Organization of Artillery in VN

Unit History

The 1/92nd Field Artillery
Association - Vietnam

The Organization of the
Field Artillery in Vietnam

By David Powell

Authors note: Although there are many members of this unit which owe their lives to the men of the 4/60th Air Defense Artillery (Quads and Dusters) as well as the Radar and Searchlight units this article will focus primarily on the organization of Field Artillery in Vietnam.

Artillery in Vietnam was organized primarily into two forces, the 1st Field Force Vietnam (IFFV) and the 2nd Field Force Vietnam (IIFFV) each with different tactical areas of responsibility (TAOR). The 1st Field Force with two groups - the 41st and 52nd - and 2 separate Battalions (BN) provided artillery support for all of II Corps Tactical Zone (IICTZ). Both the 41st and the 52nd Artillery Groups contained 4 battalions of artillery with calibers ranging from 105 mm to units with 8" and or 175 mm howitzers and guns. The charts below illustrate the units of the Field Artillery deployed in Vietnam, both before and after the Tet offensive of 1968. Prior to this time the 1/92nd (in 52nd Group) and the 1/30th (in 41st Group) were the only completely Air Mobile medium artillery units in all of IICTZ. I have adopted the outline format used by Major General David Ewing Ott in his book published by the Department of the Army in 1975 titled Vietnam Studies, Field Artillery 1954-1973. By using this format the reader can clearly see the organization and chain of command for the artillery units. Field Artillery Organization, January 1968:
I Field Force Artillery 41st Artillery Group: 7th Bn, 13th Arty (105, T) 7th Bn, 15th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 17th Arty (105-155, T) 1st Bn, 30th Arty (155, T) 52nd Artillery Group: 3rd Bn, 6th Arty (105, SP) 6th Bn, 14th Arty (8-in/175) 5th Bn, 22nd Arty (8-in/175) 1st Bn, 92nd Arty (155, T) 5th Bn, 27th Arty (105, T) 6th Bn, 32nd Arty (8-in/175) II Field Force Artillery 23rd Artillery Group: 2nd Bn, 11th Arty (155, T) 2nd Bn, 13th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 27th Arty (155, SP) 6th Bn, 27th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 32nd Arty (8-in/175) 54th Artillery Group: 7th Bn, 8th Arty (8-in/175) 7th Bn, 9th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 35th Arty (155, SP) 1st Bn, 83rd Arty (8-in/175) 6th Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 1 6th Bn, 15th Arty (105 T) 2 MACV, Forward 3 108th Artillery Group: 1st Bn, 40th Arty (105, SP) 8th Bn, 4th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 94th Arty (175) 101st Airborne Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 319th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 320th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 321st Arty (105, T)	II Field Force Artillery-continued 1st Infantry Division Artillery: 1st Bn, 5th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 7th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 33rd Arty (105, T) 8th Bn, 6th Arty (155/8-in, SP) 25th Infantry Division Artillery: 1st Bn, 8th Arty (105, T) 7th Bn, 11th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 3rd Bn, 13th Arty (155/8-in, SP) 173rd Airborne Brigade: 3rd Bn, 319th Arty (105, T) 199th Light Infantry Brigade: 2nd Bn, 40th Arty (105, T) 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment: 3rd Sqdn How Btry's (155, SP) 1st Cavalry Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 9th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 21st Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 20th Arty (ARA) 4th Infantry Division Artillery: 6th Bn, 29th Arty (105, T) 4th Bn, 42nd Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 9th Arty (105, T) 5th Bn, 16th Arty (155/8-in, SP) 23rd Infantry Division Artillery: 6th Bn, 11th Arty, 11th Inf Bde (105, T) 1st Bn, 14th Arty, 198th Inf Bde (105, T) 3rd Bn, 82nd Arty, 196th Inf Bde (105, T) 3rd Bn, 18th Arty (8-in/175) 3rd Bn, 16th Arty (155, T) 9th Infantry Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 4th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 11th Arty (105, T) 3rd Bn, 34th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 84th Arty (155, T/8-in, SP)
1 Attached to 25th Infantry Division 2 Attached to 1st Infantry Division 3 Provisional Corps, Vietnam, activated and replaced Military Assistance, Vietnam, Forward on 10 March 1968, later redesignated XXIV Corps, Vietnam.
Field Artillery Organization, July 1969:
I Field Force Artillery 41st Artillery Group: 7th Bn, 13th Arty (105, T) 7th Bn, 15th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 17th Arty (105-155, T) 6th Bn, 84th Arty (155, T) 52nd Artillery Group: 3rd Bn, 6th Arty (105, SP) 6th Bn, 14th Arty (8-in/175) 5th Bn, 22nd Arty (8-in/175) 1st Bn, 92nd Arty (155, T) 5th Bn, 27th Arty (105, T) 6th Bn, 32nd Arty (8-in/175) XXIV Corps Artillery 108th Artillery Group: 1st Bn, 40th Arty (105, SP) 8th Bn, 4th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 94th Arty (175) 6th Bn, 33rd Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 83rd Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 138th Arty (155, SP) 1 1st Cavalry Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 19th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 21st Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 20th Arty (ARA) 1st Bn, 30th Arty (155, T) 25th Infantry Division Artillery: 1st Bn, 8th Arty (105, T) 7th Bn, 11th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 3rd Bn, 13th Arty (155/8-in, SP) II Field Force Artillery 23rd Artillery Group: 2nd Bn, 14th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 27th Arty (155, SP) 3rd Bn, 197th Arty (155, T) 2 6th Bn, 15th Arty (105, T) 6th Bn, 27th Arty (8-in/175) 2nd Bn, 32nd Arty (8-in/175)	II Field Force Artillery-continued 54th Artillery Group: 7th Bn, 8th Arty (8-in/175) 7th Bn, 9th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 35th Arty (155, SP) 5th Bn, 42nd Arty (155, T) 6th Bn, 77th Arty (105, T) 3 1st Infantry Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 4th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 11th Arty (105, T) 3rd Bn, 34th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 84th Arty (155/8-in, SP) 173rd Airborne Brigade: 3rd Bn, 319th Arty (105, T) 199th Light Infantry Brigade: 2nd Bn, 40th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 321st Arty (105, T) 4 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment: 3rd Sqdn How Btry's (155, SP) 4th Infantry Division Artillery: 6th Bn, 29th Arty (105, T) 4th Bn, 42nd Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 9th Arty (105, T) 5th Bn, 16th Arty (155/8-in, SP) 23rd Infantry Division Artillery: 6th Bn, 11th Arty, 11th Inf Bde (105, T) 1st Bn, 14th Arty, 198th Inf Bde (105, T) 3rd Bn, 82nd Arty, 196th Inf Bde (105, T) 3rd Bn, 18th Arty (8-in/175) 3rd Bn, 16th Arty (155, T) 1st Bn, 82nd Arty (155, T/8-in, SP) 101st Airborne Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 319th Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 320th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 321st Arty (105, T) 2nd Bn, 11th Arty (155, T) 4th Bn, 77th Arty (ARA) 9th Infantry Division Artillery: 2nd Bn, 4th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 11th Arty (105, T) 3rd Bn, 34th Arty (105, T) 1st Bn, 84th Arty (155, T/8-in, SP)
1 Arrived Oct 68, redesignated 1st Bn, 39th Arty, Oct 69. 2 Arrived Sep 68, redesignated 2nd Bn, 12th Arty, Sep 69. 3 OPCON Senior Advisor, IV Corps. 4 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne
At the very least, the above information should at least help the reader if and when they request ORLL's and other records from the National Archives as they are most commonly filed with or included with the records of the Group for which the unit was assigned i.e. 1/92nd records can be found with the 52nd Artillery Group records. Key for above charts: 105 is for 105mm Howitzer and these could be either the M101A1 or the M102. 155 is for 155mm Howitzer and these could be either the M114A1 or the M114A2. 8-in/175 is for the 8 inch Howitzer, M110 and the 175mm Gun the M107. Most units that were in this group of Howitzers/Guns were capable of being all 8 inch or all 175mm but as a general rule they were typically mixed so they had both the most range and the most accurate howitzers in Field Artillery. The "T" stands for Towed or pulled behind another vehicle and the "SP" stands for Self Propelled"… All 175mm and 8-inch were SP.
Artillery in Vietnam (and still today) was classified as Light, Medium or Heavy and the chart below illustrates the howitzers in each category their weight, the weight of their ammo and the maximum range of each

Type	Nomenclature	Caliber	Howitzer/Gun Weight	Ammo Weight (Average)	Range Meters/ Kilometers	Range Miles (Max)
Light	M101A1 Split Trail	105mm Howitzer	5,000 lbs	32 lbs	11,500 meters 11.5 Klicks	7 miles
Light	M102 Deuce	105mm Howitzer	3,000 lbs	32 lbs	11,500 meters 11.5 Klicks	7 miles
Medium	M114A1 & A2 Split Trail Pig	155mm Howitzer	12,700 lbs	95 lbs	14,600 meters 14.6 Klicks	9 miles
Medium	M109 Self Propelled	155mm Howitzer	42,460 lbs	95 lbs	14,600 meters 14.6 Klicks	9 miles
Heavy	M110 Self Propelled	8 inch Howitzer	58,500 lbs	200 lbs	16,800 meters 16.8 Klicks	10 miles
Heavy	M107 Self Propelled	175mm Gun	62,100 lbs	174 lbs	32,700 meters 32.7 Klicks	20 miles

1/92nd Organization:
Authors note: by reading, the History section you will see our organization changed as the need was altered. In fact, the only thing "static" in our lives was change.

  Throughout our Website you will see abbreviations… we will try to put them into parenthesis next to the word it most commonly replaces and for words that require more in-depth explanation we will try to link it to it's expansion in the glossary.

  All artillery units are made of Battalions and that is the first number in a unit's designation i.e. 1/92nd means the 1st Battalion of the 92nd Artillery. Battalions can be added or subtracted from the unit, as need dictates. Battalion can be abbreviated as BN, Bn or bn depending on the author (I prefer BN). Battalions are made up of Battery's and here again you will find flexibility as BN's expanded or contracted along with the need. Battery is abbreviated as BTRY or Btry. Most Btry's were comprised of 6 howitzers, which allowed them to be split and moved to different locations for support and defense of more units and even themselves. In early 1971 for example C Btry occupied 3 firebases all within 7 miles of each other for mutual support of the Engineers working on the roads, the ARVN's and US Infantry pounding the bush as well as the 3 firebases. When a Btry was split it formed Platoons of howitzers and the most common was the 2-howitzer platoon although I have found reference to a 3-howitzer platoon once in my reading of our records. You will see the abbreviation Plt or plt used to reference platoon. Another item you will run across in our writings is the symbol "(-)", you will normally see this in conjunction with (Plt) and it is what is used to designate the remaining portion of the Btry (2 platoons or 4 howitzers) once it has been split. These Btry's were commonly referred to as the "Firing Battery's" the guys you called when you wanted hot steel on the target… but for every firing Btry a unit had it took other Btry's to support, move, supply, aim and maintain the howitzers and equipment. These other non-firing Btry's were the Service Battery (Svc Btry) plus the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB Btry). You will find their stories incorporated into the appropriate areas.

   For the most part, 1/92nd was a 3 Firing Btry BN each with 6 - M114A1 - 155 mm Howitzers, lovingly referred to as "The Pig." Try to imagine if you will, wrestling over 6 ½ tons of steel in the middle of a monsoon downpour while trying to maintain footing in the slippery, slimy red muck of the Vietnamese clay soil and you'll see why we called them Pigs. There was a time during 1967 when the 1/92nd was spread so thin and demand for support still very high, that the BN requisitioned 4 - 105 mm - Howitzers and manned them with men from HHB and SVC Btry and called this D Btry. They also changed C Btry into a 4 howitzer Btry and took the other 2 howitzers and called them E Btry (see History - '67-'69). With the exception of the before mentioned Delta and Echo Batteries, the 1/92nd was primarily comprised of Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Batteries. It was common practice (at least during 1969 to 1971) to have one of the batteries be a "Swing Battery." Which basically meant they would be the battery responsible for moving around as the demand for movement increased. Based on a number of criteria (like the mental health of the men that had been on a hot firebase for an extended amount of time and enemy activities) the swing battery could be swing for anywhere from 3 months to a year. Being swing battery meant you were very seldom at base camp and if you knew the people on the other guns in the battery at all, it was not very well. In most cases you were broken down into 3 separate -2-howitzer - platoons. You may have been within range of each other but this was not always the case… one thing for certain, you were always on a "road march."

   Although most road marches were accomplished by convoy, which allowed us to take everything, we needed i.e. ammo, powder, howitzers, men, etc. not all places were accessible by truck. In these cases, the movement was done by CH-54 Skycrane helicopters (Sikorsky Tarhe) or for long moves (like from Ban Me Thuot to Pleiku) with C-130 cargo planes. In November of 1967 and most of 1968 Bravo Btry was swing, let me illustrate briefly what it was like for the men of B Btry… in the 9 months between November 1967 and July 1968 the men of B Btry moved a total of 19 times; 10 times by air and 9 times by road. They were together as a Battery a total of 10 times (a total of 3 months), the longest of which was approximately 40 days they spent together on LZ Hambone, the rest of their time was spent as 2 (plt) and 4 (-) howitzer units. So depending on when you joined the unit, you could have moved a lot or not at all. There were many times during the Vietnam War when the BN maintained as many as 7 separate firing positions each with their own FDC and often separated by the entire IICTZ… case in point, while fighting in Dak Seang/Dak Pek area in the north we were also engaged in a significant mess in Bu Prang down south.

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