The 4th Battalion was originally constituted on 5 July 1918 in the National Army as Battery D, 42nd Field Artillery, an element of the
14th Division (United States). It was organized on 10 August 1918 at Camp Custer, Michigan. Serving in one campaign of the First World War, Alsace 1918, the unit returned to Camp Custer, Michigan where it was demobilized on 7 February 1919. The unit was reconstituted on 1 October 1933, in the Regular Army as Battery D, 42nd Field Artillery. It was absorbed on 1 October 1940, by Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery Battalion. Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery was redesignated on 1 October 1940, as Battery A, 42nd Field Artillery Battalion, and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an element of the 4th Division (later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division). The unit participated in the following campaigns: • Counteroffensive Phase II • Counteroffensive Phase III • Tet Counteroffensive • Counteroffensive Phase IV • Counteroffensive Phase V • Counteroffensive Phase VI • Tet 69/Counteroffensive • Summer-Fall 1969 • Winter-Spring 1970 • Sanctuary Counteroffensive • Counteroffensive Phase VII The unit returned from Vietnam and was inactivated on 15 December 1970, at Fort Carson, Colorado. While inactive, the unit was redesignated on 1 September 1971 as the 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery, and remained inactive until 1996.
Last unit assignments From 1996 to 2009, the battalion was based at
Fort Hood, TX and then at
Fort Carson,
Colorado, until 2014, as part of
4th Infantry Division. It came under the command of Division Artillery and later affiliated to 1st Brigade. Each of the three gun batteries (A, B, C – later only A and B), supported a different battalion in the brigade. Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) provided the necessary support components for the running of the battalion and was also home to
Fire Support Specialists or "Fisters." The battalion was the first in the Army to transition to the new
Conservative Heavy Division (CHD) design, and also the first Artillery Battalion to test, field, and train with the digital
Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) system. The battalion was equipped with the
M109A6 Paladin Self Propelled Howitzer, which fires a 155mm family of munitions, and is the most technologically advanced cannon in the Army inventory. While a field artillery battalion, they also deployed and conducted operations similar to that of an infantry battalion in order to relieve infantry shortages in Afghanistan / Iraq. The battalion deactivated on 17 March 2014 at Fort Carson, CO.
Operation Iraqi Freedom Alerted on 19 January 2003, 4-42 FA and the 4th Infantry Division was scheduled to take part in the Iraq War in the spring of 2003 by spearheading an advance from Turkey into northern Iraq. The Turkish Parliament refused to grant permission for the operation and the battalion's equipment remained on ships during the initial buildup for the invasion - meaning that 4ID and 4-42 would have to reroute operations through Kuwait instead of Turkey. The battalion deployed to
Iraq through Kuwait in late April 2003. Combat operations were conducted initially in the area of
Taji Airfield, just outside
Baghdad. The battalion moved north to the
Tikrit area, leaving Battery B at Taji in support of
Task Force Gunner until approximately October 2003. The battalion (less B Btry until fall) was stationed at FOB Arrow near the village of
Ad-Dawr, slightly to the southeast of Tikrit along the
Tigris River, with various fire support elements attached to
1-22 Infantry,
1-10 Cavalry,
1-66 and
3-66 Armor, as far south as
Samarra and north past Tikrit. During their time at FOB Arrow the battalion conducted infantry operations in their sector. These operations included dismounted OP/LP operations around their area (specifically Ad-Dawr), mounted and dismounted combat patrols, raids against high-value targets or suspected insurgents, and general patrolling and stability operations in and around
Ad-Dawr. In addition to these non-traditional roles, the battalion still provided fire support to the 1st Brigade and other units in the area. 4–42 continued to conduct combat operations until their redeployment in March 2004. During this first deployment to Iraq, the battalion was responsible for capturing several former regime members that were wanted by the coalition, captured scores of weapons and explosives, and engaged in direct combat with insurgents and terrorists in their area. OIF I operations included: • Operation Planet X (15 May 2003) • Operation Peninsula Strike (9 June 2003 – 12 June 2003) • Operation Desert Scorpion (15 June 2003 – 29 June 2003) • Operation Sidewinder (29 June 2003 – 7 July 2003) • Operation Soda Mountain (12 July 2003 – 17 July 2003) • Operation Ivy Serpent (12 July 2003 – 21 July 2003) • Operation Ivy Lightning (12 August 2003) • Operation Ivy Needle (26 August 2003 – ?) • Operation Industrial Sweep (October 2003) • Operation Ivy Cyclone (7 November 2003 – ?) • Operation Ivy Cyclone II (17 November 2003 – ?) •
Operation Red Dawn (13 December 2003) The battalion had unit members on the objective during the capture of former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein. • Operation Ivy Blizzard (17 December 2003 – ?) • Operation Arrowhead Blizzard (17 December 2003 – ?) The battalion helped to rebuild schools and adopted the Nasiba Primary School for Girls, completing its refurbishment in November 2003. Much focus was given to providing security to the local population, ensuring safe and secure access to public services such as power and water, food distribution and fuel/petroleum sales. ==Two tours in Iraq ==