1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment
"Centaurs"

The mission of the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment is to deploy, conduct contingency operations and/or stability and support operations, and provide fire support to the 3d Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, or other designated headquarters. With the transformation of the 3rd Brigade to the US Army's modular force structure in 2007, the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery was reorganized with a Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3 firing batteries (A-C), and Forward Support Company attached from the 201st Brigade Support Battalion (G Company) Prior to the modular transformation, the Battalion consisted of 3 firing batteries of M109A6 "Paladin" self-propelled 155mm artillery, a headquarters battery and a service battery.

The 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery was first constituted and organized in 1798 as a company of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers and organized at Fort Jay, New York as Captain James Stille's Company. Over the next quarter century, the battery was redesignated 8 times as commanding officers and the nature of the artillery within the United States Army changed. The most notable of these took place on 11 January 1812, when it was designated Captain Enoch Humphry's Company, Corps of Artillery. Under this name it took part in Andrew Jackson's resounding defeat of the British in the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.

On 21 August 1816 the unit was redesiganted as Company C, 3rd Battalion, Corps of Artillery, Southern Division and on 1 June 1821 the unit was redesignated once again as Company B, 4th Regiment of Artillery. From that point, the unit went on to distinguish itself in both the Mexican War and the American Civil War. Notable Civil War engagements in which the battalion fought included First Manassas, Antietam, and Gettysburg. At the turn of the 20th century, Company B, 4th Artillery continued this proud tradition, contributing to American victories at Santiago and in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. The unit was once again reorganized and redesignated on 13 February 1901 as the 7th Battery, Field Artillery, Artillery Corps and again on 11 June 1907 as Battery D, 6th Field Artillery.

In the First World War the unit was assigned to General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing's American Expeditionary Force with the 1st Expeditionary Division( which was later redesignated as the 1st Division, and then the 1st Infantry Division). D Battery, 6th Field Artillery earned 3 French Croix de Guerre in only 2 years. This incredible feat took place in some of the bloodiest battles of all times including fighting at Aisne-Marne, Muese-Argonne, and Lorraine-Piccardy in France.

On 16 October 1939 the unit was relieved from assignment to the 1st Division. It was assigned opn 22 June 1940 to the 8th Division and relieved on 20 July 1940 from this assignment. The unit was inactivated on 1 August 1940 at Fort Hoyle, Maryland.

The unit was absorbed by the active Battery A, 6th Field Artillery on 4 January 1941, which was subsequently redesignated as Battery A, 6th Field Artillery Battalion. The Battalion was assigned to the 37th Infantry Division on 8 August 1942, where it went on to fight with the Division in the Pacific. The unit stood out during both the Northern Solomans island-hopping attacks and the recapture of Luzon, Philippines. The Battalion's involvement in this action not only helped to end the occupation of these islands but also earned it the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

Battery A went through a number of changes following the end of the Second World War. The former Battery D, 6th Field Artillery, was eventually reconstituted on 15 February 1957 in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Howitzer Battalion, 6th Artillery, assigned to the 1st Armored Division, and activated at Fort Polk, Louisiana, with its organic elements concurrently constituted and activated.

It was redesignated on 3 February 1962 as the 1st Battalion, 6th Artillery. This involved the consolidation of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Artillery, with Battery D, 6th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (first organized in 1898), and the consolidated unit was designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Artillery.

The unit was relieved on 5 May 1971 from assignment to the 1st Armored Division and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. It was redesignated (less former Battery D, 6th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion) on 1 September 1971 as the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery. The former Battery D, 6th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion was concurrently redesignated as the 1st Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery, and thereafter had a separate lineage.

The 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery was relieved on 21 June 1975 from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division. It was subsequently inactivated on 1 October 1983 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The unit was assigned on 16 February 1996 to the 1st Infantry Division and activated in Germany. The 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery deployed to the Balkans from 10 April 1997 until 10 October 1997, participating in Operation Joint Guard in Bosnia and from 10 December 1999 until 10 June 2000 participating in Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo.

As of late 2001, the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, was assigned to Bamberg, Germany. In 2004 elements of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery was deployed to support the 3rd Brigade. Elements of the 1st Infantry Division began redeploying back to Germany in 2005.

The unit was redesignated on 1 October 2005 as the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment. It was relieved on 16 April 2007 from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division and assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. This was part of the transformation of the 3rd Brigade to the US Army's new modular force structure. Previously the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery was part of the 1st Infantry Division Artillery (DIVARTY). The DIVARTY's battalion were habitually attached during operations to the Division's brigades. Under the modular force structure, these battalions became organic elements of the reorganized and redesignated Brigade Combat Teams. As the unit was being reassigned, the 3rd Brigade was also redeployed to Fort Hood, Texas, as part of the departure of the remaining elements of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) from Germany.

In 2008, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), including 1-6th Field Artillery, deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. They continued to serve in Afghanistan into 2009.