2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment
| 1st Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
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| Country |
 United States
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| Branch | Army |
| Type | Field artillery |
| Size | battalion |
| Garrison/HQ | inactive |
| Motto(s) | "Noli Me Tangere" (Don’t Tread On Me) |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
The 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment (2-321 FAR) is an inactive field artillery battalion of the United States Army. The battalion served in World War I, World War II, Vietnam and the Global War on Terrorism with the 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions. The battalion was inactivated in 2014 as part of force reductions.
2-321 FAR traces its lineage to Battery B, 321st Field Artillery, which organized on 2 September 1917 at Camp Gordon, Georgia. After training at Camp Gordon until May 1918, the battery shipped to France, and participated with the regiment in the St. Mihiel, Meuse Argonne and Lorraine 1918 campaigns. Following the Armistice, the battery redeployed to the United States and was demobilized at Camp Dix, New Jersey in May 1919.
The 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division, with 2-321 AFAR attached from the Division Artillery, was alerted to deploy to Vietnam on 12 February 1968. The battalion commander was LTC Howard C. Jelinek. At the time of notification, the battalion was at 50% strength, but received 211 "fillers" from within the 82d Division Artillery over the 16 hours following the deployment notification and deployed at 100% strength of 458 personnel (39 officers, 2 warrant officers and 416 enlisted personnel). Elements of the battalion deployed over the next two weeks. Battery A deployed with Task Force (TF) Privette (2d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment [2-505 PIR]), arriving at Chu Lai between 16 and 19 February 1968. Battery C followed as part of TF Carpenter (1-508 PIR), arriving between 19 and 21 February 1968. The battalion headquarters controlled TF Jelinek, arriving from 21–23 February 1968, and Battery B deployed with TF Jameson (1-505 PIR), arriving 23–26 February 1968. The last aircraft in the brigade arrived at 0800hrs on 27 February 1968. Upon arrival in Vietnam, the battalion conducted in-country orientation training at the 23d Americal Division Combat Training Center under the operational control of the 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery. During the 6 days of training, Battery C was credited with the brigade’s first kill on 28 February 1968. Battery A provided direct support to 2-505 PIR from Fire Base Fat City, and then moved north by air with 2-505 PIR and established a fire base in Phu Bai base defense perimeter. Battery B provided direct support to 1-505 PIR from Fire Base Fat City, and Battery C provided direct support to 1-508 PIR from Landing Zone (LZ) Gator. On 2 March 1968, the battalion (less Battery A) began preparations to move north to Hue/Phu Bai. The brigade (less 2-505 PIR) departed Chu Lai by road in three serials, on 3, 4 and 6 March 1968. Each serial stopped at Da Nang overnight and arrived at Hue/Phu Bai on 4, 5 and 7 March 1968 without enemy contact. Upon arrival in Hue/Phu Bai, the brigade began development of Camp Rodriguez at map coordinates YD817147. Beginning 9 March 1968, the brigade conducted Operation Carentan I. The battalion counter-mortar radar supported from Camp Rodriguez. Battery A occupied FSB Panther in support of 2-505 PIR. Battery B supported 1-505 PIR from FSB Mongoose. When the brigade’s area of operations expanded ((on 29 March 1968??)), Battery B moved to FSB Sally. On 28 March 1968, Battery C received 20 rounds of 122mm rockets, wounding one man and damaging two ¼-ton trucks. The rocket fire ceased when the battalion fired its counter-rocket program and the radar siting. On 30 March 1968, Battery B received 8 rounds of 82mm mortar, wounding three men and damaging the mess tent. Again, the fire ceased in response to the battalion’s counter-mortar fire. On 3 April, Battery C moved by road to FSB Geronimo in order to support 1-508 PIR in Area of Operations (AO) Bass. Battery A provided support from FSB Sally, supporting 1-501 PIR (attached to the brigade from the 101st Airborne Division) from 28 March – 15 April 1968. From deployment through 30 April 1968, the battalion fired 21,564 rounds during 1,437 missions.
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