• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

2nd Battalion - 2nd Field Artillery Regiment
"Big Deuce"

The mission of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery, is to provide fire support and logistics operations for the Training Command and execute ceremonial salutes for the Field Artillery Center.

In 1901, Regimental designations of artillery units were dropped and corps organization was adopted. The 17th and 18th Batteries, Field Artillery were formed at that time (they would later become a part of the Second Regiments). During the years of 1903-1905 renegade bands of Moros, principally on the islands of Jolo and Mindanao, disputed the authority of the U.S. Military Government in the Philippines. Working in cooperation with U.S. Infantry units and the Philippine Scouts (territorial guardsmen) the two batteries sought out and destroyed the Moros' jungle strongholds and eventually helped quell the uprising. The Second Regiment earned three battle streamers for its actions in the Philippines. It is because of these actions that the Coat of Arms bears a Creese (the curved blade dagger of the Moro warriors). The batteries returned to the United States and in 1906 served as a pack train engaged in moving supplies for the relief of the sufferers of the San Francisco earthquake and fires.

On 31 May 1907, the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment was organized at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming, by redesignation of the 17th and 18th Batteries, Field Artillery. In 1913 the Regiment was stationed in the Philippines until it returned to the United States in 1917-1918.

In World War I, the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment arrived in Brest, France on 9 November 1918 two days prior to the signing of the Armistice. In January, it returned to the United States, and it became inactive at Camp Bragg in February 1922. The regiment earned it's fourth streamer for it's service in France.

On 30 April 1930, the 1st Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery Regiment was reactivated at Fort Davis, Canal Zone in Panama. It was assigned to be a part of the Panama Mobile Force. The Second was equipped with the 75mm pack howitzer which took six mules to move one section and with up to three ammunition mules. The regiment was redesignated the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion on 13 January 1941. During its 12 years of service in Panama, the regiment spent most of its time testing new equipment during arduous jungle maneuvers. In 1939, under Colonel Gruger, the composer of the Caisson song of the Field Artillery, the Second crossed the difficult terrain of the Isthmus jungle from one coast to the other in just five short days. In 1940 the Second did it all again in just four! Alpha Battery won the Prestigious Knox trophy in 1939, which is similar to a battery level Top Gun Evaluation throughout the entire Army. When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Second took to the jungle to reconnoiter the area since the Canal was a sweet target.

In 1943, the Second was returned to the United States. It was split up to form cadres for the 274th, 275th, and 276th Field Artillery Regiments at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The former redesignated as the Second Field Artillery Battalion. 9 July 1944 found the unit landing in Liverpool, England in preparation for the invasion of France. Re-outfitted with 155mm towed howitzers, the Big Deuce Battalion prepared for combat. The 2nd Field Artillery Battalion served with distinction in the campaigns of Northern France, Central Europe, and the Rhineland. The battalion arrived in France at Utah Beach on 16 August 1944 and was assigned to VIII Corps, 3rd United States Army. The battalion fired its first round against the enemy at Dirnon, France on 22 August 1944. In the reduction of Brest, France the battalion reinforced the artillery fires of the 2nd and 8th Infantry Divisions. Later, the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion was assigned to the 9th United States Army and moved to the Army Concentration Area at Tongres, Belgium, arriving there on 27 October 1944. The primary mission of the battalion was general support of the XIII and XIX Corps. The end of the war found the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion attached to the 80th Infantry Division. The battalion earned its fifth, sixth, and seventh streamers for action in Europe.

The battalion returned to the US and was inactivated on 29 March 1946 at Camp Kilmer, NJ, but was again activated at Fort Sill, OK on 1 August 1946. Here it served as school troops of the Artillery Center until it was redesignated 2nd Rocket Field Artillery Battalion on 20 January 1948 and was stationed at Fort Bliss, TX with A Battery remaining at Fort Sill, OK. At this time, the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion was one of the last all African-American combat units designated as such in the Army. While the battalion did not see action in the Korean conflict, it was represented by the 2nd Rocket Battery, which was activated on 9 September 1950 by transferring officers and men from the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion. On 25 June 1958, the 2nd Field Artillery Battalion was redesignated the 2nd Howitzer Battalion (105mm), 2nd Field Artillery per General Order 66, Headquarters United States Army Artillery and Missile Center, Fort Sill, OK, dated 23 June 1958. From then until now it is still serving the next generation of field artillerymen. The battalion fires in excess of 60,000 artillery projectiles annually and recently placed first in the TRADOC Maintenance Excellence Program.

On 5 February 1991, Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment was reflagged Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment and joined the battalion's ranks. Delta Company consisted of an M2 Bradley platoon, a mortar platoon, and an M1 Abrams tank platoon. The task force supported the Field Artillery Center by providing realistic training for students. The Mechanized runs trained new lieutenants in the art of combined arms tactics with an actual combined arms force. The task force was always a big hit at the annual Fort Sill Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX). The Polar Bears were deactivated in June 1995, returning the battalion to its roots as it was redesignated once again as the 2nd Battalion, 2s Field Artillery Regiment.

Since 1971, Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery has served as the Fort Sill Salute Battery. It shot a salute for President Richard Nixon in 1973. The 50-gun salute during the Fort Sill Fourth of July Celebration is well known as the standard. The battery has authored a guide for performing salutes that is used throughout the Army. It performs salutes for Memorial Day, Change of Command ceremonies, and most recently to dedicate one if its own salute howitzers.

Bravo Battery has the privilege of taking care of the battalion's seven M101 Salute Howitzers. Each of the howitzers bears the name of a Medal of Honor recipient from the state of Oklahoma. The seven howitzers are: 2LT Ernest Childers for actions in Italy on 8 April, 1944; SFC Tony K. Burris for actions in Korea on 8-9 October, 1952; 1LT Frederick F. Henry for actions in Korea on 1 September, 1951; SSG John R. Crews for actions in Germany on 8 April, 1945; PFC John N. Reese, Jr for actions in the Philippine Islands on 9 February, 1945; PVT Harold G. Kiner for actions in Germany on 2 October, 1945; and last, but not least, SSG Ruben Rivers for actions in France on 19 November, 1944. SSG Rivers was the catalyst for the first African-American soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor. SSG Rivers finally received his medal in January 1997, 52 years after the fact.