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3rd Battalion - 139th Field Artillery Regiment

The 3rd battalion, 139th Field Artillery is a 3x6 M102 battalion in the Indiana Army National Guard. Its headquarters are in Crawfordsville, Indiana (about 40 miles west of Indianapolis).

The 3-139 FA was originally organized as the 4th Regiment of the Indiana National Guard on May 1, 1917. Three months later, it was drafted into federal service to fight in the War To End All Wars on August 5. It deployed to Camp Shelby, MS on September 17. On October 1, 1917 it was converted and redesignated as the 139th Field Artillery. On October 3, 1918 it deployed for England, then on to Cherbourg, France. After serving in the Great War, it returned to Camp Benjamin Harrison on January 16, 1919 and demobilized. On November 13, 1922 it was reorganized.

When the USA entered the Second World War, the 139th was once again called upon to serve its country and was inducted into federal service on January 17, 1941. Almost two years later, it embarked for the South Pacific on December 30, 1942. It fired its first round of WW2 on January 29, 1944 at Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. It saw further combat at Zig Zag Pass, Marivies, Corrigidor, Caballo Island, Carabou Island, Zambales and the Sierra Madres. During its service in the Philippines, it fought as part of the 38th Infantry Division, which came to be known as the "Avengers of Bataan". In October of 1945, the 139th redeployed to CONUS and demobilized. It was reorganized once again in April of 1947. Since then, it has served faithfully, participating not only in being ready to fulfill its wartime mission, but also in OOTW. In the 1950s and 1960s, it participated in many OOTW, most notably flood duty, snow emergency duty and riot duty during the race riots of 1967. It has continued to show its readiness to adapt to a changing force structure.

In August 1962, it fired the first Honest John rocket ever to be fired by an Army National Guard unit. Once again, in 1993, it showed its adaptability by successfully transitioning and safely firing the M110A1 howitzer.

It was reorganized and re-equipped in 1995 as a M102 battalion. During AT of 1998, the mighty 3-139 was to participate in Field Artillery Table 11, which is a battalion level live-fire qualification. Due to strength considerations, the unit fielded only 7 guns, so instead successfully fired some of the same tasks and missions at the battalion level as FAT 11.