4th Battalion , 319th Field Artillery Regiment The 4th Battalion , 319th Field Artillery Regiment ( 4 - 319 AFAR ) is the field artillery battalion that is part the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team . Nicknamed " The King of the Herd " , 4 – 319 AFAR has participated in battles from World War I to the current day . History . The 4th Battalion , 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment ( 4 - 319 AFAR ) , “ King of the Herd , ” was activated on June 8th , 2006 from elements of D Battery , 319th Field Artillery and 1st Battalion , 33rd Field Artillery at Warner Barracks in Bamberg , Germany and assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team ( ABCT ) . Under the U . S . Army Regimental System , the battalion traces its lineage to Battery D , 319th Field Artillery Regiment , which was originally constituted August 5th , 1917 and assigned to the 82nd Division . It was organized and activated September 9th , 1917 at Camp Gordon , Georgia and arrived in France in late 1917 . The 319th Field Artillery participated in three major campaigns during WWI . At the conclusion of the war , the 82nd Division returned home and was demobilized on May 18 , 1919 . The battalion was reorganized and redesignated the 319th Field Artillery Battalion ( FAB ) in 1942 and was ordered into active federal service on March 25th , 1942 . As part of this reorganization , Battery D was absorbed into Battery A . On August 15th , 1942 , the 319th FAB was reorganized and redesignated as the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion ( GFAB ) . The 319th GFAB participated in all six WWII campaigns of the 82nd Airborne Division , including assault landings in Normandy and the Netherlands . The 319th GFAB was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations and two French Croix de Guerre with palm . From 1957 until 1964 , the reconstituted Battery D , 319th served in the pentomic 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell , Kentucky . Battery D was inactive from 1964 until 1988 , when it was activated in Italy . Then known as " Delta Battery , " it provided direct support to the 3rd Airborne Battalion Combat Team , 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment ; to the 1st Airborne Battalion Combat Team , 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment ; and finally to the 173rd Airborne Brigade . Operation Provide Comfort . Following the March 1991 cease fire , Battery D , 319th Field Artillery deployed with the 3rd Airborne Battalion Combat Team , 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment to Turkey and northern Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort . Operation Iraqi Freedom I . On 26 March 2003 , D / 319 , as part of 173rd Airborne Brigade , conducted a parachute assault on Bashur Drop Zone in northern Iraq . The battery operated in northern Iraq from March 2003 until February 2004 , before re - deploying to Italy . Operation Enduring Freedom VI . From February 2005 to February 2006 , D / 319 AFAR deployed to OEF VI , providing fire support to forces throughout Regional Command East . In June of 2006 , Battery D , 319th AFAR was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery ( HHB ) , 4 - 319 AFAR , with two organic firing batteries ( Battery A , 4 - 319 AFAR and Battery B , 4 - 319 AFAR ) concurrently constituted and activated . Since activation , 4 - 319 AFAR has deployed three times to Afghanistan . Operation Enduring Freedom VIII . Less than a year after its formation as a battalion , 4 - 319 deployed to Afghanistan again , earning the Meritorious Unit Commendation for service from 27 May 2007 to 1 June 2008 , while providing fire support to combat operations in Nangahar , Nuristan , Kunar , and Laghman provinces in Regional Command East . Operation Enduring Freedom X . From November 2009 until November 2010 , 4 - 319 returned to Regional Command East with the 173rd Airborne Brigade , again receiving the Meritorious Unit Commendation for combat operations in Wardak and Logar provinces . The battalion was led by then , COL David Sink and had many victories . Operation Enduring Freedom XIII . The 4 - 319 AFAR also returned to Wardak and Logar for OEF XIII from 2012 to 2013 . Lineage & honors . Lineage . ( Battery A , 319th Field Artillery , reorganized and redesignated 13 February 1942 as Battery A , 319th Field Artillery Battalion ; ordered into active military service 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Camp Claiborne , Louisiana ; reorganized and redesignated 15 August 1942 as Battery A , 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion ; reorganized and redesignated 15 December 1947 as Battery A , 319th Field Artillery Battalion ; [ Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps ] ; withdrawn 15 November 1948 from the Organized Reserve Corps and allotted to the Regular Army ; reorganized and redesignated 15 December 1948 as Battery A , 319th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion ) Source : 4 - 319 Official Army Lineage and Honors Campaign participation credits . World War I World War II War on Terrorism Campaigns to be determined Source : 4 - 319 Official Army Lineage and Honors Decorations . Honors marked with an asterisk were earned by the battalion or its predecessor . Unmarked honors are honors shared by all the regiment ' s elements based on having been earned by one of the other battalions