| Unit Name: | 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery |
| Dates: | 1917–2015 |
| Country: | United States |
| Branch: | Regular Army |
| Type: | Field artillery |
| Size: | Battalion |
| Command Structure: | 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division |
| Garrison: | Fort Campbell |
| Equipment: | 105mm and 155mm howitzers |
| Nickname: | "Balls of the Eagle" |
| Motto: | "Volens Et Potens" |
| Battles: | World War I World War II Operation Power Pack Vietnam Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom Operations Enduring Freedom |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Distinctive unit insignia |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | Background trimming |
The 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment (2-320th FAR) is an inactive field artillery battalion of the United States Army. The battalion has been assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 11th Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division. The battalion has participated in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion deactivated in July 2015 as part of ongoing force reductions, and its personnel and equipment were reflagged as the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment.
The 2-320th FAR's beginnings can be traced back to America's entry into the First World War. As part of the nation's mobilization, 2-320th was constituted, organized and activated in August 1917 as Battery B, 320th Field Artillery (B/320th FA). As part of the original 82nd Division, B/320th FA played a key role at Lorraine, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse Argonne region in France. Following the Armistice, the 320th FA demobilized, only to be reconstituted in June 1921 as part of the United States Organized Reserves.
In August 1942, when the 82nd Infantry Division was converted to an airborne division, the 320th FA (including B/320th) was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (GFAB). As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 320th GFAB fought in a number of hot spots. First, the 320th GFAB was part of the campaign in Sicily, acting in reserve. The unit first saw action at the Volturno River on the Italian mainland. The crucial Normandy invasion was the next stop for the 320th GFAB. Under difficult conditions, the unit helped make the invasion a success. As a result of the 320th's actions during Operation Overlord, the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The 320th GFAB next fought in Operation Market Garden and then the Battle of the Bulge when the Germans attempted their last-ditch offensive. The 320th GFAB then fought and played a role in the final push through the Rhineland to defeat Germany. Upon the war's end the unit completed its duties in Europe as part of the post-war occupation in Berlin.
After the war, the 320th GFAB went through a number of transitions. It was inactivated on 15 December 1948 and relieved from assignment to the 82nd Airborne Division on 14 December 1950. On 1 August 1951 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 320th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion (AFAB), and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia.
During the 1950s, the 320th FA served as the field artillery battalion of the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. When the Army eliminated infantry regiments and battalions from division and organized under the Pentomic structure, the 320th Field Artillery was reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System. B/320th FA was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division in Germany. B/320th FA was inactivated on 1 July 1958 in Germany when the 11th Airborne was inactivated and replaced by the 24th Infantry Division. B/320th FA were redesignated on 15 November 1962 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 320th Artillery, and assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (organic elements concurrently constituted).
2-320 FAR next saw action in the Middle East from 1990 until 1991. As a part of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the battalion was part of the massive US force that drove the Iraqi Army from Kuwait.
The battalion served honorably in Operation Iraqi Freedom. As a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division, the battalion deployed 3 times to Iraq in support of the operation, to include the initial push into the country 24 March 2003.
(Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps)
(320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion relieved 14 December 1950 from assignment to the 82d Airborne Division)
Note: The published Army lineage, dated 30 June 2010, shows only Iraqi Governance in the War on Terrorism. Comparison of the battalion's deployment dates with the War on Terrorism campaigns estimates that the battalion will be credited with participation in the additional campaigns listed.
Battery A additionally entitled to:
Note: Separately cited decorations are not post to the official lineage by the Center for Military History.
320th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia
320th Field Artillery Regiment Coat of Arms