Photo By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Parsons | Command Sgt. Maj. Martin Conroy stands among some of the display cases at the 3rd...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – For two years Command Sgt. Maj. Martin Conroy, who recently relinquished the responsibility of the Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, filled the hallways of battalion headquarters with artifacts and memories of both the unit and the regiment.
“Ever since I first came in the Army and to the 2nd Ranger Battalion, they instilled in me the importance of knowing your history, and knowing where you’ve been helps you know where you’re going,” said Conroy.
The 321st Field Artillery Regiment has a long history beginning in 1917 with World War I. In 1929, the regiment moved to the 82nd Infantry Division and then was transferred to the 101st Airborne Division (glider) in 1942. In 1996, the regiment returned to the 82nd Airborne Division here at Fort Bragg.
In the last few years, two out of three battalions in the regiment were inactivated and 3rd Battalion changed its weapon system from the M777 howitzer to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) at the end of 2014. These changes to the regiment prompted Command Sgt. Maj. Conroy to collect history of both 3rd Battalion and the regiment when he assumed responsibility for the battalion in 2013.
“It was a combination of de-activations of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 321st Field Artillery Regiment, and I was the command sergeant major for 2-321 FAR prior to its de-activation, and also at the same time Fort Sill was trying to put together a 321st regimental room as a classroom there,” said Conroy. “With those two events, and knowing I was going to be the 3-321 FAR command sergeant major, and keeper of the regimental colors, I decided to put all this together.”
“I know 1-321 FAR had a regimental room in their battalion headquarters, and when they inactivated we inherited all those artifacts,” said Conroy. “They had a pretty decent World War II history portion of it but most of the global war on terrorism material was all from 1st Battalion and coming from 2nd Battalion I knew they had a rich history from Vietnam and 1st Battalion did too, so I wanted to incorporate the true regimental history.”
Conroy spent many months searching out the history of his battalion and the regiment, utilizing a myriad of sources while he compiled the battalion’s collection of historic artifacts.
“I was able to do this through a lot of research on the internet, and I found that at the completion of World War II they had written a deployment book called ‘Mission Complete’ and I researched what 1st Battalion had done in Vietnam and afterwards,” said Conroy. “They had done a good job with a battalion history book that I had found online that was fairly current through the mid-2000s, which included about half their involvement with the global war on terrorism.”
A number of people were instrumental in aiding Conroy in his effort to find and preserve the history and legacy of the regiment and battalion.
Capt. Patrick Boling, a former battery commander in 2-321 FAR, shared information he had gotten from the National Archives and gave me copies of what he had found,” Conroy continued.
“I did a lot of work through the 82nd Airborne Division’s museum and the XVIII Airborne Corps historian,” Conroy added. They helped me out greatly by giving me different points of contact, helping me with historic photos and material like that.”
In addition to those who supplied Conroy with the information he needed to pursue the unit’s history, there was no shortage of support from the Soldiers in his battalion.
“At the time, Lt. Col. Joe Callahan, the former battalion commander, was fully supportive, and I had bunch of NCOs and lieutenants who were history buffs, and they appreciated it and helped out with it,” said Conroy. “For the 321st it’s come full circle for us because the unit started in 1917 during World War I, but in World War II they got their identity with the 82nd Infantry division which then became the 82nd Airborne Division.”
“The division was cut in half to form the 101st, and we were one of the units that got cut to the 101st and became a glider unit,” explained Conroy. “In 1996 the unit returned to Fort Bragg and the 82nd Airborne Division. That’s how we got our identity.”
Conroy’s efforts to give the 3-321 FAR, the “Thunderbolt Battalion,” its own identity is evident to anyone who walks into the battalion headquarters. Display cases line the walls with artifacts from World War I to the global war on terrorism and the evolution of the battalion over the years has been well documented. Each of the batteries have been renamed to persons from Norse mythology renowned for bringing the thunder during times of war.
“I think the history of a unit gives Soldiers an identity,” said Conroy. “When we transformed over to HIMARS, that’s when we changed everything. That’s why instead of Alpha and Bravo batteries we have Able and Baker batteries, because I didn’t want them to be mistaken with our sister battalion, the 3-27 FAR, and it goes back to our World War II heritage with the phonetic alphabet of that time and the symbol we use with the cannonball and a tick mark. All of that gives the Soldiers of the battalion an identity.”
| Date Taken: | 02.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.08.2016 16:38 |
| Story ID: | 188249 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 292 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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