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General History of the 2/18th Please, if you have any information, history, memories, or know of any links pertaining to the 2nd Battalion, 18th Artillery, 212th FA Brigade, e-mail me, leave a note in the guest book, phone me, fax me, visit me, or just holler REALLY loud. Contributed by: Bob Edwards I was the battalion XO at Fort Lewis from April 1969 to October 1970 and I'm sure I'll be able to find some photos and other materials if I look around a little. When I arrived at Fort Lewis in August 1968, the 2/18 had just moved from Germany, along with the 212th FA Group HQ and three other battalions (the 4/18, 2/34, and 2/37). I was initially assigned to the 1/20 FA, an Honest John rocket battalion that had been at Fort Lewis for a number of years, but it was inactivated in March 1969 and I was reassigned to the 2/18 the following month. We had M110 eight-inch howitzers and the other three battalions all had M109 (155mm) howitzers. All the units had left their equipment in storage in Germany as part of the Reforger concept and had been issued brand-new equipment when they arrived at Fort Lewis. In the 18 months I was assigned to the 2/18, we had three battalion commanders, Julius O. Thomas, Paul S. Carpinteri, and Richard W. Stoddard, who took command shortly before I left. One of my additional duties was battalion historian, so I probably have some notes stashed somewhere that might be useful for the website. When I was in the 2/18, we had custody of a lot of things that had belonged to the old 18th FA Regiment, and displayed them in our battalion conference room. These included the original regimental flag from World War I, a lot of trophies, old photos, and other memorabilia. I can't imagine that anyone would dispose of those things, so I assume the 2/18 probably still has them (plus things they've accumulated since then). One thing I can say with certainty about the 2/18's history is that the battalion never went to Vietnam (the 3/18 did, however). When U.S. units first deployed to Vietnam, the 2/18 was in Germany and it stayed there until the summer of 1968, when it moved to Fort Lewis. I left the battalion in October 1970 for a tour in Vietnam and came back by for a visit in November 1971 enroute to an assignment at Fort Sill. I was at Fort Sill when the 2/18 and the rest of the 212th Group moved there a year or so later (1972 or 1973) and both they and I remained there until after the Vietnam war ended in 1975. One thing that is sort of interesting about the 2/18 is that several of its officers eventually achieved very high rank and served in positions of considerable responsibility. One was William Westmoreland, whose first assignment as a second lieutenant was in the 2/18 at Fort Sill in the late 1930s. He told us this when he visited the battalion while we were on a Reforger exercise in Germany in September 1969. Almost everyone who was alive in the 1960s remembers him as the four-star general who was the U.S. commander during most of the Vietnam war and was Army Chief of Staff before he retired. When I left the 2/18 in 1970, my replacement as Bn XO was John Shalikashvili, who also ended up with four stars, and served as USAREUR Commander and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before retiring in the 1990s. I retired from the Army in 1981, and now live in Russellville, Arkansas, fairly close to where I grew up. Maybe I'll be able to find some information that will be useful for you. I really appreciate the work you've done on the website and hope more of the 2/18 alumni will find it and sign on. I know they have a lot of interesting stories to tell. Best wishes, Contributed by: LTC Eric Ashworth The 2-18 FA was involved and received campaign streamers for World War 1 (5 total), World War II (5 total), Vietnam (14 total) and the Persian Gulf War (2 total). The unit also holds two Presidential Unit Citations for Bastogne and the Pleiku Province and two French Croix de Guerres for WWI & WWII. The battalion originated as B Battery, 18th Field Artillery in 1916 where it was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. After the war it was deactivated but reactivated in 1922 to support the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill. The battalion deployed to Europe in August 1943 where it participated in five campaign prior to VE Day. During WWII, the battalion supported the 2nd Cavalry Division. The Battalion redeployed back to Fort Sill and remained there until the Berlin Crisis of 1961. The battalion deployed and then remained in Germany until 1968 where it returned to Fort Lewis, Washington and then later to Fort Sill, OK. From there it deployed and fought in fourteen campaigns in Vietnam. Upon the end of the Vietnam War, 2-18 FA returned to Fort Sill and remained there with a REFORGER mission until 1977. During that time, it deployed to Germany and back twice. The unit has remained based out of Fort Sill ever since. In September 1990, the battalion deployed to the Persian Gulf and supported the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during Desert Shield. Just prior to Desert Storm, 2-18 FA supported the 24th Infantry Division. It redeployed back to Fort Sill in April 1991. The Battalion switched from 8 inch guns to MLRS in February 1996 and completed its fielding of the Improved Position Determination System (IPDS) version launcher. Today, it is the only IPDS MLRS battalion in the Army and thus the only battalion capable of firing the Block 1A ATACMS missile. Because of that capability, the battalion deployed a platoon in 1999 to Albania in support of the UN resolution in Kosovo. Contributed by: I was assigned to the 2/18th when it was located in Kassel, Germany in March, 1967. At this time it was still an 8" Howitzer Battalion. In July 1968 the entire unit packed up it's vehicles, guns, and everything else, put it storage, and flew to Fort Lewis, WA where we were issued all new equipment. I remained with the Battalion until my orders came through for Vietnam in February, 1969. I spent the rest of my service in the 7th Battalion - 8th Artillery in Bien Hoa-Xuan Loc-Ben Luc, South Vietnam. Discharged September 1969 The 2/18th is Presently the Standby Unit at Fort Sill, OK and is an 'MLRS' (Multiple Launch Rocket System) Battalion. Contributed by: I kinda sorta always wondered what happened to the old 2nd Howitzer Bn. I was stationed with B Battery from 1961 until 1963 when it was located at Schloss Kaserne in Butzbach, Germany. I have kept up with some of the guys from that unit, and none of us had any idea that the rumors were true, we were rotating to Fort Lewis Washington. That was the ever present rumor back in those days. I was with the Recon/Survey unit in B Battery. The Bn was under the command of Major John Schatz who was a grizzled veteran. We were on maneuvers to the Fulda Gap during the Cuban Missle crisis, and that was the only time we were actually issued individual live ammunition. We traipsed back and forth to Graf and Baumholder many times, and went on "alert" several times a month. We were on maneuvers in Graf when our sister Bn fired a live round into a tent of "short timers" and killed 18 of our own people. We had the 8 inchers, but they were with trails, and I guess the self propelled units came much later. We had a lot of fun over in Germany, and missed the whole Vietnam business. I was just a pfc in those days, but went on to get a commission in ROTC, and went back into the army from 1967 to 1969. I was stationed at United States Army Headquarters in Heidelburg, so I missed Vietnam entirely. Keep up the good work. We also had a Canadian guy in our unit from Windsor, Ontario, and I always wondered why he served with us. He was a great soldier, and gave it his best shot. Thanks again for doing this good work, and I am going to pass the site onto the guys from my unit that I still keep in touch with. Pvils@hotmail.com out of Placerville, California. Wiedersehn. Hello. My name is Kerri McConkey. My husband is currently assigned to 1-12 FA here at Ft. Sill. I came across your website and saw where you were asking for info on 2-18. Just to let you know. They recently returned from a tour in Iraq not too long ago. Thought you might like to know. Sincerely, Mrs. McConkey 12/10/2003
212th FA Brigade |