2nd Battalion - 130th Field Artillery

The 2nd Battalion, 130th Field Artillery, was originally constituted on 5 May 1917 in the Kansas National Guard as the 1st Field Artillery. It was organized from new and existing units in eastern Kansas with Headquarters federally recognized 13 July 1917 at home stations. The unit was redesignated on 1 October 1917 as the 130th Field Artillery and assigned to the 35th Division. and demobilized on 11 May 1919 at Camp Funston, KS.

The unit was reconstituted on 5 August 1919 in the Kansas National Guard as the 1st Field Artillery. It was then reorganized by batteries from July 1920 to April 1922 in eastern Kansas. It was redesignated on 4 November 1921 as the 130th Field Artillery and assigned to the 35th Division (later the 35th Infantry Division).

Headquarters was federally recognized on 18 April 1922 at Topeka, with the location of Headquarters changing on 12 March 1926 to Lawrence; on 27 April 1926 to Hutchinson; and on 18 November 1940 to Topeka. The regiment was broken up on 3 February 1942 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows: Headquarters and Headquarters Battery disbanded; 1st and 2nd Battalions as the 130th and 154th Field Artillery Battalions, respectively. After 3 February 1942, the above units underwent changes as follows: Headquarters, 130th Field Artillery was reconstituted on 25 August 1945 in the Kansas National Guard. The 130th Field Artillery Battalion was relieved on 27 January 1943 from assignment to the 35th Infantry Division. It inactivated on 11 December 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, MA.

The unit was consolidated on 22 June 1946 with Headquarters, 130th Field Artillery and the consolidated unit was redesignated as the 130th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. It was reorganized and federally recognized on 1 July 1947 with Headquarters at Hutchinson. The 154th Field Artillery Battalion was relieved on 12 January 1943 from assignment to the 35th Infantry Division. It inactivated on 1 January 1946 at Camp Stoneman, CA.

It was once again reorganized and federally recognized on 8 July 1947 with Infantry Division. The 130th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and 154th Field Artillery Battalion were consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated on 1 May 1959 as the 130th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regiment System, to consist of the 1st Howitzer Battalion, a non-divisional unit, and the 2nd Howitzer Battalion, an element of the 35th Infantry Division.

It was subsequently reorganized on 1 April 1963 to consist of the 1st and 2nd Howitzer Battalions, non-divisional units; on 14 February 1964 to consist of the 1st Howitzer Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, an element of the 69th Infantry Brigade; and on 15 December 1967 to consist of the 2nd Battalion, an element of the 69th Infantry Brigade.

The 2nd Battalion was ordered into active federal service on 13 May 1968 at Hiawatha; and released on 12 December 1969 from active federal service, thus reverting to state control. It was redesignated on 1 February 1972 as the 130th Field Artillery.

The unit's 350 soldiers deployed in February 2004 to Iraq, where part of the unit assumed responsibility for the Joint Visitors Bureau in Camp Victory, Baghdad, providing security and logistical support to all visiting dignitaries. Other unit members will be tasked with base and convoy security as well as stability and support operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.