Our Mission

"The Mission of the Field Artillery is to deliver lethal and massive indirect fires to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy."


We are the direct support artillery battalion for the 66th Infantry Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division. We have batteries in Chicago, Crestwood and Sycamore, Illinois.

5200 S. Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago IL 60615
Battalion Headquarters
Officer in Charge: 708-824-5264
Operations Sergeant: 108-824-5261 		Headquarters Battery
Readiness Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO): 708-824-5229
Recruiter: 708-824-5202
13838 South Springfield Ave, Robbins IL 60472 516 E. State Street, Sycamore IL 60178
B Battery
Readiness NCO: 708-824-6323
Recruiter: 708-824-6334 		A Battery
Readiness NCO: 815-895-2566
Recruiter: 815-895-8205

Our mission begins when the enemy is spotted by our observers, forward deployed with the infantry, who then request indirect fire through the Fire Direction Center (FDC). If approved the FDC calculates the firing data for each gun involved and transmits that information to our M-102 Howitzers.

Soldier utilizes a Ground/Vehicle Laser Locator Designator (G/VLLD) to hunt for his targets. A 105 millimeter (mm) position camouflaged with netting. Can you make out the "Hummer" under the net?
A gun position seen close-up. Note the M-60 machine-gun for self-defense and the collimator in the right foreground. The gun is a Vietnam-era M-102 105mm Howitzer The soldier on the left is the Radio/Telephone Operator (RTO). He mans a field phone hooked into the battery Fire Direction Center to receive and record the data required by the gun to shoot at the target radioed in by the observers. The soldier on the right is the gun chief. He commands the entire gun section. Note the pre-fuzed shells sitting the the crate to his right. Next to the shells are the canisters that contain the propellant bags.
The gunner and the assistant gunner prepare to set the quadrant (elevation) and azimuth as determined by the FDC. The gun chief verifies the settings before giving permission to fire.
Preparing to load the round. The gun chief is preparing to record the data in the record of fire missions binder.

The first image below shows the detonation of an 105mm air-burst, note the dust-clouds underneath the detonation caused by the shrapnel impacting the ground while the second one shows a quick-fuzed 155mm round.

 The next two images show the development of a battery-sized 105mm smoke mission using white phosphorus rounds. The second photo was taken roughly 30-45 seconds after the first. Both photos were taken at roughly 2000 meters range at Ft. McCoy, WI during Annual Training in 2000 by CPT Steven Rouse.