1st Battalion , 161st Field Artillery Regiment ( United States ) The 1st Battalion , 161st Field Artillery Regiment is a Field Artillery battalion of the Kansas Army National Guard in Kansas . Like many National Guard field artillery battalions , it is the sole battalion in the regiment . The battalion is currently headquartered in Wichita , and consists of three firing batteries : Alpha ( Dodge City ) , Bravo ( Paola ) , Charlie ( Newton ) , and a Headquarters Battery ( Wichita ) . The battalion has habitual relationships with the 1161st Forward Support Company ( Hutchinson ) and Battery E ( Target Acquisition ) 161st Field Artillery Regiment ( Great Bend ) . History . The 1 - 161 FA has its roots as the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Kansas Volunteer Militia , which was organized from existing units in 1880 . The regiment was mustered into federal service in June 1916 for duty guarding the Mexican Border against invasion . The regiment served for 5 months at Eagle Pass , Texas . In August 1917 , the 2nd Infantry Regiment was drafted into federal service and in October of that same year , was consolidated with the 1st Infantry Regiment and re - designated the 137th Infantry , Kansas National Guard and assigned to the 35th Division . The regiment saw duty in France and participated in the Meuse - Argonne offensive . They were demobilized in May 1919 , after 34 months of active duty service . In November 1921 , the 2nd Infantry Regiment was re - designated as the 161st Field Artillery Regiment and assigned to the 35th Division . In December 1940 the regiment was inducted into federal service . In December 1941 , the regiment , along with the rest of the 35th Division , was moved to California to defend against possible Japanese invasion . In February 1942 , the regiment was divided into the 1st Battalion 161st Field Artillery and the 2nd Battalion 195th Field Artillery . The 35th Division began training in April 1943 at Fort Rucker , AL . The division arrived in England in May 1944 , and returned to the United States in November 1945 . From 1946 to 1998 , the unit designation was changed nine times from regiment to battalion with various naming conventions . In 2001 , the battalion was mobilized for Operation Noble Eagle and provided force protection and gate security at McConnell AFB , Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley . Members of Bravo Battery , which was based out of Pratt , were deployed in 2005 to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . One Soldier lost his life while serving in Iraq . The battery returned in July 2007 . That same month , the rest of the battalion was notified that they would be deployed to Iraq . In October of that year Headquarters Battery , Alpha Battery , Charlie Battery and the 1161st FSC began pre - mobilization training and deployed in February 2008 . Headquarters Battery was sent to Baghdad , while the remainder of the Battalion , with reinforcements from Battery E 161st Field Artillery , were sent to FOB Grizzly to provide force protection . One soldieb lost his life pn that deployment as well The battalion was again mobilized in February 2011 for deployment to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti . The battalion deployed with full strength , augmented with both Battery E , 1161st FSC , and the 35th Military Police Company . They returned to the United States in February 2012 .