The 377th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Battalion beret flash or organizational flash was approved on 9 August 2000, a little over four years following the unit’s redesignation from Battery A, 377th Field Artillery to 1st Battalion, 377th Field Artillery on 16 May 1996. It would be redesignated once more, on 1 October 2005 as the 1st Battalion, 377th Field Artillery Regiment, before being inactivated in 2013.
It was originally constituted at Battery A, 377th Field Artillery in the Organized Reserves as an element of the 101st Division (later 101st Airborne Division). Following its redesignation as Battery A, 377th Field Artillery Battalion in January 1942, the unit was deployed to Europe and earned four campaign streamers, two with Arrowhead devices denoting its participation in assault landings. Military decorations from World War II included two Presidential Unit Citations—one for the Normandy landings, another for the Battle of the Bulge—as well as a French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Netherlands Orange Lanyard, and a Belgian Croix de Guerre and a citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.
In 1957, the unit was again redesignated as Battery A, 377th Field Artillery, an element of the 101st Airborne Division. The unit would fight under that designation in eight campaigns in Vietnam, it its outstanding service recognized with two Republic of Vietnam (ROV) Cross of Gallantry with Palm awards and an ROV Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class.
In 1986, it began a nearly ten-year inactivation period that, as mentioned above, ended with its redesignation and reactivation. Before its 2013 inactivation, the Battalion as a whole would earn three Meritorious Unit Commendations while serving with the 18th Field Artillery Brigade and 17th Fires Brigade, with two component units being tapped individually for Meritorious Unit Commendations.
Personnel serving the unit wore the 377th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Battalion flash centered on the stiffener of the maroon beret authorized for wear by personnel in Airborne-designated units. Officers wore their insignia of rank centered on the flash and Enlisted personnel wore the 377th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI).
Related Items
377th Field Artillery Regiment Unit Crest