321st Field Artillery Regiment (United States)

The 321st Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army.

Lineage
Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 321st Field Artillery and assigned to the 82d Division

Organized 2 September 1917 at Camp Gordon, Georgia

Demobilized 26 May 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey

Reconstituted 5 June 1930 in the Organized Reserves; concurrently consolidated with the 321st Field Artillery (active) (constituted in July 1923 in the Organized Reserves as the 452d Field Artillery and organized in Georgia; redesignated 5 October 1929 as the 321st Field Artillery and assigned to the 82d Division) and consolidated unit designated as the 321st Field Artillery, an element of the 82d Division (later redesignated as the 82d Infantry Division)

Reorganized and redesignated 30 January 1942 as the 321st Field Artillery Battalion

Ordered into active military service 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

Reorganized and redesignated 15 August 1942 as the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion; concurrently relieved from assignment to the 82d Infantry Division and assigned to the 101st Airborne Division

Inactivated 30 November 1945 in Germany

(Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps)

Redesignated 18 June 1948 as the 518th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion

Withdrawn 25 June 1948 from the Organized Reserve Corps and allotted to the Regular Army

Activated 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

Inactivated 1 April 1949 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

Activated 25 August 1950 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

Inactivated 1 December 1953 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

Activated 15 May 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

Redesignated 1 July 1956 as the 321st Airborne Field Artillery Battalion

Relieved 25 April 1957 from assignment to the 101st Airborne Division

Reorganized and redesignated 31 July 1959 as the 321st Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System

Redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 321st Field Artillery

Withdrawn 28 February 1987 from the Combat Arms Regimental System, reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System, and transferred to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

Withdrawn 15 January 1996 from the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

Currently the regiment includes the 1st, 2d, and 3d battalions on active status and the 4th, 5th, and 6th battalions on inactive status.

Distinctive unit insignia
A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Gules, two lion’s paws issuing out of the dexter and sinister base points chevron-ways Or. Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Gold scroll inscribed “NOLI ME TANGERE” in Red letters. The shield is scarlet for Artillery. The lion’s paws are significant of Field Artillery, which may be likened to a mountain lion whose paw has great strength and power in felling and crushing a victim. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 452d Field Artillery Regiment on 1 February 1927. It was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Regiment on 21 November 1930. It was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Battalion on 15 April 1942. It was redesignated for the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion on 14 October 1942. It was redesignated for the 518th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion on 26 September 1951. The insignia was redesignated for the 321st Airborne Field Artillery Battalion on 31 July 1956. On 25 February 1958, it was redesignated for the 321st Artillery Regiment. The insignia was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.
 * Description
 * Symbolism
 * Background

Blazon
Gules, two lion’s paws issuing out of the dexter and sinister base points chevron-ways Or. On a wreath Or and Gules, a cannon barrel palewise Sable winged Argent behind a lion sejant affronté with two heads addorsed of the first armed and langued Azure grasping in each forepaw a round of the third and surmounted by an escutcheon per pale Gules and of the fifth an annulet Argent, on a chief of the like three fleurs-de-lis Azure. Motto NOLI ME TANGERE (Don’t Tread On Me).
 * Shield
 * Crest

Symbolism
The shield is scarlet for Artillery. The lion’s paws are significant of Field Artillery, which may be likened to a mountain lion whose paw has great strength and power in felling and crushing a victim. The lion with one head facing forward and the other backward, brandishing a round in both directions, refers to the organization’s claim to have been the unit of the 101st Airborne Division to fire the first and the last rounds on German soil. The winged cannon stands for the former designation of the organization as a Glider Field Artillery Battalion and its assignment during World War II to the 101st Airborne Division. The red and blue escutcheon is from the arms of Bastogne; the annulet represents the enemy encirclement of that objective and refers to the unit’s distinguished action in its defense during World War II. The three fleurs-de-lis stand for the organization’s first war service, i.e., participation in three campaigns in France during World War I.
 * Shield
 * Crest

Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 452d Field Artillery Regiment on 1 February 1927. It was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Regiment on 14 November 1930. It was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Battalion on 14 April 1942. It was redesignated for the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion on 14 October 1942. It was redesignated for the 518th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion and amended to delete the Organized Reserves crest on 26 September 1951. The insignia was redesignated for the 321st Airborne Field Artillery Battalion on 31 July 1956. On 25 February 1958, it was redesignated for the 321st Artillery Regiment. It was amended to add a crest on 22 April 1966. The insignia was redesignated for the 321st Field Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.

Current configuration

 * 1st Bn (Abn), 321st FA Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade
 * 2d Bn (Abn), 321st FA Regiment, 4th BCT, 82d Airborne Division
 * 3d Bn, 321st FA Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade