CO.
Redesignated on 1 September, 1971, as the 4th Battalion, 42d Field Artillery, it activated on 16 January, 1996, at Fort Hood, TX.
