FORT RILEY, Kansas – Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division Artillery conducted a brigade alignment ceremony at King Field House on Jan. 19, 2024.
The ceremony signified the alignment of the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, in a significant moment that consolidated two historic artillery regiments under one command.
“I believe the true purpose of this realignment is to best prepare the 1st Infantry Division’s most lethal weapon system against any potential future foe,” said U.S. Army Col. Jeff Pickler, commander of the 1st Inf. Div. Artillery. “1-5 and 1-7 Field Artillery have a proud history with the Devil and Dagger Brigades and my commitment to them is that, that history will continue.”
After the unit was first formed in 1917 it quickly evolved structurally, into an integral part of the 1st Inf. Div., one that provided support to units fighting across multiple theaters of war. The unit wrote its story in the pages of U.S. history, not with a pen, but with the constant barrage of howitzers clearing the way for Soldiers on the ground.
During the assault on the city of Aachen, the unit matched fires from twelve artillery battalions and fired 169 tons of high explosive ordnance on just the first day, leading to the capture of a key point in the Siegfried Line by the division. Many years later, during Desert Storm, the unit fired 11,000 rounds of artillery and 414 rockets in just thirty minutes.
From its trials in combat at Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel to the recent no notice deployment to Europe in support of Operation Assure, Deter and Reinforce, the 1st Inf. Div. Artillery’s story has become integral to the many victories achieved by the United States Army.
“As a career warfighter and combat veteran, I wish for nothing more than peace from this day forward,” said Pickler. “But I have lived long enough to know that this will likely not be the case. Although nobody can predict with certainty where our next fight will occur, Drumfire guns and Drumfire Soldiers will be ready. We will be ready to mass fires when needed and we will always contribute to the 1st Infantry Division’s victory.”
Units throughout the U.S. Army continue to evolve in order to tune themselves to any operational environment. The consolidation of artillery units within the Big Red One comes as the division trains for future operations and as the division begins to initiate Danger Ready III, a large-scale combat simulation designed to train Soldiers in preparation for Warfighter 2024.
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