319th Field Artillery Regiment

319th Field Artillery Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	1917–present
Country	United States
Branch	Army
Type	Field artillery
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
Unit beret flashes for the Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions

The 319th Field Artillery Regiment, more commonly referred to as the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment (319th AFAR), is parent regiment in the U.S. Army Regimental System. Four battalions of the regiment are currently active, three (1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (1-319 AFAR), 2nd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (2-319 AFAR), 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (3-319 AFAR)) in the 82nd Airborne Division and one (4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (4-319 AFAR)) in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The regiment was 'constituted' on 5 August 1917 as a National Army unit, the 319th Field Artillery Regiment, and assigned to the 157th Field Artillery Brigade of the 82d Division. It was first physically formed ('organized') on 2 September 1917 at Camp Gordon, near Chamblee, Georgia. As the division's general support battalion, the 319th was organized with three battalions, each composed of two batteries- the six batteries were lettered consecutively through the regiment, so 1st Battalion was composed of Batteries A and B, 2nd Battalion of Batteries C and D, and 3rd Battalion of Batteries E and F. Although supposed to be equipped with 6-in howitzers, the 319th's six firing batteries shared two batteries worth of 3-in guns with the rest of the 157th Field Artillery Brigade, supplementing with replicas "crudely made structures fashioned from the trunks of small trees, tin cans, spools, gas pipes and any available material." During training, the regiment was designated and reorganized as a motorized regiment, but did not receive trucks until after the end of the fighting in 1918.

On 10 May 1918, the regiment departed Camp Gordon, taking trains to Camp Mills, NY, where it arrived on 12 May 1918. On 18 May 1918, the regiment boarded the British passenger liner Lapland. Sailing on 19 May 1918, the regiment arrived in Liverpool, England, on 31 May 1918, took trains to Winchester and spent two days in the Winnal Downs Rest Camp before crossing to France. The regiment arrived at La Courtine, France, on 7 June 1918. At La Courtine, the regiment was issued 155mm howitzers and conducted two months of training, building to a 157th Field Artillery Brigade live fire in early August.

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Wikipedia