1st Battalion , 320th Field Artillery ( United States ) The 1st Battalion , 320th Field Artillery Regiment is a U . S . Army field artillery battalion consisting of three firing batteries of six M119 105mm Howitzers each and is currently assigned and directly supports the 2D BCT of the 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) . World War I . Its beginnings can be traced back to America ’ s entry into the First World War . As part of the nation ’ s mobilization , the unit was first formed and organized in August 1917 as Battery A , 320th Field Artillery ( FA ) . As part of the original 82nd Division , A Btry 320th FA played a key role at Lorraine , St Mihiel , and the Meuse Argonne region in France . Following the Armistice , the 320th demobilized , only to be reconstituted in June 1921 as part of the United States Organized Reserves . World War II . Once the United States entered the Second World War , August 1942 , when the 82nd Infantry Division was converted to an airborne division , the battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion in direct support of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment . As part of the 82nd Airborne Division , the 320th fought in a number of hot spots . First , the 320th was part of the campaign in Sicily , acting in reserve . The unit first saw action at the Volturino River on the Italian mainland . The crucial Normandy invasion was the next stop for the 320th . Under difficult conditions , the unit helped make the invasion a success . As a result of the 320th ’ s actions during Operation Overlord , the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation . The 320th next fought in Operation Market Garden and then went on to further distinguish itself in the Battle of the Bulge when the Germans attempted their last - ditch offensive . The 320th then fought and played a role in the final push through the Rhineland to defeat Germany . Upon the war ’ s end the unit completed its duties in Europe as part of the post - war occupation in Berlin . Post - World War II . After the war , the 320th went through a number of transitions . It was inactivated on 15 December 1948 and relieved from assignment to the 82nd Airborne Division on 14 December 1950 . On 1 August 1951 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion , and activated at Fort Benning , Georgia . Post - Korean War . During the 1950s it served as the field artillery battalion of the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team . When the Army eliminated infantry regiments and battalions from division and entered the Pentomic era , " " the 320th was reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regiment System . The lineage of Battery A , 320th AFAB was reorganized and redesignated as Battery A , 320th Artillery , and assigned to the 11th Airborne Division in Germany by reflagging existing elements . ( Additionally , the former Batteries B and C , 320th GFAB were reorganized and redesignated as Batteries B and C , 320th Artillery and served in the 11th . ) All three batteries were inactivated and reflagged with different regimental numbers on 1 July 1958 in Germany when the 11th was inactivated and reflagged as the 24th Infantry Division . The colors of Battery A were redesignated on 15 November 1962 as HHB , 1st Battalion ( Airborne ) , 320th Artillery , and assigned to the 82d Airborne Division ( organic elements concurrently constituted ) . 26 April 1965 , President Johnson ordered paratroopers from the 82d Airborne Division , XVIII Airborne Corps , E Company 7th Special Forces Group and Marines from the Amphibious Squadron 10 to the Dominican Republic as part of Operation Power Pack to protect American lives and to prevent a possible Castro - type takeover by Communist elements . 1st Bn 320th FA ( ABN ) was alerted on 28 April and ordered to move to the Dominican Republic by 1 May as part of Task Force Power Pack II , which contained two airborne infantry battalions of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment ( AIR ) and other supporting elements totaling 2 , 276 men . The remainder of the 325th AIR and 320th FA were send as part of Power Pack III a few days later . " " " On 26 May 1965 , Us Forces began withdrawal from the Dominican Republic as Central and South American troops assumed Peacekeeping duties . Post - Vietnam . On the evening of 23 October 1983 , ( same day as the Bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut ) the 325th AIR , 1st Bn 320th FA ( Airborne ) and support units of the 2D Brigade were alerted as the 82D Airborne Division ' s " Division Ready Brigade " to begin its 18 - hour rapid deployment sequence to execute combat operations in support of Operation Urgent Fury on the Caribbean island of Grenada . The DRF 1 ( Division Ready Force Level 1 ) package was activated and paratroopers of 2D Brigade were " wheels up " from Pope Air Force Base within 17 hours of notice . Parts of the battalion were sent to an Intermediate Staging Base ( ISB ) in Barbados to await the staging of the rest of the division to concentrate the projection of forces from a shorter distance . Once Rangers from 1st & 2nd Battalions had secured Point Salinas Airport during an airborne assault of the airport , 325th AIR and 320th FA cancelled its airborne assault and air - landed at Point Salinas . Elements of B and C Battery arrived on the island during the evening of 25 October without their guns and provided rear area security in the vicinity of the runway . Early on the morning of October 26 , B Battery ' s guns began arriving , followed closely by most of C Battery ' s guns . B Battery began firing direct support missions later that morning from the south side of Point Salinas airfield . Once C Battery guns arrived , that battery was repositioned to the north side of the runway near the airport terminal . From there C Battery fired numerous missions including the 30 minute prep fires for the assault by the Rangers on Calvigny Barrack . B and C redeployed to Fort Bragg early in November 1983 . Combat operations continued till 15 December 1983 when last elements of the battalion redeployed to Fort Bragg , NC . 1st Battalion 320th FA ( Airborne ) remained a part of the 82nd until Goldwater - Nichols DOD Reorganization Act of 1986 " " and on 2 October 1986 , 1st of the 320th FA ( ABN ) was relieved from assignment to the 82d Airborne Division and assigned to the 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) . This resulted in all three field artillery battalions in the 82nd carrying the designation of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment ( AFAR ) and all in the 101st being reflagged as elements of the 320th Field Artillery Regiment . Prior to the reflagging , the 82nd had 1 – 319th , 1 – 320th , and 2 – 321st FA , while the 101st had 2 – 319th , 2 – 320th , and 3 – 321st FA . The Gulf Wars . 1st 320th AFAR next saw action in the Middle East from 1990 until 1991 . As a part of the 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) , the battalion was part of the massive US force that drove the Iraqi Army from Kuwait . The 1st Battalion , 320th Field Artillery Regiment remains assigned to the 101st based at Fort Campbell , KY . Operation Iraqi Freedom V - VII . 1st Battalion , 320th Field Artillery Regiment under the 2nd Brigade Combat Team , 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) was ordered to deploy to the CENTCOM AOR in late September 2005 . Upon completion of a JRTC Mission Rehearsal Exercise in April 2005 , it began a 5 - month intensive train up to prepare for the next deployment . LTC Rafael Torres , Jr . took command of the unit on 17 March 2005 and immediately began to prepare for Iraq . The battalion conducted live fire exercises in June and then began transitional training in motorized infantry tactics due to the change of mission for Iraq . The battalion began deployment in August 2005 . The rest of the battalion began deploying in late September to Camp Taji the second week of October 2005 . Iraqi National elections were scheduled to be held on the 15th of October , equipment was delayed in Kuwait until the 20th , after the elections . The unit conducted a RIP / TOA ( Relief In Place / Transfer of Authority ) with 1 – 118th FA ( Georgia Army National Guard ) and the 70th Engineer Battalion ( 3rd Brigade , 1st Armored Division ) and completed the TOA on the 26th . The 1 – 320th detached a firing platoon from B Battery to 1 – 502 Infantry Battalion to conduct counter fire operations in Mahmudiyah . The battalion ’ s radar section deployed with the 4th BDE 101st , to the Mahmudiyah area also . While in Mahmudiyah , the Radar section conducted numerous counter - fire missions which resulted in the firing of over 1400 rounds of artillery . The 1 – 320th also detached a MiTT ( Military Transition Team ) team to work with an Iraqi Army Battalion in support of 1 – 22 IN and 1 – 10 CAV in and around Southeast Baghdad and at FOB Falcon . 1 – 320th FA controlled check points , conducted cordon and searches and patrolled villages with populations up to 1000 residents . The battalion detained over 100 insurgents , which resulted in a third of them being prosecuted and imprisoned at Abu Ghraib . The unit was also responsible for finding numerous weapons and ammo caches which included 100s of mortar , artillery , tank rounds and 200 pound aerial bombs ; seized weapons including 8 mortar tubes , 500 rifles and RPG launchers , and thousands of rounds of small arms ammunition . In Taji , Iraq the battalion suffered 6 KIAs by enemy action : SSG James E . Estep , SGT Clarence L . Floyd , SPC Matthew J . Holley , SPC Alexis Roman - Cruz , and PFC Travis J . Grigg In late November , the battalion received a change of mission to assume the duties of the Area Defense Operations Cell ( ADOC ) at Camp Victory located in the Victory Base Complex ( VBC ) surrounding the Baghdad International Airport . The 1 – 320th conducted a RIP / TOA with the 2 – 299th IN ( Hawaii Army National Guard ) and completed the TOA on the 7 January 2006 . Its mission on Camp Victory required the 1 - 320th to conduct patrols in three villages neighboring the camp in Baghdad , control entry access and patrol the Al Faw Palace , as well as numerous Force Protection missions to ensure the security of the Multi - National Coalition - Iraq ( MNC - I ) and Multi - National Forces - Iraq ( MNF - I ) Headquarters on Camp Victory . While conducting ADOC operations on Camp Victory , 1st 320th FA distinguished themselves by providing exceptional security and CMO operations to the VBC and surrounding villages of Al Furat , Iraqi Family Village , and Airport Village . 1 – 320th completed over 200 force protection improvement projects on Camp Victory and conducted over 3 million dollars in projects to improve the quality of life for our Iraqi neighbors . Meanwhile , at FOB Falcon , 16 soldiers of the " Top Guns " Battalion Military Transition Team ( MiTT ) were conducting continuous combat operations in support of 1 – 22 IN and 1 – 10 CAV in and around Southeast Baghdad . In September 2006 the battalion redeployed to Fort Campbell , Kentucky . When the 101st reorganized into a modular four - brigade division and the 4th Battalion , 320th FA , was activated on 16 September 2004 . Tracing its lineage to the old Battery D , 320th GFAB of World War II fame In 2003 the 1 / 320th deployed with the 101st . in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Division was eventually spread all over Mosul Iraq . Returned to the States early 2004 .