20th Field Artillery Regiment ( United States ) The 20th Field Artillery Regiment is an field artillery regiment of the United States Army constituted 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army . It served in France during the First World War with the 5th Division , at St . Mihiel and Lorraine before deactivation on 5 September 1921 at Camp Bragg , North Carolina . The regiment ' s distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 20th Field Artillery on March 28 , 1933 . It was redesignated as 20th Field Artillery Battalion on August 12 , 1948 ; redesignated as 20th Artillery on June 13 , 1958 ; and redesignated for the 20th Field Artillery on September 1 , 1971 . Currently , the regiment has only a single battalion on active service ; the 2nd Battalion . 2nd Battalion . The 2nd Battalion , nicknamed " Deep Strike " , is currently assigned to Fires Brigade , 4th Infantry Division , and equipped with the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System . In the event of a contingency , the Texas Army National Guard ' s 2nd Battalion , 131st Field Artillery Regiment and Delta Battery , 2 / 20th Field Artillery would round it out . The regiment and the battalion was reactivated in June 1940 at Fort Benning , Georgia , as an element of the 4th Division , later re - designated as the 4th Infantry Division . During World War II , the unit participated in the Normandy Campaign , and subsequent campaigns in Northern France , the Rhineland , Ardennes - Alsace and Central Europe . In 1957 the 2nd Battalion was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and activated in Korea . In 1960 the battalion was re - designated the 2nd Rocket Howitzer Battalion , 20th Field Artillery until taking its present moniker of 2nd Battalion , 20th Field Artillery in a 1971 redesignation . During the Vietnam War the 2 / 20th was an Aerial Rocket Artillery battalion , equipped with UH - 1 B and C model and Bell AH - 1 Cobra ( G model ) helicopters . It was known as " Blue Max . " In 1972 , the battalion was relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division , assigned to the 4th Infantry Division , and activated at Fort Carson , Colorado . In 1976 the battalion was attached to the 8th Infantry Division in Wiesbaden , Germany , where it would remain until it was deactivated in 1984 , subsequently reactivated in 1987 and again deactivated in 1992 . In September 1998 , 9 – 1 Field Artillery was reflagged as the 2nd Battalion , 20th Field Artillery Battalion . In 2001 the battalion supported the Army ’ s testing and fielding of the M270A1 launcher and became the first M270A1 MLRS unit in the Army . Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion , 20th Field Artillery Regiment , held a launching ceremony 17 April to present the new MLRS to the 4th Infantry Division . The ceremony consisted of a live - fire exercise attended by key members of the 4th Infantry Division and the 49th Armored Division , Texas Army National Guard . Iraq War deployment . In March 2003 the battalion took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq , where they performed not only their traditional field artillery tasks , including firing the Division ’ s first deep missile fires in combat , but performed armed reconnaissance missions , joint security patrols , cordon and searches , raids , and a wide variety of civil military operations . The battalion redeployed in March 2004 . Upon returning to Fort Hood the unit underwent training equipment maintenance until it was once again called into action in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in December 2005 . Upon return from deployment in December 2006 it was increased in size by the addition of a 3rd Firing Battery ( Charlie ) , and adding a radar unit ( A / 26 FA ) . In addition , a previous support company , the 67th FSC , which had only been temporarily ( " ad hoc " ) attached at the beginning of the deployment was made a permanent part of the battalion . The addition of the 67th FSC thus increased the potency of the battalion . The unit deployed in OIF 07 - 08 to Taji to conduct MLRS fires . The unit deployed again in OIF 08 - 09 in Wasit Province , Iraq conducting counterinsurgency operations . The battalion served as the last unit on a 15 month deployed cycle .