The 4th DIVARTY began its story as Headquarters Battery, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, "Iron Gunner," on 19 November 1917, under the command of MG Edwin Babbit, and was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. The unit was organized for combat operations at Camp Greene, North Carolina from 15 December 1917 to 10 January 1918. Headquarters, 4th Field Artillery Brigade departed for World War I in Europ
e in the winter of 1918. Campaign participation included actions at Meuse-Argonne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Champagne 1918, and Lorraine 1918. The streamers for these campaigns can be viewed in the 4th DIVARTY Conference room. Upon returning stateside, the 4th Field Artillery Brigade was stationed at Camp Lewis, Washington where it was inactivated on 21 September 1921 following the Armistice that ended World War I. The 4th Field Artillery Brigade was redesignated at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on 1 January 1935, then was disbanded again on 14 November 1939. Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Field Artillery was reconstituted on 10 September 1940 as Headquarters Battery, 4th DIVARTY. The unit was activated on 1 October 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia under the command of BG Julian Barnes. Following reactivation, the unit deployed to Europe for combat operations against the Axis. Campaign participation included action at Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central-Europe. The streamers for these campaigns can be viewed in the 4th DIVARTY conference room. 4th Division Artillery was inactivated on 5 March 1946 at Camp Butler, North Carolina. On 6 July 1948, at Fort Ord California, the 4th DIVARTY was again activated. On 1 April 1957, at Fort Lewis, Washington, the 4th DIVARTY was reorganized and redesigned as the 4th Infantry Division Artillery. With the escalation of the Vietnam conflict, the 4th Infantry Division Artillery again followed the Ivy Division into battle. On 21 July 1966, from Fort Lewis, Washington, and under the command of BG Joseph Cutrona, the 4th Infantry Division began deploying to South Vietnam. The 4th Infantry Division Artillery would spend the next 4 years in South Vietnam providing fire support for the Division during intense close combat operations. Campaign participation in Vietnam included action during Tet 69/Counteroffensive, Summer-Fall 1969, Winter-Spring 1970, Sanctuary Counteroffensive, Tet Counteroffensive, and Counteroffensive phases III-VII. By December 1970, the 4th DIVARTY returned from South Vietnam to Fort Carson, Colorado. Also during 1970, 4th DIVARTY was redesignated as 4th DIVARTY (Mechanized). This last redesignation nicknamed the unit "Iron Gunners," which complemented the "Iron Horse" Division. With the realignment and downsizing of the Army force, 4th DIVARTY was reassigned to Fort Hood, Texas on 15 December 1995, where it replaced the inactivating 2nd Armored Division Artillery. On 16 December 2004, the 4th DIVARTY began the transformation and restructuring process to become the 4th Fires Brigade, the Army’s first modular fires brigade, dividing all battalions except the 2-20th FA among the new Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) as Fire Support Elements. In 2007, the 4th Fires Brigade was inactivated and its HQ reflagged as HHB, 41st Fires Brigade. In October, 2014, the 4th ID DIVARTY was reconstituted and activated in October 2015 under the command of COL Michael Oeschger, with command of 2-12 FA, 3-77 FA, and 3-29 FA.
