4th Battalion 42nd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)

The 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment (United States) nicknamed the Straight Arrows— is a field artillery battalion in the United States Army. Their motto is Festina Lente ("Make Haste, Slowly").

Unit assignment
Based at Fort Carson, Colorado the 4–42 FA is under the command of U.S. 1st Brigade 4th Infantry Division. Each of the two gun batteries (A, B) support a different battalion in the brigade. Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) provides the necessary support components for the running of the battalion and is also the home to the Fire Support Specialists or "Fisters." The battalion was the first in the Army to transition to the new Conservative Heavy Division (CHD) design, also first Artillery Battalion to test and train with the (FBCB2) Future Battle Command Brigade and Below.

The battalion is equipped with the M109A6 Paladin Self Propelled Howitzer, which fires a 155mm family of munitions, and is the most technologically advanced cannon in the Army inventory. While originally designated as a field artillery battalion, they have also deployed and conducted operations similar to that of an infantry regiment in order to support the everchanging needs of the United States Army during wartime.

The battalion is currently training to maintain readiness for future world-wide deployments.

Operation Iraqi Freedom
The battalion deployed to Iraq in late April 2003. Combat operations were conducted initially in the area of Taji Airfield, just outside of Baghdad. The battalion moved north to the Tikrit area, leaving Battery B at Taji in support of Task Force Gunner until approximately October 2004. The battalion (less B Btry until fall) was stationed at FOB Arrow near the village of Ad-Dawr, slightly to the southeast of Tikrit along the Tigris River. During their time at FOB Arrow, the battalion functioned in their traditional role of providing fire support to the 1st Brigade and other units in the area, and also conducted infantry operations in their sector. Some of these operations included combat patrols, raids, and general patrolling and stability operations in and around Ad-Dawr. The battalion also participated in Operation Red Dawn in December 2003, and had unit members on the objective during the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. 4–42 continued to conduct combat operations until their redeployment in March 2004. During this first deployment to Iraq, the battalion was responsible for capturing several former regime members that were wanted by the coalition, capturing scores of weapons and explosives, and engaging in direct combat with insurgents and terrorists in their area. The battalion also helped to rebuild schools and provide security to the local population and insured safe and secure access to public services such as power and water, and also provided security for food distribution and fuel/petroleum sales.

The battalion was deployed again in December 2005 to Camp Taji, 14 kilometers north of Baghdad. The Straight Arrow battalion was given the task of providing security for Camp Taji and maintaining a presence on Highway 1. They returned to Fort Hood in December 2006.

The 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery, Straight Arrows, once again deployed to Iraq for its third tour in March 2008 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-09. This tour saw the battalion separated from its parent brigade and attached to 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Headquartered inside the International Zone of Baghdad, the Straight Arrows were charged with the task of supporting the Iraqi Army and monitoring the Karkh and Mansour districts of Baghdad. During this deployment the battalion supported two joint-security stations and conducted more than 3,500 total patrols in the district. The Straight Arrows then redeployed in March 2009 to Fort Hood, Texas for the last time.

Return and restationing at Fort Carson
Once they redeployed and uncased their colors, they changed battalion commanders in June 2009 and immediately moved to Fort Carson, Colo. July and August 2009 were spent standing up the battalion at Fort Carson, establishing systems, conducting reset operations and building combat power. The fall of 2009 gave the battalion opportunities to conduct multiple squad and platoon-level training events. The Straight Arrows finalized the fielding of their howitzers from PMHBCT during the week of Thanksgiving and then immediately conducted Table VIII certification. The training provided Soldiers an excellent environment with temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees and several inches of snow. In January 2010, 4–42 FA deployed in similar weather conditions to provide lethal indirect Fires in support of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger training on Fort Carson ranges. The battalion’s deployment mission was finalized and the Straight Arrows transitioned the entire formation to a motorized infantry battalion.

The battalion participated in Raider Blitz, a brigade field training exercise, as a motorized infantry battalion. Then the Straight Arrow battalion, as a member of the 1st (Raider) Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, deployed to the Joint Readiness Training Center for counterinsurgency training, in April 2010, with the Straight Arrows conducting maneuver operations as a battlespace operator. The battalion also completed deployment preparations, conducted final training for theater requirements and executed torch and advance party operations to Afghanistan.

Operation Enduring Freedom
The Battalion completed its first rotation to Afghanistan as part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division's deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion initiated relief in place/transfer of authority with 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, part of 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne in late July 2010. The unit conducted security force assistance operations with the Afghanistan National Army (ANA), the Afghanistan Provincial Police Forces and by supporting the national defense security. The battalion remained focused on security operations in support of Afghanistan as well as increasing the Afghan National Security Forces capabilities. 4-42 Field Artillery was able to make great progress in the Farah Province through constantly engaging the Taliban, by taking the Dukin/Charpoc Charmas area along with improving the security and quality of life for the Masaw District.4-42 FA was relieved in place in July 2011 by the 2d Brigade Combat Team Special Troops Battalion, 2d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

OIF I operations
■Operation Planet X (15 May 2003) ■Operation Peninsula Strike (9 June 2003 – 12 June 2003) ■Operation Desert Scorpion (15 June 2003 – 29 June 2003) ■Operation Sidewinder (29 June 2003 – 7 July 2003) ■Operation Soda Mountain (12 July 2003 – 17 July 2003) ■Operation Ivy Serpent (12 July 2003 – 21 July 2003) ■Operation Ivy Lightning (12 August 2003) ■Operation Ivy Needle (26 August 2003 – ?) ■Operation Industrial Sweep (October 2003) ■Operation Ivy Cyclone (7 November 2003 – ?)

■Operation Ivy Cyclone II (17 November 2003 – ?)

■Operation Red Dawn (13 December 2003) ■Operation Ivy Blizzard (17 December 2003 – ?)

■Operation Arrowhead Blizzard (17 December 2003 – ?)

Lineage

 * Constituted 5 July 1918 in the National Army as Battery D, 42nd Field Artillery, an element of the 14th Division
 * Organized 10 August 1918 at Camp Custer, Michigan
 * Demobilized 7 February 1919 at Camp Custer, Michigan
 * Reconstituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as Battery D, 42nd Field Artillery.
 * Absorbed 1 October 1940 by Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery Battalion. (Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery, redesignated 1 October 1940 as Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery Battalion, and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an element of the 4th Division – later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division
 * Inactivated 16 February 1946 at Fort Ord, California
 * Consolidated 28 June 1950 with Battery A, 42nd Coast Artillery [organized in 1907], and consolidated unit designated as Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery Battalion
 * Former Battery D, 42nd Field Artillery, reconstituted 1 April 1957 in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Howitzer Battalion, 42nd Artillery, activated 6 May 1959 at Fort Lewis, Washington
 * Redesignated 1 October 1963 as the 4th Battalion, 42nd Artillery
 * Inactivated 15 December 1970 at Fort Carson, Colorado
 * Redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery
 * Redesignated at Fort Hood, TX with the 4th Infantry Division 16 January 1996.
 * Redesignated at Fort Carson, CO with the 4th Infantry Division June 2009

Decorations

 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered LUXEMBOURG (42nd Field Artillery Battalion cited; WD GO 30, 1946)
 * Belgian Fourragère 1940 (42nd Field Artillery Battalion cited; DA GO 43, 1950)
 * Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM (42nd Field Artillery Battalion cited; DA GO 43, 1950)
 * Army Superior Unit Award for successful participation in the Army's Advanced Warfighting Experiment; March 1997 (DA GO 0125 June 2001)
 * Valorous Unit Award for service in Iraq during Operation Red Dawn (Capture of Saddam Hussein) (DA GO 2009–11 16 December 2009)
 * Valorous Unit Award for service in Iraq (OIF 07-09) (DA GO 2010–16–3 September 2010)
 * Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in Iraq (PO 208-26, 27 July 2009)
 * Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in Afghanistan (OEF 10-11) (PO 202-15, 21 July 2011)

Vietnam War

 * 11 November 1966 – Charles Edward Brown Jr. (Battery C)
 * 11 December 1966 – Dennis William Anderson (Battery B)
 * 14 December 1966 – Kim Sovereen Bird (Battery C)
 * 29 May 1967 – George Joseph Carr (Battery B)
 * 12 July 1967 – Fred Garland Bragg Jr. (Battery B)
 * 12 July 1967 – Le Roy Harland Charboneau (Battery B)
 * 12 July 1967 – James Michael Haider (Battery B)
 * 9 November 1967 – Robert E Scharon III (Battery B)
 * 20 November 1967 – Thelbert G Page (HHB)
 * 26 November 1967 – Jonathan Blue Jr. (HHB)
 * 30 November 1967 – Jack Rogers (Battery A)
 * 2 February 1968 – John Paul Culp (Battery B)
 * 27 May 1968 – Larry Anthony Carvetta (Battery B)
 * 27 May 1968 – Tom Galvez (Battery B)
 * 27 May 1968 – Frank William Garapolo (Battery B)
 * 27 May 1968 – John Richard Lindel (Battery B)
 * 27 May 1968 – James Daniel McKelvey (Battery B)
 * 1 June 1968 – Gary Koyle Darrah (Battery B)
 * 1 June 1968 – Robert Lee Graham (Battery B)
 * 1 June 1968 – Joseph Cephus King Jr. (Battery B)
 * 28 August 1968 – Marcelino Nieves-Colon Jr. (Battery C)
 * 7 September 1968 – Michael John Abruzzesa (Battery A)
 * 7 September 1968 – John Wayne Johnson (Battery A)
 * 7 September 1968 – George Dennis Taylor (Battery A)
 * 11 November 1968 – John Daniel Shermos (HHB)
 * 3 March 1969 – Jerry Glenn Ervin (Battery B)
 * 21 February 1970 – Jeffrey Thomas Beardsley (Battery C)
 * 13 May 1970 – Richard Alan Patterson (Battery C)
 * 11 September 1970 – James Leonard Knobles (HHB)

Iraq War
1st Tour 2003 to 2004
 * 13 August 2003 – SGT Steven W. White (HHB) – Killed when his armored personnel carrier hit an anti-tank mine.
 * 18 September 2003 – SPC. Richard Arriaga (HHB) – Killed when ambushed by small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade near Tikrit Iraq.
 * 18 September 2003 – SGT. Anthony O. Thompson (HHB) – Killed when ambushed by small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade near Tikrit Iraq.
 * 18 September 2003 – SPC. James C. Wright (HHB) – Killed when ambushed by small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade near Tikrit Iraq.

Second tour 2005-06
 * 27 June 2006 – SFC Terry O.P. Wallace (HHB) – Killed when an IED hit his Humvee outside of Camp Taji
 * 14 September 2006 – CPL Russell M. Makowski (B) – Killed by an IED while on dismounted patrol outside the Taji Market.

Third Tour 2008-09
 * 27 August 2008 – SGT David K. Cooper (FSC)- Killed by sniper fire in MH606 market in Qadasiyah sector of Baghdad.

Afghanistan War
First Tour 2010 to 2011
 * 14 June 2011 - PFC Eric D. Soufrine (B)- Killed by improvised explosive device near Bala Baluk in the Farah Province.