Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

294 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery
Army were transferred to an aviation unit when the 101st Airborne Division’s 4th
Battalion, 77th Field Artillery, was inacti vated on 21 January 1978. 24
One of the changes made during the early 1970s was the redesignation of all
artillery units as either field or air defense. Air defense artillery had become a
separate branch in 1968 because of the growing divergence in weapons systems,
training, equipment, and tactics; field artillery was established as a separate
branch the following year. In both cases, the change was administrative in nature,
involving artillery personnel and their career branches rather than the units.
In 1971, the terms field and air defense became part of each regiment’s official
designation, giving each arm its own units as well as its own personnel. The first
seven artillery regiments, which had resulted from consolidating the former coast
and field artillery regiments in 1957, were divided into fourteen regiments, seven
field and seven air defense. For example, the 1st Field Artillery descended from
the former regiment of the same designation, while the 1st Air Defense Artillery
descended from the old 1st Coast Artillery, which had been organized in 1821 as
the 1st Regiment of Artillery. In each case, the historic heraldic items of the former
organization were given to the reorganized regiment. Of the other nine regiments
having backgrounds of both field and coast artillery, seven were redesignated as
air defense artillery and two as field artillery. The remaining fifty-nine regiments
were redesignated as field or air defense artillery depending upon their ori gin.
The redesignations gave the Regular Army fifty-eight field artillery regiments.
Changes in designation were not implemented for artillery groups or for any Army
National Guard units until 1972. 25
Counterbattery fire traditionally was the responsibility of the corps artillery
commander who had the necessary resources, primarily longer-ranged weapons
and the target acquisi tion bat talion, and who controlled a relatively small and
stable corps frontage for efficiently carrying out the mission. But by the mid-1970s,
when the Army was small and not growing, corps sectors in Europe had increased
far beyond those of World War II—from 25–40 kilometers (15.5–24.9 miles) to
80–110 kilometers (49.7–68.3 miles)—and as a consequence division sectors also
expanded accordingly. Several factors affected mission accomplishment as well.
First, the plethora of target data taxed communications systems tremendously. In
comparison to 1944, when the Allies had a five-to-one advantage over the Germans
and targets were scarce, the Army in 1975 expected four enemy divisions to oppose
one American division and thus the targets to be more plentiful. Second, the
24 Richard L. Arnold, “Air Assault Artil lery,” Field Artillery Journal, May-June 1975, pp. 34–37;
Judson B. Baggett, “Air Assault Artillery,” ibid., January-February 1977, pp. 57–59; Winn McDougal,
“Aerial Field Artillery for the Corps,” ibid., March-April 1974, pp. 54–58; William C. Parnell III, “Field
Artillery—Cav Style,” ibid., September-October 1974, pp. 49–53; TOE 6–700T, 22 Jun 1965; TOE
6–700H, 31 Dec 1971; TOE 17–200T, 15 Apr 1972; TOE 17–200H, 20 Feb 1975, copies in CMH files.
Although the 101st Airborne Division’s TOE called for an organic 155-mm. howitzer battalion, the unit
was only attached.
25 McKenney, “Artillery Branches Out,” pp. 14–15. See also fldr 1971 Arty Reorg, FA/ADA Split
(Arty, Gen), CMH files. The Combat Arms Regimental System in field artillery became the U.S. Army
Regimental System in the mid-1980s.