143rd Field Artillery Regiment: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}

| unit_name = 143rd Field Artillery Regiment

| image = 143FARegtCOA.jpg

| image_size = 100

| caption = 143rd Field Artillery Regiment coat of arms

| dates = 1912 – present

| country =

| allegiance = United States of America

| branch = [[United States Army]]

| type = [[Field artillery]]

| role =

| size =

| command_structure = [[79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States)|79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team]]

| garrison = [[Richmond, California]] (HQ)

| garrison_label =

| equipment = [[M119 howitzer]] and [[M777 howitzer]]

| equipment_label =

| nickname =

| patron =

| motto = ''Facta Non Verba'' -<br> ''Deeds Not Words''

| colors =

| colors_label =

| march =

| mascot =

| battles = [[Spanish–American War]]<br>[[Philippine–American War]]<br>[[Mexican Expedition]]<br>[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]<br>[[Korean War]]<br>[[Iraq War|Iraq Campaign]]

| anniversaries =

| decorations = [[Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines)]]<br>[[Presidential Unit Citation (Korea)]]

<!-- Commanders -->| commander1 = MAJ Jorge Reagan

| commander1_label = Current commander

| commander2 = LTC Valos Owen

| commander2_label = Previous commander

| commander3 = LTC Michael Leeney

| commander3_label = 2d Previous commander

| notable_commanders = <br><br>LTC Rob Wooldridge<br>LTC E. Ian Falk<br>LTC Jim Kennedy<br>LTC Mike Sawyer

<!-- Insignia -->| identification_symbol = [[File:143rd Field Artillery Regiment DUI.jpg|150px]]

| identification_symbol_label = Distinctive Unit Insignia

| identification_symbol_2 =

| identification_symbol_2_label =

{{Military unit sidebar

| title = U.S. Field Artillery Regiments

| previous = [[142nd Field Artillery Regiment|142nd Field Artillery]]

| next =[[144th Field Artillery Regiment|144th Field Artillery]]

}}

The '''143rd Field Artillery Regiment''' is a combat arms [[regiment]] of the [[United States Army]] made up of soldiers from the [[California National Guard|California Army National Guard]]. Only the regiment's first battalion, a Composite [[Brigade combat team#Fires battalion|fires battalion]], equipped with [[M119 howitzer|M119A3]] and [[M777 howitzer|M777A2]] Howitzers, is still active. The 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery's current mission is to shoot safely, accurately, and quickly in direct support of the [[79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States)|79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team]]. Furthermore, the battalion trains to deploy, fight, and win on the battlefield and respond effectively to any state emergency.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.calguard.ca.gov/1-143FA |title=1st Battalion, 143d Field Artillery Regiment – On Time. On Target |publisher=Calguard.ca.gov |access-date=27 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420021116/http://www.calguard.ca.gov/1-143fa |archive-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first battalion was most recently activated for federal service in support of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]] from 2007to2008. The subordinate batteries of 1-143 FA executed force protection missions throughout central and northern [[Iraq]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.calguard.ca.gov/publicaffairs/Documents/GrizzlyMagazines/GrizzlyMay2008.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=1 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501032938/http://www.calguard.ca.gov/publicaffairs/Documents/GrizzlyMagazines/GrizzlyMay2008.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

First Battalion, 143rd FAR

The First Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery Regiment provides direct support fires to the 79th (formerly 40th) [[Infantry Brigade Combat Team]], CAARNG. As the BCT's fires battalion, the 1-143rd FAR is organized to provide responsive and accurate artillery fires to the elements of the IBCT, including close supporting fires and [[counterfire]].

:Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB)

::HHB is headquartered in [[Richmond, California|Richmond, CA]] and has a detachment in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles, CA]]. HHB consists of a battery headquarters, the battalion command section, S1, operations and intelligence platoon, communications platoon, S4, medical platoon, unit ministry team, a target acquisition platoon, and the Fire Support Detachment. The battery provides communications support and command and control for the fires battalion and subordinate, reinforcing, or attached units. The Fire Support Detachment provides observation and planning of Fires for the BCT. HHB moved from [[Walnut Creek, California|Walnut Creek, CA]] and [[Concord, California|Concord, CA]] to [[Richmond, California|Richmond, CA]] in August 2012, and then re-organized and established its current detachment (Detachment 1) in [[Ventura, California|Ventura, CA]] in February 2014. Detachment 1, HHB moved from [[Ventura, California|Ventura, CA]] to [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles, CA]] in November 2016.

::Alpha Battery is stationed at [[Lodi, CA]], and is equipped with the [[M119 howitzer|M119A3 Howitzer]]. Though battery designation has changed through the years, there has been an artillery battery in Lodi since before World War II<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vanishing Heroes: Battery F |url=http://www.lodinews.com/veterans/html/battery_f.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203041808/http://www.lodinews.com/veterans/html/battery_f.html |archive-date=3 December 2007 |url-status=live |access-date=1 May 2009 }}</ref>

::Bravo Battery is stationed at [[Ventura, California|Ventura, CA]] and has a detachment in [[Santa Maria, California|Santa Maria, CA]]. Bravo is organized identically to Alpha battery and consists of a battery headquarters, two firing platoons, a supply section, and two ammunition sections. Each firing platoon consists of three howitzer sections, a platoon headquarters section, and platoon operations center composed of fire direction center section personnel.

:Charlie Battery

::Charlie Battery is stationed at [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield, CA]]. Charlie is equipped with [[M777 howitzer|M777A2]] Howitzers, but is organized identically to Alpha and Bravo Batteries, with a battery headquarters, two firing platoons, a supply section, and two ammunition sections. Each firing platoon consists of three howitzer sections, a platoon headquarters section, and platoon operations center composed of fire direction center section personnel.

:Foxtrot Company, 40th BSB

::Foxtrot Company, based in [[Walnut Creek, California|Walnut Creek, CA]] with a detachment in nearby [[Concord, California|Concord, CA]], is the 1-143 FA's forward support company (FSC). The forward support company is organic to the 79th Brigade Support Battalion and assigned to the 1-143 FA. The forward support company provides field maintenance, subsistence (Class I), and supply distribution for the battalion. The forward support company consists of a company headquarters, a field feeding section, a field maintenance platoon, and a distribution platoon. Foxtrot Company moved from [[Richmond, California|Richmond, CA]] to [[Walnut Creek, California|Walnut Creek, CA]] and [[Concord, California|Concord, CA]] in August 2012, and was re-designated from Golf Company, 40th BSB to Foxtrot Company, 40th BSB in February 2014.

Service Battery, 1-143 FA (now F Co, 40th BSB) based in [[Walnut Creek, CA]], traces its lineage to Battery A, First Battalion of California Heavy Artillery. Battery A mustered into federal service in [[San Francisco, CA|San Francisco]] between 6 and 11 May 1898, along with the rest of the battalion. A and D Batteries of the battalion sailed to the Philippines, participating in the [[Spanish–American War]] and the [[Philippine–American War]]. Following service in those two conflicts, A Battery was mustered out of federal service in San Francisco on 21 September 1899.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/CalHvyArty.html |title=First Battalion of California Heavy Artillery, U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish–American War |publisher=Militarymuseum.org |access-date=27 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206071946/http://militarymuseum.org/CalHvyArty.html |archive-date=6 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The regiment was originally organized as the 1st Battalion of California Field Artillery on 20 December 1912 from existing units in the California National Guard, with headquarters at Oakland. The 1st Battalion was called into service on 18 June 1916, at their home station, and mustered into federal service on 28 June 1916 at the Sacramento Fairgrounds as part of the 1st California Brigade [National Guard]. The 1st Battalion of California Field Artillery, along with other units of the 1st California Brigade, served during the [[Mexican Border Campaign]] at Nogales and Yuma, Arizona. The unit was tasked with protecting the border and railroads as other units patrolled the vast border that separated the United States and Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/LostBn.html |title=California and First World War: California and the Lost Battalion |publisher=Militarymuseum.org |access-date=27 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206061412/http://militarymuseum.org/LostBn.html |archive-date=6 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=National_Guard_Intro |url=http://www.calnavhis.com/CNG-National_Guard_Intro3C.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708112149/http://www.calnavhis.com/CNG-National_Guard_Intro3C.html |archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=1 May 2009 }}</ref>

:Operation [[Enduring Freedom]]/'''[[Operation Spartan Shield]]''' (Area Support Group – Qatar)

:[[Airport Security 2006]]

:[[Summer 2015 California wildfires|California Wildfires 2015]]

:[[Summer 2016 California wildfires|California Wildfires 2016]]

:[[JTF Rattlesnake 2019]]

==References==

{{Artillery Regiments (United States)}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1912]]