319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment Patch

They were the guns that could fall from the sky—artillerymen who carried firepower wherever paratroopers dared to land. The 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, proud bearer of the motto “Loyalty,” has stood at the heart of the 82nd Airborne Division for generations. From the trenches of World War I to the global missions of the 21st century, the 319th earned its reputation as the airborne artillery that never failed its paratroopers—no matter the terrain, the conditions, or the odds.

Formed in 1917, the regiment first fought in the Great War, but its true rebirth came during World War II, when the 319th transformed into airborne gunners capable of parachuting into battle with their howitzers. At Sicily and Salerno, they fired some of the first airborne artillery rounds in American history. On D-Day, the regiment dropped into Normandy under fire, gathering scattered gun crews and broken equipment until their guns boomed across the hedgerows. Their fire supported the 82nd at Sainte-Mère-Église and at the blood-soaked La Fière causeway, helping hold the ground that made the invasion possible.

In Operation Market Garden, they dropped again, bracing the thin Allied corridor with fire missions that bought minutes—and sometimes lives—as armored forces closed in. When the Battle of the Bulge erupted, the 319th endured bitter cold and constant shelling, laying down the artillery that halted German advances in the Ardennes.

But their story did not end with World War II.

The regiment continued to serve through the Cold War and into the modern era, bringing airborne artillery to conflicts and crises around the world. Elements of the 319th deployed for Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, providing the fire support that allowed Rangers and paratroopers to seize strategic points. They later deployed to Operation Just Cause in Panama, supporting urban combat and airborne assaults. In the 1990s, they contributed to peacekeeping and stabilization during the Kosovo campaign, where the 82nd brought security to a fractured region.

After 9/11, the 319th entered a new era of combat, deploying repeatedly to Iraq and Afghanistan, where their guns and forward observer teams supported some of the fiercest fighting of the Global War on Terror. Whether firing from remote mountain bases or coordinating precision strikes to protect patrols, the regiment remained true to its creed—loyalty to mission, loyalty to unit, loyalty to the paratroopers counting on their guns.

The 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment patch honors these warriors—paratroopers who dropped into darkness, assembled their guns under fire, and delivered the thunder that shifted the course of battles. To wear it is to carry the legacy of airborne artillerymen whose loyalty has never wavered.