V Corps Artillery

V Corps Artillery (VCA) was part of the United States Army V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany. V Corps Artillery moved to Tompkins Barracks in Schwetzingen, Germany from Wiesbaden, Germany in 2001 and remained there until inactivation in July 2007.

V Corps Artillery's lineage traces back to 13 May 1921 when Headquarters Battery, 13th Field Artillery Brigade, at Camp Bragg, North Carolina, became the artillery headquarters for V Corps. The distinctive unit insignia consisting of a gold shell a pine tree with thirteen branches proper, all within an oval red band bearing the motto "Steadfast and Strong" and in the base a five pointed star in gold was originally approved for the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 13th Field Artillery Brigade on 14 Mar 1941. The shell signifies the organization is an Artillery unit. The thirteen branch pine tree alludes to the number of the parent organization – 13th Field Artillery Brigade – while the star refers to the Brigade itself. Red and gold are the colors usually associated with Artillery. It was redesignated for the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, V Corps Artillery on 28 Jan 1952.

On 2 March 1944, the 76th Field Artillery Brigade from the California Army National Guard was re-designated as V Corps Artillery in preparation for OPERATION OVERLORD, the Normandy invasion, during the Second World War. On 7 June 1944, the first V Corps Artillery elements were ashore on Omaha Beach and V Corps Artillery was in action the following day, firing in support of V Corps units.

Upon the breakout from the Normandy hedgerows during Operation Cobra, V Corps Artillery sped across France with V Corps' armored formations. During the autumn of 1944, V Corps Artillery participated in the bloody battle through the Huertgen Forest. During the winter of 1944 and 1945, V Corps Artillery fought with distinction in the Battle of the Bulge, holding the North Shoulder in the Ardennes to defeat Hitler's last major counteroffensive of the war. During the desperate fighting in the Ardennes, V Corps Artillery fired thousands of rounds fused with the VT fuse for the first time in the history of warfare with devastating effect on German infantry and artillery. By the spring of 1945, V Corps Artillery significantly contributed to the conquest of the Third Reich, helping to secure the greatest military victory in the history of the United States.

V Corps Artillery (ten field artillery battalions between two brigades) returned to Germany in 1951 where it trained to defend the Fulda Gap, contributing to the deterrence of Soviet aggression during the Cold War. V Corps Artillery remained forward deployed throughout the Cold War, and continued to be headquartered out of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Bloc. During the Cold War the command consisted of the 41st and 42nd Field Artillery Brigades.

...
Wikipedia