BattleKings, 1-9 FA 3.89

US Army Field Artillery Battalion - our motto "Keep the Fire!"

The 9th Field Artillery Regiment was organized at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, on 3 June 1916. The regiment was unique in that it was the first completely motorized artillery unit in the world and the only U.S. artillery unit to have been organized overseas. Assigned to the 19th Division in 1918, the regiment was inactivated in 1921 at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. The regiment’s 1st Battalion was active from 1922 to 1937 at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa. Assignment to the 3rd Division finally came in October 1933.

The 9th Field Artillery landed in North Africa in the initial 3rd Infantry Division combat operation of World War II and took part in 3rd Division campaigns throughout the rest of the war, including the assaults on Sicily, Anzio, and Southern France.

Following WWII, the 9th Field Artillery returned to Ft. Benning, GA with the rest of the 3rd Infantry Division. The 9th Field Artillery was relieved from assignment to the 3rd Infantry Division and shipped to Korea in August 1950, and went into action only three days after arriving at Pusan. The Battalion supported every division in Korea, including ROK divisions, with the sole exception of the U.S. 7th Division.

The 9th Field Artillery Battalion remained with the 3rd Infantry Division after the Korean War and returned to the United States. The Battalion moved from Ft. Benning to Germany in the late 1950s. The Battalion was reorganized and re-designated on 3 June 1963 as a rocket and missiles battalion and re-designated again on 1 September 1971 as the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery. The Battalion was inactivated 30 June 1991 in Germany.

On 16 February 1996, the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery was reassigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and activated at Ft. Stewart, GA where it was equipped with the M109A6 Paladin Howitzer in direct support of 2nd Brigade. The 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery has deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on four occasions to include the initial assault into Iraq in 2003, OIF III in 2005, the Surge Campaign of 2007-2008, and Operation Iraqi Freedom VII and Operation New Dawn in 2009-2010. The Battlekings have the distinction of firing the last artillery rounds of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first artillery rounds of Operation New Dawn.

The 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery redeployed back to Fort Stewart, GA in October 2010 and completed a complete Artillery train-up culminating in Table XVII before reorganizing to support numerous missions in Afghanistan where they are currently deployed to include seven Security Forces Assistance Advisory Teams (SFAAT), a Security Force Security Mission, an M777 firing mission, and a mortar firing mission - continuing to prove the Battlekings' versatility and ability to accomplish any mission, anytime, anywhere.