434th Field Artillery Brigade

The 434th Field Artillery Brigade is a training unit under the United States Army FIres Center of Excellence, a formation under TRADOC. The brigade conducts Basic Combat Training for new enlistees in the U.S. Army.

Mission
434th Field Artillery Brigade conducts reception operations and Basic Combat Training by integrating and transforming civilian volunteers into disciplined, motivated and fit Soldiers in order to provide the Army with competent and confident warfighters willing to live the Army Values.

Organization
The 428th FA BDE consists of four training battalions, a reception battalion, and a training support detachment:
 * Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Detachment
 * 1st Battalion, 19th Field Artillery Regiment- five basic combat training batteries
 * 1st Battalion, 31st Field Artillery Regiment- six basic combat training batteries
 * 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery Regiment- five basic combat training batteries
 * 1st Battalion, 79th Field Artillery Regiment- five basic combat training batteries
 * 95th Adjutant General Battalion (Reception)

History
Originally formed in World War II as a tank destroyer brigade, the 434th deployed to Scotland in January 1944, and landed in France on 11 July 1944. The brigade headquarters served as the headquarters of "Task Force "A"" during the attack from Avranches to Morlaix in August 1944, controlling the actions of the 15th Cavalry Group, 6th Tank Destroyer Group, 159th Engineer Battalion, and 509th Engineer Company.

After the war, the brigade served as a field artillery headquarters in the Army Reserve, based in Kansas City, Missouri, and in Chicago, Illinois, from 1947-1990. Since 2007, the brigade has conducted Basic Combat Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Lineage

 * Constituted 21 November 1942 in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade
 * Activated 24 November 1942 at Camp Hood, Texas
 * Inactivated 3 November 1945 in Germany
 * Converted and redesignated 17 April 1947 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 434th Field Artillery Group, and allotted to the Organized Reserves
 * Activated 7 May 1947 at Kansas City, Missouri
 * (Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve)


 * Redesignated 30 September 1959 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 434th Artillery Group
 * Location changed 31 December 1965 to Chicago, Illinois
 * Redesignated 15 March 1972 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 434th Field Artillery Group
 * Redesignated 1 June 1978 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 434th Field Artillery Brigade
 * Inactivated 31 December 1990 at Chicago, Illinois
 * Transferred 9 November 2006 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
 * Headquarters activated 17 April 2007 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Campaign Participation Credit

 * World War II: Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe

Decorations
None